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lightning detector
- 01-04-2007
- lentildude
January 4, 2007, 11:00 pm

Im trying to build a ligtning detector that flashes an led with each
strike.
Yes there are many circuits on the net, usually involve
transistors/fets but I want to do
this with no power source other than the lightning.
I was thinking of connecting an antenna to an audio transformer and
have the secondary connected to a led and perhaps zener. I dont want
to blow the led as Im trying to power it
with induced electricity. Yes I could just connect an NE2 neon to an
antenna and maybe have a cap across it but I specifically wana power a
led that eventually may be part of an optocoupler
and counter.
any good ideas appreciated

Re: lightning detector
why? I have been building a weather station from bits over the years,
the lightning
counter I want to pot in resin and dont want to fiddle with batteries.
I could have a solar panel/supercap powering a conventional circuit but
with so much electricity in the ether surely theres a reliable way to
induce some power to blink an led.
David L. Jones wrote:


Re: lightning detector

Maybe, but I wouldn't bother, as reliability would be hard to
determine.
Just build a proven low power circuit, power it from some lithium
cells, and pot the whole thing. It would not be unreasonable to expect
a 10 year battery life from such a setup.
If you really want, pot the batteries in a separate pack. Batteries die
in 5 years?, no problem, snip the wires and install a new pack. My
guess is you'd spend a lot less time installing a new battery pack
every 5 years than you would trying to design some self powered system
to work reliably.
You can get industrial primary lithium C or D size cells which have an
incredible energy density and super long life.
What will your "counter" be powered from?
Dave :)
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