Lightning Detectors

[elephant101]

For those who requested, this is the diagram for building a lightning detector. Be aware, my artistic abilities leave much to be desired. That being said, this detector is by no means a professional piece of equipment. It simply will show you how strong the lightning strikes are. The more LED's that come on, usually indicated a strong storm or one that is close by. Sensativity is adjusted by the volume of the radio. You'll have to play around with it and adjust it to your liking. I waited until a strong storm was very near, then adjusted the volume of the radio so all the LED's came on pretty much constant. At this level, it still detects lightning from storms that are a good 75 miles away.

The radio can be any cheapo AM. I got mine at Radio Shack for a few buck. It should be tuned to the lowest part of the dial without picking up a station. In Phoenix, we have a station at 550, so I had to make a slight modification on the tuner. Hopefully, you won't.

I labeled all the parts as best I can. Make sure that the capacitor is an electrolytic. A ceramic or tantilum won't work. 2.2 microfards rated at 25vdc works really well. The diode can be any common germanium or silicon.

On the diagram, I put 9vdc for the power. I found out that a 9 volt battery drains pretty fast. So, I changed that to 4 AA batteries. They last a lot longer.

I enclosed the whole project into an old Heathkit clock cabinet. The smoked front nicely hides my poor excuse for a circuit board that mounts the LED's. You can see, the 2nd picture shows the finished product.

Anyway, it's a fun project to do. Use your imagination!!!!!! I'm sure someone out there can out do me on the design. I'd be glad to hear of any improvements you can think of.

Doug

[ka5lqj]

Hi All,

The idea of an AM Broadcast band radio tuned down to the low-end is a great idea. They mostly will "hear" about 100 miles
away. There is a visual adaptation, however, easy to build.

All you need is a used towel paper roll, the tp rolls are too short, LOL! Take a piece of tin foil and cover the end of the roll, blocking off the light.
You can use an NE2 neon bulb and a 100' (or longer) horizontal wire soldered to one wire on the NE2 and the other wire of the NE2 goes to a
water pipe or ground rod.

Lightning will build up 65+ volts of static electricity on the 100' antenna, so you need to use a neon bulb that will handle that. Regular incandescent bulbs won't work, period.

This was a project back in the 1960's in Electronics Illustrated, my favorite magazine. They had photos and schematics of the projects from start to finish and were on old newsprint paper. GOD, I miss them and Tom Knitel. I believe he went Silent Key, last year in Florida.

Oh, one other thing. Those little 12vdc, 5", B&W TV's make a good monitor if you're in a vehicle. Just remember to have it secured in the
back seat. Nearly every state has a law about drivers seeing a TV screen from the front seat (distraction factor). Most of these will have a place
for 10 "C" or "D" cell batteries or a cigarette lighter plug.

Well, that's enough for now. I'll be back with some other 'tips' you can use to your advantage.

GOD BLESS,
Stay safe and warm (with Winter coming)
73,

Don "Buck" Saunders/KA5LQJ

[robschonk]

A few commercial ones:

Lightning Detector 1.5 Electronics Kit | eBay

Skyscan Lightning/storm Detector | eBay

NEW - ThunderBolt Utility Lightning Detector - Yellow | eBay

StrikeAlert Personal (Pager) Lightning, Storm Detector | eBay


You can dig around their websites for info, but they all use proprietary software to determine distance, speed, etc.

I've got a skyscan and a thunderbolt. They both work, but tend to be inaccurate at times. Keep your eyes on ebay and you can pick up good deals.

[ka5lqj]

Hi Guys,

I don't know what's going on, but I clicked on Shelly's link. It took me to a
place that said it was For Sale, then I got a pop-up from Firefox saying the
website wasn't trustworthy. I clicked on the website from her (?) post.

Respectfully,

"Buck"/KA5LQJ

[burner50]

Originally Posted by ka5lqj

Hi Guys,

I don't know what's going on, but I clicked on Shelly's link. It took me to a
place that said it was For Sale, then I got a pop-up from Firefox saying the
website wasn't trustworthy. I clicked on the website from her (?) post.

