5 ms·

Lightning Detector Circuits

107 points by nateb2022 1y ago

rkagerer 1y ago
Love to hear ideas on what you'd wire this up to - eg. What kind of device or process do you want to trigger once lightning is detected?
- cxcorp 1y ago
  A camera! The 2.5mm TRS remote trigger jack just needs one of the pins connected to the sleeve to trigger the camera, very easy to do with an optocoupler or even relay.
- nateb2022 1y ago
  Usually, lightning detection is necessary for regulatory compliance. Facilities with pools need to remove patrons to prevent risk of electrocution, summer camps need to move people to enclosed shelters, as with golf courses, construction sites, beaches/waterfronts, etc.
- gh02t 1y ago
  I have a lightning detector hooked up to Home Assistant. It plays a little sound on a buzzer if there are more than a handful of strikes. It's a pretty reliable warning a storm is coming, and my partner (who is a prolific runner) knows not to go out for a run or to turn around. I've also done sciencey type testing work outdoors, the ranges all had lightning detectors and all work would stop and you had to take shelter if lightning was detected. Mostly wide open space so getting struck by lightning was a serious danger.
Ductapemaster 1y ago
I spent a LOT of time on this website as a 90's kid. One of many that inspired me to get an EE degree. Projects like this always felt like some incredible magic, and came with an artistic aesthetic that I find inescapably captivating. We've instead got little bits of black epoxy everywhere these days and it's just not the same!
bri3d 1y ago
I was recently introduced to fully integrated lightning sensor ICs: https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/ams/as3935-franklin-lightning-sensor https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/ams/as3935-fr... - supply it a repurposed RFID coil and it will tell you when it detects lightning and how far the storm front is. I have one in my weather station just for fun, but it's a highly practical device for golf courses, swimming pools, sporting facilities, etc. where knowing how far away lightning is is operationally important.
- Neywiny 1y ago
  I was considering one of these recently. By chance do you have any feedback on how well it works relative to the detection and the storm front tracking?
  - gh02t 1y ago
    I hate these chips after a multi-year crusade to get one to work. I've bought 3 different variations of it on breakout boards (SparkFun, DFRobot, and another one off of Tindie) and spent 10s of hours fiddling with them trying to get them to work with no luck. That includes multiple attempts at tuning the antenna and calibrating the capacitance, tuning all the other detection parameters, multiple different microcontrollers, several different power supplies and physical arrangements etc in case of interference. Anything and everything I could think of and test. Everything I did failed and I have never been able to get anything other than noise out of these sensors at best. YMMV, as I know these chips have a history of problems but supposedly do actually work. After I finally gave up on these things I ended up getting an Acurite 06045M, a cheapo SDR dongle, and a Pi Zero W running rtl_433 for like $60 and that has worked perfectly for years and is fairly straightforward to plug into Home Assistant over MQTT. It very reliably detects strikes and gives a pretty good estimate of distance (but NOT bearing), plus you get an outdoor temp/humidity sensor for free. I think the 06045M might actually use the AS3935 internally so presumably you can get them to work and when they do work they work very well, but nothing I could do as a (pretty advanced and well-equipped) hobbyist could make them work, and I've heard others had similar issues with them. So maybe stick to buying something commercial with it inside?
ortusdux 1y ago
Makes me think of the World Wide Lightning Location Network > We welcome offers of hosting a new WWLLN lightning sensor. All hosts receive all the world-wide data for their own research. https://wwlln.net/#home https://wwlln.net/#home
Arch-TK 1y ago
Skip the perfboard with nails and you would have had an actual breadboard... What a weird prototyping approach... Nails in a perfboard... Never seen it before.
- colechristensen 1y ago
  Honestly I really like the low tech steampunk? kind of vibe of nails in a board.
  - wayvey 1y ago
    It really does nail that aesthetic!
- dylan604 1y ago
  I have plenty of PoCs that were built from whatever lumber I happened to have available. It's much faster than waiting for something to 3D print. A DIYer's garage without scraps of various cuts of lumber is just broken.
- MisterTea 1y ago
  Its an interesting take on old-school point-to-point wiring using turrets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_construction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_construction https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototyping-circuits-easy-cheap-fast-reliable-techniques/ https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototypi... I assume the author liked the idea and used the perfbaord/punchboard as a grid.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
panki27 1y ago
Real time, community sourced lightning map: https://www.blitzortung.org/ https://www.blitzortung.org/ Posted this some time ago, but it got no traction :(
- LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
  Well. I bookmarked it now. Seems to have got an update, since the last time I looked at it. Meaning it just works. But not necessarily better than the lighntingmaps.org I've used instead. Different styles for the same thing. Will check in the future from Hamburg, .de and Aspen, CO how accurate it really is.
  - forsalebypwner 1y ago
    My understanding is that lightningmaps.org is owned/operated by Blitzortung (see the upper right corner of lightningmaps.org).
    - LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
      Could be, I seem to recall some relationship. It was just that blitzortung didn't work right for me. While lightningmaps did. Anyways. That's from years (maybe 10?) ago. Maybe my browser just got better? Who knows :-) By working right, I mean whenever I see flickering from afar, or hearing the first rolling of thunder, clicking on it without much fuss, maybe zooming out, shifting a little, zooming back in and seeing what's going on where instantly. Which in the context of larger storms works even better in kachelmannwetter.com, because there it's embedded in other data, and projected where it moves/arrives in how many minutes in easily understandable symbology. But that's for Germany only. Useless for Colorado. Havn't found something comparable for there, so far. Would be mostly useless anyways, because weather at 2600+ m altitude changes faster. Or can.
- progbits 1y ago
  On one hand I really like that project and what they do, but on the other hand I hate how it's managed. I was very excited about it over ten years ago and wanted to join the network. They are very weird about not releasing the designs and code, and instead want you to get it from them. Fair enough, but then they don't produce and ship units. I signed up for a waiting list like 10 years ago, with many others. They kept promising a new design, but never delivered it, and didn't let anyone else do so. I never heard back from them about the waiting list. They are also restrictive about access to the data if you are not in the network, with reasons like it's too expensive. That might have been true 10-15 years ago, but today it's just silly. It's a shame, I think there is lot of potential to make a better community and more usable free apps around this data. But you would have to start a new network from scratch because these people are not interested in that.
JKCalhoun 1y ago
I remember seeing an overly simplified lightning detector presented in a book: just an antenna, Neon bulb and a ground wire. I thought it was too simple to work. Here it is discussed though by someone who tried it (and improved it): https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/ebjoew/Charged_Cloud_Alert.html https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/ebjoew/Charged_Cloud_Alert.htm... (Ha ha, angelfire)
exabrial 1y ago
> Watch out; there's a smaller, identical-looking bolt just a few inches tall Pahaha pure Spinal Tap moment
anoynmoose 1y ago
Perhaps this and more. :) https://www.blitzortung.org/en/whats_new.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/whats_new.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/cover_your_area.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/cover_your_area.php https://forum.blitzortung.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=30 https://forum.blitzortung.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=30

