SQM Roadrunner is working

An important tool is the SQM roadrunner system. The Sky Quality Meter "SQM" by the Canadian manufacturer Unihedron is a small photometer that measures the night sky brightness. It has become the most widespread device for world-wide light pollution studies. You can get a handheld SQM and participate by uploading your data to websites like Globe at Night.

The roadrunner system links an SQM (LU version) with a GPS - so you can move around and automatically track your position and the sky brightness. One can use any vehicle for that, researchers used cars or bicycles.

First SQM road run south of Berlin

The obstacles were driver installation, that the software (infos in this pdf) is in Spanish and the mounting. As I do not know the car I simply used a standard SQM housing and attached it to a base I found in my garage using tools I found in the garage ;)

Now I can  strap it on the roof of the car.

Some impressions below

SQM in housing with base

On roof of car

You can see I come from precision engineering