Newbie with a Ecowitt

[Iceash]

Hey all!

I’ve just bought a Ecowitt weather station, it was an active lightning detector built in.

Can I upload my data to the network?

[Eric.Wouters]

No, you can't upload data that isn't from the hardware from BO. Your Ecowitt has just a detector (Franklin chip most probably) you can consider early warning but it has no timestamp (GPS level) and can't be used to triangulate and it has no notion of direction at all. It does a decent job but not for this network. Sorry.

[Iceash]

No, you can't upload data that isn't from the hardware from BO. Your Ecowitt has just a detector (Franklin chip most probably) you can consider early warning but it has no timestamp (GPS level) and can't be used to triangulate and it has no notion of direction at all. It does a decent job but not for this network. Sorry.

That’s fair, are there any Off the shelf thing I can buy?

[fuchswetter]

No, you can't upload data that isn't from the hardware from BO. Your Ecowitt has just a detector (Franklin chip most probably) you can consider early warning but it has no timestamp (GPS level) and can't be used to triangulate and it has no notion of direction at all. It does a decent job but not for this network. Sorry.

That’s fair, are there any Off the shelf thing I can buy?

Hello Iceash.

Check out these links: https://www.blitzortung.org/de/cover_your_area.php and https://www.limaps.org/hardware.html
Here you'll find all the information you need about the hardware required and what's currently available. You'll have to get the GPS receiver and antenna elsewhere or build the antenna yourself.

Marcel

[AA5H]

Eric:

Same for me......I have an Ecowitt, and the commercial detectors are hugely expensive.

My 70ft Amateur Radio tower in the middle of Tornado Alley in Oklahoma. Accurate and early lightning detection is vital.  I've sent emails requesting a kit, but from what I understand, the lead is busy with the recent hack and other matters and won't be available for a month or two.

I'm going to depend on my Ecowitt in the meantime; its use is limited as it's difficult to tell the direction and heading of strikes.   I can pull strike data from Blitzortung, but there is no other active station within 400 miles of my tower; I'm hoping to fill that gap.  I have a co-located NWS MESONET station on my land that helps pinpoint storm cells and rotation, but lightning strikes can proceed or lag behind supercell radar images.

Brian, AA5H