107 points by nateb2022 1y ago

Love to hear ideas on what you'd wire this up to - eg. What kind of device or process do you want to trigger once lightning is detected?

cxcorp 1y ago
A camera! The 2.5mm TRS remote trigger jack just needs one of the pins connected to the sleeve to trigger the camera, very easy to do with an optocoupler or even relay.
nateb2022 1y ago
Usually, lightning detection is necessary for regulatory compliance. Facilities with pools need to remove patrons to prevent risk of electrocution, summer camps need to move people to enclosed shelters, as with golf courses, construction sites, beaches/waterfronts, etc.
gh02t 1y ago
I have a lightning detector hooked up to Home Assistant. It plays a little sound on a buzzer if there are more than a handful of strikes. It's a pretty reliable warning a storm is coming, and my partner (who is a prolific runner) knows not to go out for a run or to turn around. I've also done sciencey type testing work outdoors, the ranges all had lightning detectors and all work would stop and you had to take shelter if lightning was detected. Mostly wide open space so getting struck by lightning was a serious danger.

Ductapemaster 1y ago

I spent a LOT of time on this website as a 90's kid. One of many that inspired me to get an EE degree. Projects like this always felt like some incredible magic, and came with an artistic aesthetic that I find inescapably captivating. We've instead got little bits of black epoxy everywhere these days and it's just not the same!

bri3d 1y ago

I was recently introduced to fully integrated lightning sensor ICs: https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/ams/as3935-franklin-lightning-sensor https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/ams/as3935-fr... - supply it a repurposed RFID coil and it will tell you when it detects lightning and how far the storm front is. I have one in my weather station just for fun, but it's a highly practical device for golf courses, swimming pools, sporting facilities, etc. where knowing how far away lightning is is operationally important.

