I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I’m not a noob. My noob status ended back in the late 1970’s. 
Grew my first outdoor plants in the 5th grade. I also have a grow journal on my current grow and upgrades in my 3x3 tent. Old Grower, New Grow and Updates
I’m kicking myself for not buying a Apogee or another high end PAR/PPFD meter years ago. We use to do some really stupid stuff trying to understand what our lights were doing. From prisms and projector charts, Candle/Foot meters, LUX meters. And yeah I even recently tried Photone. It’s not worth a damn on my 13 Pro Max or the wifes U21. Photone pushed me to purchase the MQ-610. I should have bought a Apogee when they first came out.