Stormvue Accuracy

[Wet'n'Dry]

Hi all, before joining this forum I would log into various sites using Stormvue software and Boltec lightning detectors.

I won't mention any in particular but what I have noticed is that they all differ in direction, distance, and strikes recorded.

Is there any one in particular that is accurate? I appreciate they are funded by enthusiasts and amatuer radio enthusiasts of which I am, but it is confusing when the data is so different from one to another.

Apologies if this has been asked before, a link to the answer would be very appreciated.

[Paul]

Single boltek detectors can be dodgy whenever there's any distance from the strike to the unit, so many of those sites are great if you're local to them, but not so great otherwise.

Have a try of the strikestar detector here on netweather - it has 30+ detectors tied into it and triangulates the strikes for more accuracy:

http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=lightning;sess=

[Wet'n'Dry]

Thanks Paul. I visited that site earlier today when the storms were brewing but the 5-15 minute update was offputting and the subscription service sent me packing!

I logged into about 5 different stormvue sites this afternoon, although they all showed the lightning activity and storm data, they were all over the place. Surely there must be at least one that's accurate!

[MBaines]

One of the big problems recently (last couple of years) has been the lack of good storms, to calibrate ranging on the system. Single detector units, will normally get the direction to the storm near enough correct, but they cannot really tell the difference between a strong storm distant to the detector, or a weaker storm close to the detector.

During some of the storms today, I noticed for the first time what looked like a reflection - another "false storm 180 degrees away from actual storm at the same distance", I cant remember seeing that on my detector before. I have recently updated the detector software, which is running on "default" ranging settings until a few good well defined storms are available for calibrating the system. Although there have been some storms today, many could not be used for calibration, as the strikes from them were fairly well spread out.

[Wet'n'Dry]

One of the big problems recently (last couple of years) has been the lack of good storms, to calibrate ranging on the system. Single detector units, will normally get the direction to the storm near enough correct, but they cannot really tell the difference between a strong storm distant to the detector, or a weaker storm close to the detector.

During some of the storms today, I noticed for the first time what looked like a reflection - another "false storm 180 degrees away from actual storm at the same distance", I cant remember seeing that on my detector before. I have recently updated the detector software, which is running on "default" ranging settings until a few good well defined storms are available for calibrating the system. Although there have been some storms today, many could not be used for calibration, as the strikes from them were fairly well spread out.

Any chance of a link to your site if you have one?

One of the sites I regularly visit has not been updated since 2008, I reckon a lot of people know what site I'm talking about, but if it's not calibrated regularly it's as much use as a chocolate teapot !!!

[MBaines]

There is now a link to my Stormvue page on "Peterborough weather" link listed on the link Paul gave above (under the "Where are the lightning detectors which send data to the Netweather.tv StrikeStar network?" question)

[The PIT]

I wouldn't say it's the fault of the hardware, although they'll some limitations, but problems more with software. Too range a storm I need a plenty of strikes, ranging varies also depending on the time of year and the time of day. You also need regular updates of the radar and these aren't available in the UK. So using the radar still helps a lot but you still could be few miles out at the end of the day.

Other things I noticed when a storm gets close this prevents the boltek getting a fix on other storms so some storms won't appear and won't be tracked at all.