Neywiny 1y ago
I was considering one of these recently. By chance do you have any feedback on how well it works relative to the detection and the storm front tracking?
- gh02t 1y ago
  I hate these chips after a multi-year crusade to get one to work. I've bought 3 different variations of it on breakout boards (SparkFun, DFRobot, and another one off of Tindie) and spent 10s of hours fiddling with them trying to get them to work with no luck. That includes multiple attempts at tuning the antenna and calibrating the capacitance, tuning all the other detection parameters, multiple different microcontrollers, several different power supplies and physical arrangements etc in case of interference. Anything and everything I could think of and test. Everything I did failed and I have never been able to get anything other than noise out of these sensors at best. YMMV, as I know these chips have a history of problems but supposedly do actually work. After I finally gave up on these things I ended up getting an Acurite 06045M, a cheapo SDR dongle, and a Pi Zero W running rtl_433 for like $60 and that has worked perfectly for years and is fairly straightforward to plug into Home Assistant over MQTT. It very reliably detects strikes and gives a pretty good estimate of distance (but NOT bearing), plus you get an outdoor temp/humidity sensor for free. I think the 06045M might actually use the AS3935 internally so presumably you can get them to work and when they do work they work very well, but nothing I could do as a (pretty advanced and well-equipped) hobbyist could make them work, and I've heard others had similar issues with them. So maybe stick to buying something commercial with it inside?

ortusdux 1y ago

Makes me think of the World Wide Lightning Location Network > We welcome offers of hosting a new WWLLN lightning sensor. All hosts receive all the world-wide data for their own research. https://wwlln.net/#home https://wwlln.net/#home

Arch-TK 1y ago

Skip the perfboard with nails and you would have had an actual breadboard... What a weird prototyping approach... Nails in a perfboard... Never seen it before.

colechristensen 1y ago
Honestly I really like the low tech steampunk? kind of vibe of nails in a board.
- wayvey 1y ago
  It really does nail that aesthetic!
dylan604 1y ago
I have plenty of PoCs that were built from whatever lumber I happened to have available. It's much faster than waiting for something to 3D print. A DIYer's garage without scraps of various cuts of lumber is just broken.
MisterTea 1y ago
Its an interesting take on old-school point-to-point wiring using turrets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_construction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_construction https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototyping-circuits-easy-cheap-fast-reliable-techniques/ https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototypi... I assume the author liked the idea and used the perfbaord/punchboard as a grid.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

panki27 1y ago

Real time, community sourced lightning map: https://www.blitzortung.org/ https://www.blitzortung.org/ Posted this some time ago, but it got no traction :(

LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
Well. I bookmarked it now. Seems to have got an update, since the last time I looked at it. Meaning it just works. But not necessarily better than the lighntingmaps.org I've used instead. Different styles for the same thing. Will check in the future from Hamburg, .de and Aspen, CO how accurate it really is.
- forsalebypwner 1y ago
  My understanding is that lightningmaps.org is owned/operated by Blitzortung (see the upper right corner of lightningmaps.org).
  - LargoLasskhyfv 1y ago
    Could be, I seem to recall some relationship. It was just that blitzortung didn't work right for me. While lightningmaps did. Anyways. That's from years (maybe 10?) ago. Maybe my browser just got better? Who knows :-) By working right, I mean whenever I see flickering from afar, or hearing the first rolling of thunder, clicking on it without much fuss, maybe zooming out, shifting a little, zooming back in and seeing what's going on where instantly. Which in the context of larger storms works even better in kachelmannwetter.com, because there it's embedded in other data, and projected where it moves/arrives in how many minutes in easily understandable symbology. But that's for Germany only. Useless for Colorado. Havn't found something comparable for there, so far. Would be mostly useless anyways, because weather at 2600+ m altitude changes faster. Or can.
progbits 1y ago
On one hand I really like that project and what they do, but on the other hand I hate how it's managed. I was very excited about it over ten years ago and wanted to join the network. They are very weird about not releasing the designs and code, and instead want you to get it from them. Fair enough, but then they don't produce and ship units. I signed up for a waiting list like 10 years ago, with many others. They kept promising a new design, but never delivered it, and didn't let anyone else do so. I never heard back from them about the waiting list. They are also restrictive about access to the data if you are not in the network, with reasons like it's too expensive. That might have been true 10-15 years ago, but today it's just silly. It's a shame, I think there is lot of potential to make a better community and more usable free apps around this data. But you would have to start a new network from scratch because these people are not interested in that.

JKCalhoun 1y ago

I remember seeing an overly simplified lightning detector presented in a book: just an antenna, Neon bulb and a ground wire. I thought it was too simple to work. Here it is discussed though by someone who tried it (and improved it): https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/ebjoew/Charged_Cloud_Alert.html https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/ebjoew/Charged_Cloud_Alert.htm... (Ha ha, angelfire)

exabrial 1y ago

> Watch out; there's a smaller, identical-looking bolt just a few inches tall Pahaha pure Spinal Tap moment

anoynmoose 1y ago

Perhaps this and more. :) https://www.blitzortung.org/en/whats_new.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/whats_new.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/cover_your_area.php https://www.blitzortung.org/en/cover_your_area.php https://forum.blitzortung.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=30 https://forum.blitzortung.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=30