1-wire Lightning Dector - Actual Attempt

[Weather Display]

that brings back memories!
(mainly that those guys were all over my sisters bed rooms walls!

[JaxWeather]

Okay....

I just finished the final installation...

Materials...1 10' 1 1/4" PVC pipe section

3 End caps

1 1 1/4" Tee

My Hygo-thermo sensor is mounted on a 2X4 on the side of my house (north side) and for a number of maintenance reasons I didn't want to mount the lightning detector directly off the 2X4 I went ahead and just cut the PVC pipe so that the top section was just the right length for the antenna and some wire.

Then I cut about 5" of PVC pipe from the bottom for a dogleg out from the Tee.

When all completed I had...

   - <== Cap
  | <== antenna
  L <== Sensor and battery lay in 5" dogleg | <== cap with hole for the wires to exit from
  |
  | <== bottom section
  - <== cap

The ground rod is 5/8" galvanized ground rod buried 9' deep

Pictures can be seen here:
http://JaxWeather.net/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=4

I ran the wire to the USB adaptor then pressed "Save/reset" in the Dallas 1 wire setup/info page an Boom there it was.

I went back outside and took my trusted gas lighter, flicked it a couple of times, came inside and there was the indication of two hits.

Now for a thunderstorm to see what happens, and of course watching for false strikes...

All in all I spent under $100.00 USD including all wiring, connectors, PVC, ground rod, lightning detector and USP 1-wire adaptor.

Beats $350.00 + for the package options, even though it has no mapping abilities.  Coupled with WD I can see hits and frequency of hits which should be a fairly good indicator if I need to hunker down LOL

-Bob

[administrator]

How did you get your ground rod buried at 9 feet down? I've tried hammering a ground rod in and found it tricky getting 2ft6in of it actually into the ground. At 9 ft down you must be close to hitting oil!

[Ed1]

Great job JaxWeather

Glad to see on your test ..you get the lightning counts...probably around Tueday ..you'll get some rain.

I pounded a  solid copper ground rod in the grond once using a solid brick..a road brick.

I used both hands on the brick and keep pounding ..it was 6 or 9 foot ground rod.

[JaxWeather]

We have had some rain in the last week so that helped right off the bat...

I lifted the rod up as high as I could and then slammed it straight into the ground, good start.  Then lifting and dropping about 50 times got about (maybe) 4 feet down.

Then it was a ladder and a 5 lb short handled sledge...  LOL

My arms were tired when done quite honestly I had not planned on leaving a full foot plus up but it got to that spot and for every 10 hits it may have gone 1/8 of an inch deeper and I said  Hey that's good right there

Yep will be looking for the rain later this week, but not sure we are yet at the thunderstorm time...  Only time will tell

-Bob

[Ed1]

Jax ....one more thing I forgot to ask.

Will you be able to put a Link on your Website for your Lightning Graph ..Hits ?

[JaxWeather]

Actually it is up, but I haven't A: linked it to anything until I know it seems to be somewhat valid (I need a storm LOL) and B: cause I am still trying to figure out where and in what context...

But here is the raw image that WD produces...
http://www.JaxWeather.net/WeatherImages/WD/lighteninggraph.gif

The two hits that are currently shown were test hits after the new wiring was put into place and i will probably be doing some additional testing this evening as I just finished mucking with some wires yet again  LOL

-Bob

[Ed1]

That link you posted is fine 

Yeah whenever one of those good thunderstorms comes rolling in..you ought to be able to see
some really awsome activity on that graph. 

[Chas]

I have the same setup as JaxWeather with the Hobby Board and the 1-wire USB adapter> The troubleshooting and setup steps have been covered at length above. So I'll just add my photos since my installation differs from the norm. It's just one more way to skin the cat - though it may be a couple of months before I know if it works well enough.

I opted to install the lightning detector board in a "hobby box" using about $20 of Radio Shack parts.  I used a modular RJ11 phone jack internally so that I ended up with a cord I can replace, if needed, without having one end attached to the hobby board. The screw connectors on the Hobby Board are not a big deal to undo if you want to save the expense of the modular phone jack. With my method you do need to cut the modular connector from one end of the cord and install a new connector "flipped over" as the wires are otherwise reversed on one end relative to what is required. So if you need to purchase a modular jack AND a new RJ11connector and RJ11 crimper, then my way would not be cost effective. Instead cutting the modular connector off and hooking the wires directly to the screw-on connector on the hobby board is the way to go. However, I already had these items lying around so this was a convenient way to go for me.

I also had a spare ham radio mobile antenna I had mounted on the roof of my previous vehicle. So I purchased a PL259 style connector and mounted it on the metal box cover. I finished it off with a banana jack that I plug in the earth ground wire. The earth ground currently connects via a crimped lug connector to one of my PC chassis screws on the other end.

The final set up shown in the bottom photo is currently sitting next to my WD PC and behind my monitor on a window sill. Time will tell how well this works relative to a roof mount. I certainly don't notice much less static on the AM radio during lightning storms on an indoor radio versus on my car radio, so I hope this works. I also have a couple of longer ham "whip" antennas I can try if I find I need more sensitivity. For those interested in trying something like this that do NOT have an antenna lying around, you could always buy another female PL259 connector that screws into the male one I used and solder a piece of stiff 12-14 guage copper wire into it to make your own antenna.

[Weather Display]

when are you going to start marketing that device chaz?
well done!

[JaxWeather]

Very, very nice Chaz...

Let us know how it works when you get a thunder boomer...

I am hoping for possible thunderstorms this evening or tomorrow morning and may get to see how well mine works...

-Bob

[carterlake]

when are you going to start marketing that device chaz?
well done!

I'll take one! Just tell me where to send the check (or Paypal).

Now you guys have me thinking.... buy the board from www.Hobby-Boards.com and... where do you get that RJ11 to USB doggle?

[Ed1]

Excellent job Chaz ....looks very nice !!


CarterLake  the adapter is of this type found at the below link

http://www.aagelectronica.com/aag/en-us/dept_1.html#item_33

[JaxWeather]

Tom,

The link that Ed1 posted is where I got the USB adaptor which I posted information regarding the installation of here:
http://www.weather-watch.com/smf/index.php/topic,8138.0.html

-Bob

[niko]

For those interested in trying something like this that do NOT have an antenna lying around, you could always buy another female PL259 connector that screws into the male one I used and solder a piece of stiff 12-14 guage copper wire into it to make your own antenna.

Very good!

Just a suggestion, if someone doesn't have a P259 based antenna in their junk box it might be simpler to just use another banana plug and jack (like the one used for ground) for the antenna connection, they come in pairs anyway and it's 4 less holes to drill