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| LSU 2002-LR This is the lightning sensor, encased in PVC and weatherproof. Mine is mounted on the very top of our TV Antenna Mast -- which is 40 feet above the ground. I have mine wired immediately to RG-58 coax cable which comes down the tower into the house. For the sensor to work properly and for lightning protection, the sensor must be grounded. Mine is grounded to the mast at the sensor/coax cable connection. The sensor cost me someplace around $45.00 from Stormwise.com |
| FIBER OPTIC CABLE The picture above is the fiber optic cable with IR emitter and receiver. It is used for safety purposes, 10' of fiber optic cable provides a non-metallic point in the circuit to block any possible lightning from entering the computer. The fiber optic cable pictured here was bought from Stormwise, but I'm not sure they sell this component anymore. However, there are substitues, any IR emitter and receiver placed a distance apart in darkness will work. (e.g. opposite ends of Christmas Wrapping Paper cardboard tubes) Not what I used, but a thought. |
| COMPUTER & SOFTWARE Between the LSU-2002LR and the computer is a simple circuit that is simple enough to build. I found a nice rechargable 12v battery and built mine inside an older plastic lunch box. Inside the box is also the fiber optic cable, but I admit my fiber optic cable is only a few inches long. (Since the laptop I use to count/graph the lightning is somewhere around 18 years old, and I have my sensor grounded well, I'm not too worried about stray lightning bolts.) The circuit then runs from the safe end of the fiber optic cable into the serial port of a spare computer. I'm using a 386 Compaq Laptop (circa 1986?) that has a 3.25" floppy drive (A:) and a 4096 Kb hard drive (C:) that runs MS-DOS Windows 3.1. I'm eternally grateful to my friend, whose mother found this laptop in the garbage and passed it on to me. However, it looks like you can find them on eBay for around $10.00. I found the above picture of one of the same models. The software from Stormwise (v.3) runs in DOS and is able to record data every minute to either the hard drive or the floppy. I can then delete files that contain boring data, or re-run interesting files and look a little closer at the data. The software also has built-in algorithms that attempt to look for signatures from Severe Thunderstorms, High Wind/Hail, or Possible Tornadoes. |
| HEIGHT & RANGE In the instruction pamphlet, Stormwise advised on height versus range of the lightning sensor. I'd imagine forests and hills play a part in limiting range, so I simply put mine as high up as I could, and tried to figure out how far my range was. Strong storms 100 miles away show up faintly, and storms within 40 miles show up very well. Between 100 and 40 miles away varies in storm strength. I use my sensor in conjunction with internet radar, and can often get a very good handle on storms in the region. But I'm finding out that hills to my north reduce my range in that direction. |
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| Noteworthy Storms Examle 1: 18 June 2001 -- Post-tornadic Supercell Example 2: 27 July 2002 -- Damaging Winds |
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| my lightning sensor |
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