Respectfully,

"Buck"/KA5LQJ

Looks like somebody forgot to pay the domain bill this year...

[fxdscon]

Originally Posted by ka5lqj

Hi Guys,

I don't know what's going on, but I clicked on Shelly's link. It took me to a
place that said it was For Sale, then I got a pop-up from Firefox saying the
website wasn't trustworthy. I clicked on the website from her (?) post.

Respectfully,

"Buck"/KA5LQJ

The post that contains that link is over 4 years old. Probably defunct by now.

[ka5lqj]

Originally Posted by lightning123

elephant 101 how did you tune your radio to 520

Now,
I could be a smartazz and say "Very carefully", LOL! But, you asked a fair
question and it deserves a fair answer.

Back in the 50's, the AM Broadcasts Band ran from 540 kHz to 1600 kHz.
Later that was expanded to 520 kHz to 1700 kHz.

What Elephant 101 meant when he said the "bottom of the BCB" was all the way over to the left on the dial, no matter what it reads. Unless you have a radio station down there, you will hear the static crashes. The strength and duration of the crash determines how close you are to the actual storm. The louder and stronger, the closer it is.

How do I know this? Well, it all started back in 1958, when I was 12
years old. I got into Broadcast band Dx'ing. Back then, there was a
magazine called, Electronics Illustrated. In it was a section called, White's Radio Log. It gave the frequency, effective radiated power of the
transmitter AND whither it was a daylight-to-dusk or 24 hour operation,
called a clear channel.

I would listen from about sunset until sometimes all night, during the
Summer going from one end of the dial to the other, logging the stations
I heard. Also in the Summer, the storms came and I could hear the static
of the lightning crashes. I had a 6-transistor portable radio, so there
wasn't much chance of it being struck by lightning, LOL!

Later, I got a 5-tube radio with the old, Litz wire circular antenna on the
back. There was a place to hook and outside antenna, so I did that as
well. Later, I learned how to add capacitance to the RF coils and with
a 3-position switch, change bands up (75 meter AM) or down into the
longwave band. I was bit by the electronics bug and it was too late to
turn back, LOL! I studied and passed my 2nd Class Radio-Telephone
Operator's license and began working on commercial 2-way radios
(Motorola, GE, Standard, etc.) Later, Class D, Citizen Band came along
and I began selling (E.F. Johnson & Courier) and repairing all brands. The
illegal stuff (boosting power or adding channels not authorized) I would
NOT do. After all, I had a CB license for the business and didn't want
any interference from some power nut

So, you see, my background in radio is quite extensive. I'll be 65 years
old, tomorrow (Friday) and I'll stay in touch here if someone needs a
question answered. Now, I'm NOT the brightest crayon sometimes, but
I'll try to help all I can.

GOD BLESS,
73,(Best Regard)

Donald J. Buck Saunders/KA5LQJ

[reedeb]

Early Happy Birthday, Buck.

[rafdav]

I am happy to hear about the White's Radio Log that was in the Electronics Illustrated magazine. Read that mag for years. But I also did the DX thing with the am band, in early 60 and then the last time was in '71. It was amazing to listen to those far off stations, some times I'd stop on a station that had the CBS (?) radio drama series playing. Can not remember the correct name or who the commentator was.
Anyway, thanks for the memories of a bygone era....:-)

[ka5lqj]

Originally Posted by rafdav

I am happy to hear about the White's Radio Log that was in the Electronics Illustrated magazine. Read that mag for years. But I also did the DX thing with the am band, in early 60 and then the last time was in '71. It was amazing to listen to those far off stations, some times I'd stop on a station that had the CBS (?) radio drama series playing. Can not remember the correct name or who the commentator was.
Anyway, thanks for the memories of a bygone era....:-)

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll start a new one in the General Discussion Forum. Oh, and Thanks for the birthday wishes. ;-)

"Buck/KA5LQJ