Lightning Detector Circuits
27 comments
·July 14, 2025bri3d
PaulHoule
Better yet, this network
https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=ses;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;
triangulates lightning strikes detected by this method. Right now I see a front moving between the Triple Cities area and Scranton.
detourdog
I'm interested in this type of device in a boating situation. The network based systems wouldn't work for me.
Can somebody provide clarity on if any of the boards really work?
It seems that bri3d has faith in the ScioSense.
bitwrangler
Here is a board ready to use:
https://www.sparkfun.com/sparkfun-lightning-detector-as3935....
dylan604
I was heavily involved with the local soccer community, and as a coach/referee I carried my own detector that I paid less for a ready to go version than this DIY shield. I was not going to depend on someone else's gear functioning when these were so cheap.
Neywiny
I was considering one of these recently. By chance do you have any feedback on how well it works relative to the detection and the storm front tracking?
gh02t
I hate these chips after a multi-year crusade to get one to work. I've bought 3 different variations of it on breakout boards (SparkFun, DFRobot, and another one off of Tindie) and spent 10s of hours fiddling with them trying to get them to work with no luck. That includes multiple attempts at tuning the antenna and calibrating the capacitance, tuning all the other detection parameters, multiple different microcontrollers, several different power supplies and physical arrangements etc in case of interference. Anything and everything I could think of and test.
Everything I did failed and I have never been able to get anything other than noise out of these sensors at best. YMMV, as I know these chips have a history of problems but supposedly do actually work. After I finally gave up on these things I ended up getting an Acurite 06045M, a cheapo SDR dongle, and a Pi Zero W running rtl_433 for like $60 and that has worked perfectly for years and is fairly straightforward to plug into Home Assistant over MQTT. It very reliably detects strikes and gives a pretty good estimate of distance (but NOT bearing), plus you get an outdoor temp/humidity sensor for free.
I think the 06045M might actually use the AS3935 internally so presumably you can get them to work and when they do work they work very well, but nothing I could do as a (pretty advanced and well-equipped) hobbyist could make them work, and I've heard others had similar issues with them. So maybe stick to buying something commercial with it inside?
bri3d
Yes, that Acurite sensor and the one I have connected to my weather setup (Shenzhen Fine Offset / Ambient Weather) are all AS3935 based. I also have an Aliexpress "JMCU" AS3935 breakout/antenna board that I bought to play with after being pleased with the Ambient Weather sensor, and it seems to work OK to me as well - I had to tune the watchdog thresholds and gain to eliminate false positives, but after doing so it works great.
Neywiny
Hmmm so they're fiddly is what it comes down to. I was thinking of the one from Mikroe. The 06045M has the same 40km as that chip so I believe the other commentor that it's the same chip. Thanks
panki27
Real time, community sourced lightning map: https://www.blitzortung.org/
Posted this some time ago, but it got no traction :(
progbits
On one hand I really like that project and what they do, but on the other hand I hate how it's managed.
I was very excited about it over ten years ago and wanted to join the network. They are very weird about not releasing the designs and code, and instead want you to get it from them. Fair enough, but then they don't produce and ship units. I signed up for a waiting list like 10 years ago, with many others. They kept promising a new design, but never delivered it, and didn't let anyone else do so. I never heard back from them about the waiting list.
They are also restrictive about access to the data if you are not in the network, with reasons like it's too expensive. That might have been true 10-15 years ago, but today it's just silly.
It's a shame, I think there is lot of potential to make a better community and more usable free apps around this data. But you would have to start a new network from scratch because these people are not interested in that.
null
LargoLasskhyfv
Well. I bookmarked it now. Seems to have got an update, since the last time I looked at it. Meaning it just works. But not necessarily better than the lighntingmaps.org I've used instead. Different styles for the same thing. Will check in the future from Hamburg, .de and Aspen, CO how accurate it really is.
forsalebypwner
My understanding is that lightningmaps.org is owned/operated by Blitzortung (see the upper right corner of lightningmaps.org).
LargoLasskhyfv
Could be, I seem to recall some relationship. It was just that blitzortung didn't work right for me. While lightningmaps did. Anyways. That's from years (maybe 10?) ago.
Maybe my browser just got better? Who knows :-)
By working right, I mean whenever I see flickering from afar, or hearing the first rolling of thunder, clicking on it without much fuss, maybe zooming out, shifting a little, zooming back in and seeing what's going on where instantly.
Which in the context of larger storms works even better in kachelmannwetter.com, because there it's embedded in other data, and projected where it moves/arrives in how many minutes in easily understandable symbology. But that's for Germany only. Useless for Colorado. Havn't found something comparable for there, so far. Would be mostly useless anyways, because weather at 2600+ m altitude changes faster. Or can.
ortusdux
Makes me think of the World Wide Lightning Location Network
> We welcome offers of hosting a new WWLLN lightning sensor. All hosts receive all the world-wide data for their own research.
JKCalhoun
I remember seeing an overly simplified lightning detector presented in a book: just an antenna, Neon bulb and a ground wire. I thought it was too simple to work.
Here it is discussed though by someone who tried it (and improved it):
https://www.angelfire.com/oh3/ebjoew/Charged_Cloud_Alert.htm...
(Ha ha, angelfire)
Arch-TK
Skip the perfboard with nails and you would have had an actual breadboard... What a weird prototyping approach... Nails in a perfboard... Never seen it before.
MisterTea
Its an interesting take on old-school point-to-point wiring using turrets:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point-to-point_construction
https://entertaininghacks.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/prototypi...
I assume the author liked the idea and used the perfbaord/punchboard as a grid.
dylan604
I have plenty of PoCs that were built from whatever lumber I happened to have available. It's much faster than waiting for something to 3D print. A DIYer's garage without scraps of various cuts of lumber is just broken.
colechristensen
Honestly I really like the low tech steampunk? kind of vibe of nails in a board.
Ductapemaster
I spent a LOT of time on this website as a 90's kid. One of many that inspired me to get an EE degree. Projects like this always felt like some incredible magic, and came with an artistic aesthetic that I find inescapably captivating. We've instead got little bits of black epoxy everywhere these days and it's just not the same!
rkagerer
Love to hear ideas on what you'd wire this up to - eg. What kind of device or process do you want to trigger once lightning is detected?
nateb2022
Usually, lightning detection is necessary for regulatory compliance. Facilities with pools need to remove patrons to prevent risk of electrocution, summer camps need to move people to enclosed shelters, as with golf courses, construction sites, beaches/waterfronts, etc.
cxcorp
A camera! The 2.5mm TRS remote trigger jack just needs one of the pins connected to the sleeve to trigger the camera, very easy to do with an optocoupler or even relay.
null
I was recently introduced to fully integrated lightning sensor ICs: https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/a/ams/as3935-fr... - supply it a repurposed RFID coil and it will tell you when it detects lightning and how far the storm front is. I have one in my weather station just for fun, but it's a highly practical device for golf courses, swimming pools, sporting facilities, etc. where knowing how far away lightning is is operationally important.