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I see they have engineered their own detectors [1], but could cellphones be used as EMP detectors? They have GPS and antennas after all. [1] http://www.blitzor

I see they have engineered their own detectors [1], but could cellphones be used as EMP detectors? They have GPS and antennas after all. [1] http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/index.php?lang=en&page=3 http://www.blitzortung.org/Webpages/index.php?lang=en&page=3

jpalomaki 12y ago
Looks like Nokia had some plans (or at least patented something related) in 2007 [1]. According to ComputerWorld "The invention involves the use of radio frequency receivers in mobile phones, such as FM radio and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), to detect radio waves emitted by lightning." Does lightning have any effect on the sensors that detect the geomagnetic field? Maybe even some small anomalies in the readings could be useful if many devices were working together. [1] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9021121/Nokia_to_add_lightning_detector_to_mobile_phone http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9021121/Nokia_to_add_...
joezydeco 12y ago
You just need to find a Maxwell HSN-1000 Nuclear Event Detector. Very handy part. http://www.maxwell.com/products/microelectronics/docs/hsn1000_rev3.pdf http://www.maxwell.com/products/microelectronics/docs/hsn100...
- msane 12y ago
  Hah! Cute part. I'm curious - do you just happen to know of this part or have you been involved with projects that use if?
  - joezydeco 12y ago
    If I did use it, I probably couldn't talk about it...
  - unsignedint 12y ago
    Softbank in Japan did release a phone with a Geiger counter, so it's probably not that far off... [1] http://www.softbank.jp/mobile/product/smartphone/107sh/feature/feature_3/ http://www.softbank.jp/mobile/product/smartphone/107sh/featu...
bri3d 12y ago
I found a chip called AS3935 which appears to be for this exact purpose: http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/ams-as3935-franklin-lightning-sensor/1966 http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/ams-as3935-f... The Blitzortung paper mentions that sensor isn't accurate enough to use to determine the distance of a strike, so I don't think a crowdsourced phone-based network could work particularly well: http://www.blitzortung.org/Documents/TOA_Blitzortung_RED.pdf http://www.blitzortung.org/Documents/TOA_Blitzortung_RED.pdf I also suspect that a phone's RF frontend would be awful for lightning detection as it is tuned for 900+Mhz signals. You can read more about lightning's RF properties here: http://assets.cambridge.org/052158/3276/sample/0521583276WS.pdf http://assets.cambridge.org/052158/3276/sample/0521583276WS.... but it's clear that above 10Mhz you probably won't learn much of value about the lightning strike. Elsewhere in this thread, an HN reader found that Nokia were working on lightning detection for phones, but it seems to use the FM radio receiver that was often built into SoCs, which could definitely tune itself to a much more useful frequency range.

jpalomaki 12y ago

Looks like Nokia had some plans (or at least patented something related) in 2007 [1]. According to ComputerWorld "The invention involves the use of radio frequency receivers in mobile phones, such as FM radio and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), to detect radio waves emitted by lightning." Does lightning have any effect on the sensors that detect the geomagnetic field? Maybe even some small anomalies in the readings could be useful if many devices were working together. [1] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9021121/Nokia_to_add_lightning_detector_to_mobile_phone http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9021121/Nokia_to_add_...

joezydeco 12y ago

You just need to find a Maxwell HSN-1000 Nuclear Event Detector. Very handy part. http://www.maxwell.com/products/microelectronics/docs/hsn1000_rev3.pdf http://www.maxwell.com/products/microelectronics/docs/hsn100...

msane 12y ago
Hah! Cute part. I'm curious - do you just happen to know of this part or have you been involved with projects that use if?
- joezydeco 12y ago
  If I did use it, I probably couldn't talk about it...
- unsignedint 12y ago
  Softbank in Japan did release a phone with a Geiger counter, so it's probably not that far off... [1] http://www.softbank.jp/mobile/product/smartphone/107sh/feature/feature_3/ http://www.softbank.jp/mobile/product/smartphone/107sh/featu...

bri3d 12y ago

I found a chip called AS3935 which appears to be for this exact purpose: http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/ams-as3935-franklin-lightning-sensor/1966 http://www.digikey.com/product-highlights/us/en/ams-as3935-f... The Blitzortung paper mentions that sensor isn't accurate enough to use to determine the distance of a strike, so I don't think a crowdsourced phone-based network could work particularly well: http://www.blitzortung.org/Documents/TOA_Blitzortung_RED.pdf http://www.blitzortung.org/Documents/TOA_Blitzortung_RED.pdf I also suspect that a phone's RF frontend would be awful for lightning detection as it is tuned for 900+Mhz signals. You can read more about lightning's RF properties here: http://assets.cambridge.org/052158/3276/sample/0521583276WS.pdf http://assets.cambridge.org/052158/3276/sample/0521583276WS.... but it's clear that above 10Mhz you probably won't learn much of value about the lightning strike. Elsewhere in this thread, an HN reader found that Nokia were working on lightning detection for phones, but it seems to use the FM radio receiver that was often built into SoCs, which could definitely tune itself to a much more useful frequency range.