2015-05-14, 16:49
(2015-05-14, 14:27)Nova01 Wrote: I operate a system red detector to provide coverage for northern Arizona and Southwestern USA. I can always operate at a gain of 8 X 4 X 40, and when there is no local electrical interference I can increase the gain to 8 X 10 X 40. I use the ferrite rod antennas supplied with the system red.
The higher gain setting allows detection of very distant lightning, but higher gain does not appear to be as sensitive to nearby lightning.
Does a high gain setting result in nearby lightning overloading the system red? Have others experienced this problem? What gain settings seem to work best for you?
Thank you,
Joe
Flagstaff, Arizona
Hi Joe,
I think the best answer is to go for the (relatively) nearby strikes. When the distance increases the radiosignal by the lightning changes a bit, and the accuracy decreases, due to relection of the signal. And very nearby strikes (<100 km) is also not accurate, due to the pre-discharges, where lightning "finds a path". This pre-discharge is ahead of the real lightningstrike. So the 100 to 1000 range should be ideal for the system as a whole!
Gerhard