The (tiny) AS3935 Breakout Board From PlayingWithFusion

The (tiny) AS3935 breakout board from PlayingWithFusion has (finally!) arrived!
I took the following Pics to show just how small this board is:

Next to a 9v battery clip

 Next to a transistor

I'd like to share the following link, which comes from The Techlib site. It is found under 'Reader's Projects'.

This gentlemen's 'Weather Related' projects are so nice, I actually started thinking about making my own PCBs:

TechLib - Reader's Projects
 
Unfortunately, Lennie does not have any PCB's for sale. He basically only makes the boards for his own projects.

Pleasantly surprised
Very recently, I learned that two different bat detector developers (who shall remain anonymous) are also interested in lightning detectors! One in The U.S. and one from Europe. It really brought joy to my heart!

I was very happy to see, that one of them had even made himself a unique lightning recorder, which has elements reminiscent of his bat detector design. 😀

I wish I had some of the amazing skills which these gentleman possess!

Season's Greetings, Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays!

I'm far from finished attempting the various, discrete-component circuits. But, I have ordered one of these:

SMD Lightning detector board (eBay)

It should be here in a day or two. Which gives me plenty of time to continue building these "Copper nail" projects.
I'm now going to move on to some non-Techlib circuits...Let's see what happens. Will post Pics here, either way.

Here's a link to the next circuit I'm going to try:

http://www.electroschematics.com - lightning detector

Simple Lightning Detector Circuits - Starting From The Beginning -

As previously stated, the main subject of this new blog will be Lightning Detectors - Over the past few weeks, I've been trying my hand at building some of Charles Wenzel's lightning detector circuits. Check-out the Techlib page for more details (specifically, this is the link to lightning detector circuits).

I've been building these (wood-based) projects, whenever possible. I'm sorry to report, that none of them have turned-out as expected. Or, to put it bluntly: None of them worked (indicator LED simply stayed on when power was applied).

In any case, here are some Pics of my results - In chronological order:

1st attempt...

...4th attempt...

 

A "desperate" very quick & sloppy (6th?) attempt - I tried building it the same way the designer once did. I did it by carefully examining the pics from the site.

Some other attempts aren't pictured. I really wanted to get one of Mr. Wenzel's original circuit designs to work...But, I was obviously doing something wrong.
I tried several variations: Applied power from different sources, as well as applying power at different points in the circuits, different antennas, and sources of simulated lightning, removed some (non-critical) connections/components, etc. All in the name of troubleshooting, to no avail though.

So now, I'll be moving on to some other writer's circuit designs. They're also very similar, in their style of construction (wood & Copper nails). Again, I'd really like to get one of these ("old-fashioned") designs to work, before I end up moving on to microcontroller-type detectors; commonly referred to as sensors...

Yes...The Arduino-based lightning detectors/sensors. Or, what I sometimes refer to as "the dark side". Why do I refer to it as "the dark side"? Because it has been my intention to fully test and explore the original, component-based circuits, before moving on to the more advanced stuff. I really like the simplicity and operation of these electronic circuits.
And not because the microcontroller sensors are more difficult. The reason, is more along the lines of (me) considering them high-tech shortcuts...Like "cheating" if you will.

The Arduino (and/or Raspberry Pi) based designs (as well as other similar [proprietary] designs) are not a challenge for me. Due to the fact that I was an "IT Guy" for over 15 years. In the meantime, I've been trying to keep track of things - a record of my attempts, in chronological order.

There will be plenty more to follow! Hopefully, some folks will find it interesting. And, this new blog will help me (in a small way) to document some snapshots of my progress, etc.
What I'm really hoping for, is for others to benefit from this blog. As always, I encourage visitors to please share! Please share thoughts, opinions, suggestions, your experiences, etc.

If you have a lightning detector related blog, page, group, etc. - Please let me know, I'll include it on the Links list. 

A Great Resource For Vintage Electronic Components

Here's an wonderful Link - which is an excellent example of the way I'd like to approach, appreciate (and showcase) vintage semiconductors.
I plan to fully discuss this topic here, in future posts.

Here's another, UK-based Link. Great stuff!

I believe that those great lightning detector circuits (by Charles Wenzel) would really look great, if built using vintage components.

The First Product To Be Reviewed - The AM-2 LPF

The first commercial product, which I'm slated to review here, is The AM-2 Low Pass Filter. Read about it here

Having owned & used more than one LPF in the past, I can tell you: They are indispensable tools when listening to longwave. Especially when trying to hear faint, Non-Directional Beacons.

First Post - Introduction

I am very excited to be writing my first post, on this brand-new blog! Right from the start, this blog is a little chaotic - Just like lightning itself - And maybe there's nothing wrong with that?
I state this, because although the main subject of this new blog will be Lightning Detectors - I want to include subjects & hobbies which (I believe) are closely related:

• LF (low frequency) DXing / Listening to longwave (including Non-Directional [Aero] Beacons).
• Electronics, Kit building/homemade circuits
• Taking a closer look at semiconductors/components (which are often fascinating in their own right).

I first became interested in lighting radar & detectors back in 2008. When I had the opportunity to get involved with this system, right around the time the experts first developed it. Note: 2008 was quite a while back, and it appears that the project was eventually abandoned:

Frank Kooiman's Lightning Radar 

I immediately ordered the two custom PCBs. However, not long after buying some of the parts, I became convinced that I probably had too much electrical noise here - And the system would register too many false positives 😢

This seemed to be the case even when testing out a simple $20 kit I built. I ended up giving the completed kit away, to someone who lived in a more rural suburb.

However, I've since decided to make it my mission, to prove that lightning detectors can

be used in a semi-urban environment. My ultimate goal, is to get one of these amazing systems to work properly:

Blitzortung

In the meantime, I've been keeping busy collecting links & Info on (relatively easy) DIY detectors to build... 

Recently, while searching around for another $20-type kit, I stumbled across this one - The builder used the plans from a DIY project as a guide, and built this masterpiece:

Celtic Cross Engineering 

Eventually, I plan to try building one of those elaborate versions myself... Although, I'm not very confident about the outcome 📐

Last, but not least - Here is the page which has inspired me a great deal recently:

TECHLIB

The above link is a must-see! It's excellent - and it is what prompted me to create this blog.

I'll be building the circuit featured on the TechLib site - I did not have many of the needed components in my parts bags (except for the resistors). But, was able to locate the rest of the parts on eBay. ...Just waiting for them to arrive.

I already have a couple of small projects here, that I've been wanting to build.

More to follow!