Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

How to detect lightning ?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    How to detect lightning ?

    I've lost several devices this summer from storms. They've been on surge protectors and one was even on a UPS.

    So I want to turn them off when lighting storms go thru. What is the cheapest, easiest, best way to detect when I should turn off these devices? I realize those 3 critera can be exclusive so I want any suggestions you guys got.
    Bruce

    "The universal answer is 42."

    #2
    Bruce,
    Eric has some one wire lightning boards here. This is about as cheap a lightning detector as you can get.
    💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

    Comment


      #3
      my cheap x10 floodlights act as lightning detectors, triggering my security events, even in daytime when they aren't supposed to work, works every single time, not sure why lol. The 1 wire stuff looks good tho.
      HSPRO 2.4 (ESXi 4.1) | my.Alert NEW | my.Trigger | HSTouch | ACRF2 | UltraM1G | BLWeather | BLLan | Rover
      (aka xplosiv)
      Do You Cocoon? Home Automation News, Tutorials, Reviews, Forums & Chat

      Comment


        #4
        Rupp, how do you connect that lightning detector (or any of the other boards on that page) to HS?

        Comment


          #5
          Check the 1 wire devices on this board or on Maxim's web site.

          You need a PC to 1-wire adapter device, most of these are pretty inexpensive, 20 to 50 bux and you can hang several dozen devices on the same run of wire (usually - YMMV).

          I'm gonna order of the lightning detector boards as it's exactly what I was looking for. I just wish he had the parts for the kit in stock to save me some time.
          Bruce

          "The universal answer is 42."

          Comment


            #6
            DC,
            You need an interface like the DS9097U.

            http://www.aagelectronica.com/aag/en-us/p_11.html

            Once you have this you can also connect many other one-wire devices like temp sensors and humidity sensors, one wire counters, rain guages, etc.
            💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

            Comment


              #7
              If lightening is nearby, high voltages are induced in many metalic conductors. I would not assume that anything short of disconnecting the AC power plug from the wall, and unplugging any direct or indirect connection to the phone line or cable TV coax would work. Lightening here once hit the phone pole outside and enough current flowed on the coax cable/shield to burn off the traces on the PC board inside my IR remote A/B coax switch.

              Comment


                #8
                I'm going to be updating the website tomorrow. I just got most of the parts back in stock, I just have to verify the latest batch of boards by building and testing one. So check the site again tomorrow or Monday.

                Eric
                http://www.hobby-boards.com

                Comment


                  #9
                  Eric, thats what I wanted to hear. I hate ordering from Maxim as they screwed me bad last time. I'll check back Monday on your site.
                  Bruce

                  "The universal answer is 42."

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by bruce l View Post
                    I've lost several devices this summer from storms. They've been on surge protectors and one was even on a UPS.

                    So I want to turn them off when lighting storms go thru. What is the cheapest, easiest, best way to detect when I should turn off these devices? I realize those 3 critera can be exclusive so I want any suggestions you guys got.
                    Am wondering: when it's all said and done, are lightning detectors of practical use, or are they just curiosities? If they are of practical use, what are the practical uses, and what configurations produce the most actionable data?

                    For instance, would "unplugging" a computer from the AC mains by just opening a relay on an appliance module protect it as well as truly unplugging it from the wall? Or would the spark just jump the relay gap anyway?

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Yup; here used mine to know when to get off the golf course as the sirens never go off here in the area when there is much lighting....

                      I will probably just tape my phone (or use one of those suction bracket devices clipped to the LCD monitors) to the LCD monitors built into the golf carts....a pop up in their LCD monitors would be nice...and much better than the stupid advertisements that pop up....

                      Typically though I shut off the phone or autoforward it when golfing.
                      - Pete

                      Auto mator
                      Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                      Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                      HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                      HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                      HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                      X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by Pete View Post
                        Yup; here used mine to know when to get off the golf course as the sirens never go off here in the area when there is much lighting....

                        I will probably just tape my phone to the LCD monitors built into the golf carts.

                        Typically though I shut off the phone or autoforward it when golfing.
                        I'm glad you found a constructive use for it, but is that about all it's good for?

