Is a CdS photoresistor a good detector for green light?

Bob Bruhns bbruhns at erols.com
Tue Sep 3 22:12:59 CDT 2013


Rob - I dug around a bit, this was the best document i found.
http://www.selcoproducts.com/pdfs/Photocell%20Contstruction%20and%20Characteristics.pdf

    Bob, WA3WDR



On 9/3/2013 8:31 PM, Rob Seastrom wrote:
> Hey folks,
>
> I'm on the cusp of throwing together something quick and dirty (and
> raspberry pi based probably; the price is right) that will talk to a
> couple of sensors hanging over the "cycle complete" LEDs on our washer
> and dryer and send appropriate text messages to a cell phone when
> they're done.
>
> I was thinking about a CdS photoresistor (they're making 'em *tiny*
> these days!) with one leg hooked to Vcc, the other to a pull down
> resistor to ground, with the connection between the two hooked to a
> binary input pin of the Pi.  Kind of a quick and dirty "light
> controlled voltage divider".  Should work for a high impedence pin on
> the Pi with minimal fuss.
>
> Tape the whole affair over the LED (maybe with a software controlled
> LED stuck to the back so that it can be lit to not lose having an LED
> on the front of the device when the cycle is done).
>
> Only thing is, I'm not sure what the sensitivity of a typical CdS
> photoresistor is in the green band, and LEDs aren't very broadband so
> I can't get by on slop if this is a blind area for them.  Spec sheets?
> Ha.  That's like trying to find a datasheet on a 2.2k gold band
> resistor.  These things are buck-apiece commodities.
>
> Can anyone shed some light (pun intended) on the receive passband of a
> typical CdS photoresistor?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -r
>
>
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