Hobby Boards lightning detectors ... again! :)

Hi guys,

After getting my weather station relocated and reinstalled ok, I thought I would have a go at reinstating the lightning detector. Now its all going VERY well… my WX computer can “see” the lightning detector (its showing up in the Dallas one wire set up ok) however…for the life of me I can’t “false” a lightning strike to see if its actually detecting anything…(I no longer have a handy electric fence energiser to test with!!) Is there any way of checking the detector is operating ok? I have tried the BBQ lighter without any success. Also, whats the recommended DC voltage to be supplying to the Lightning Board? Currently I am pushing 9V down a Cat5E cable to it and I assume its OK as my PC is seeing it ok.

All help appreciated lads, I don’t think it can be to much to get it going again!! #-o #-o #-o

you need to get quite close to the aerial with the bbq lighter, almost right on it…
also, do you have it connected to a good earth?
also, is the circuit board right where the aerial is?
I would take a photo of mine setup, but its such a rough job, its embarising

Gidday Brian,

Does the earth need to be connected for test purposes? I have NOT done that yet, but I assumed it would still register something on the WD graph without the earth? If this is’nt the case I’ll have to earth it tommorow…

My lightning detector is in a waterproof enclosure directly under the antenna… like I say, its working nicely as my PC can see it, no false readings either!! lol :oops: I just want to see if it goes so I can hopefully monitor some strikes tommorw as forecast for Auckland! :lol:

i think it will still need to be earthed for testing, but I could be wrong…?
one thing to try, tick, use page 14, for lightning, in the 1 wire setup…maybe?

I found in my installation and testing that an earth was required, even when testing in the house before installing outside. I simply placed a finger on the ground terminal and used my body as the ground…

-Bob

Mine tests OK without grounding.

Andrew,

Normally the earth ground is needed even for testing.

The Lightning Detector doesn’t need external power except for the 9v battery. If you are providing power of the Cat5 cable to the RJ45 connectors then the Lightning Detector is not going to do anything with it, the power lines are not connected on the board.

Eric

Eric,

I hope this doesn’t hijack the thread…

I see you are now offering enclosure boxes including for the solar sensor. Does the solar sensor enclosure allow just postioning and it is ready to go? ie… it has a dome of some sort allowing for light to hit the actual sensor itself?

-Bob

Check out the picture Bob, it has a small hole with the sensor diode peeking out.

Gidday Guys,

OK, I’ll hook a temp earth up today and see if i can get any “strikes” recorded. Eric, I assumed that I could replace the 9V battery electrical supply with a permanent 9VDC supply that comes from my computer room. Do I not need to have this? I just assumed it would be easier than having to replace a 9V battery at my weather sensor mast… #-o #-o #-o

Me too.

you would need to covert the humidity and solar sensor, when spraying on that protective coating
in fact, you should be able to extend the wires to the solar sensor and have that mounted in the sun…

If I cover the two “holes” for them, sprayed on the coating then remove the coverings wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of the coating. I’m assuming the idea is to stop the water from entering the box. Wouldn’t be of much use to have a nice box for the solar sensor and then relocate the sensor to another “box”.
–Dave

Andrew,

You can use a permanent 9V connnection but you will have to connect it to where the 9v battery strap is connected now, the RJ45 connections don’t pass any voltage to that side of the Lightning Detector.

Eric

i think you are missing the point somewhere there dave
the idea is to spray a protective coating on the circuit board , or do i misunderstand

The lightning “receiver” is battery powered and electrically isolated from the 1 wire chip and PC. If you run it off a 9 volt supply then you are changing the dynamics of the thing so all bets are off as to how it’s going to work.

I believe that is the idea.

Dave,

Sorry for the confusion. The coating goes on the circuit board not the case itself. We will rewrite that line on the website.

As soon as I have all the details worked out (in the next few days) we are going to be offering a sprayed on coating that you can purchase at the time of your order. This should offer resonable protection from moisture for outdoor sensors.

Eric

Bob,

As Nikoshepherd said there is a hole in the top of the case that the solar photodiode “sees” through. There is no lens covering the hole and since the case is 2 or 3 mm thick it might cause a bit of narrowing of the viewing angle of the sensor.

Eric

Now that makes a whole lot more sense. Definitely missed that point. So then we’re talking a spray lacquer or something similar. Thanks for straightening me out because I sure want one of those. --Dave