                        The OP's post explains why I don't have much faith in ordinary surge suppressors. I confess I often do unplug our computers during lightning storms (which are usually short), as it seems like a simple enough precaution. Just wondering if or how it could be easily automated....
                        Last edited by NeverDie; April 11, 2014, 08:25 AM.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          You will see a huge increase in the lightning strikes per second if there is a funnel cloud or even a tornado touching down in the area. So you can mix variables here:

                          1 - Use the weather radio for the NOAA alert variable
                          2 - Use the internet NOAA alert (if timely)
                          3 - Validate the touch down of a tornado or even just a funnel cloud in the area looking at the spikes in the lightning. It will go from a thousand or so to a few thousand strikes per hour rate....
                          4 - Use the wind variable
                          5 - use the sudden barometric pressure changes variable

                          1+2+3+4 +5 plus a visual (using outdoor cams?).....then you will know the chances of your house blowing away from a tornado touch down.....but maybe you may not want to know if you are not in the vicinity?
                          Attached Files
                          Last edited by Pete; April 11, 2014, 08:34 AM.
                          - Pete

                          Auto mator
                          Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                          Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                          HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                          HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                          HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                          X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Pete View Post
                            You will see a huge increase in the lightning strikes per second if there is a funnel cloud or even a tornado touching down in the area. So you can mix variables here:

                            1 - Use the weather radio for the NOAA alert variable
                            2 - Use the internet NOAA alert (if timely)
                            3 - Validate the touch down of a tornado or even just a funnel cloud in the area looking at the spikes in the lightning. It will go from a thousand or so to a few thousand strikes per hour rate....
                            4 - Use the wind variable
                            5 - use the sudden barometric pressure changes variable

                            1+2+3+4 +5 plus a visual (using outdoor cams?).....then you will know the chances of your house blowing away from a tornado touch down.....but maybe you may not want to know if you are not in the vicinity?
                            That's interesting. Would, say, 80% of those strikes be co-located at the funnel cloud or tornado itself? If so, then knowing not just the existence of lighting strikes, but the distance also would be good to know. Is there an easy way to figure that without being part of the high-end lightning network that triangulates over great distances using their member stations?

                            If nothing else, I suppose you could do the old trick of counting time for thunder arrival after the flash to gauge distance. Are there better ways?

                            I've read some people are able to reliably photograph lightning by triggering their camera's shutter by using a photodiode to sense the very start of a lightning flash's arc. I have doubts about how well that might work in the daytime though.
                            Last edited by NeverDie; April 11, 2014, 12:40 PM.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Its still too new(?) and not enough sensors nor good enough sensors to be able to triangulate rates of lightning over distances....but you can play today...

                              The lightning sensor and spikes is mostly "cloud" lightning not seen at all rather just measured.....the above graph numbers recorded a spike to 180,000 per hour in the last 72 hours.

                              IE: Today; this morning; the sun is shining and there are only a few visible clouds....

                              Storms can have a lot of this type of lightning, and researchers have been working hard to understand how surges in it are related to severe weather events like tornadoes. What they are learning holds considerable promise to improve weather forecasters' ability to issue severe weather and tornado warnings earlier and more accurately.

                              "It's really clear that lightning data is very helpful for both our models and our forecasters," said Alexander MacDonald, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

                              Meteorologists still don't understand exactly how lightning relates to severe weather, but they know there is a strong correlation.
                              http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059982042

                              Visible lightning, that is. In fact, as Marshall explained, there actually was lightning, a whole lot of it, in the storm that caused the Moore tornado. It's just that most of it didn't hit the ground and was thus unseen by humans.

                              Earth Network's "Total Lightning Network" saw it, though. That's because this network, which consists of about 600 stations across the United States, has instruments that can track in-cloud lightning, the flashes that occur within a cloud and never make it to the ground.

                              Storms can have a lot of this type of lightning, and researchers have been working hard to understand how surges in it are related to severe weather events like tornadoes. What they are learning holds considerable promise to improve weather forecasters' ability to issue severe weather and tornado warnings earlier and more accurately.

                              "It's really clear that lightning data is very helpful for both our models and our forecasters," said Alexander MacDonald, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

                              Meteorologists still don't understand exactly how lightning relates to severe weather, but they know there is a strong correlation.
                              http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...nado-warnings/
                              Attached Files
                              Last edited by Pete; April 11, 2014, 09:18 AM.
                              - Pete

                              Auto mator
                              Homeseer 3 Pro - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e 64 bit Intel Haswell CPU 16Gb
                              Homeseer Zee2 (Lite) - 3.0.0.548 (Linux) - Ubuntu 18.04/W7e - CherryTrail x5-Z8350 BeeLink 4Gb BT3 Pro
                              HS4 Lite - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenovo Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram

                              HS4 Pro - V4.1.18.1 - Ubuntu 22.04 / Lenova Tiny M900 / 32Gb Ram
                              HSTouch on Intel tabletop tablets (Jogglers) - Asus AIO - Windows 11

                              X10, UPB, Zigbee, ZWave and Wifi MQTT automation-Tasmota-Espurna. OmniPro 2, Russound zoned audio, Alexa, Cheaper RFID, W800 and Home Assistant

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X