Author Topic: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?  (Read 20595 times)

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Offline MacGarage

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #125 on: October 10, 2018, 07:52:45 PM »
My Amazon one shipped from Petersburg, VA

The replacement from NEW BERLIN, WI.

It will be interesting to see if there is a difference.

I too want to like the unit but.....

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Offline Neil_O

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #126 on: October 10, 2018, 07:55:59 PM »
Yep; I'm positive the fan was running.  The Atlas was in direct sunlight and I could hear the fan running.  However, the fan was much quieter today than when I first heard it during initial installation.

Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #127 on: October 10, 2018, 08:01:40 PM »
I'll keep an eye on your situation Neil_o, if yours does alright through a day I may see how mine performs after sitting out a week. I wouldn't mind a stray false strike (not that I would like it) here and there as long as I could tell real strikes due to a higher count.

Offline worachj

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #128 on: October 10, 2018, 08:39:00 PM »
The replacement from NEW BERLIN, WI.

It will be interesting to see if there is a difference.


New Berlin, Wi is about 40 miles from AcuRite's Lake Geneva, WI headquarters and is probably their shipping point.


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Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #129 on: October 10, 2018, 09:33:12 PM »
According to this amazon reviewer an external battery box fixed his lightning problem. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3UKZQB2DK8JV6/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_btm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B074XKB239#wasThisHelpful

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #130 on: October 10, 2018, 09:43:56 PM »
According to this amazon reviewer an external battery box fixed his lightning problem. https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3UKZQB2DK8JV6/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_btm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B074XKB239#wasThisHelpful

I can't see a remote battery box doing anything to fix a lightning module related problem.

Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #131 on: October 10, 2018, 09:54:19 PM »
Thanks for the input nincehelser, I was wondering if you might have seen anything in you tear down that would relate to this. Maybe it was just a break in period for the motor on his? I don't know. I guess next I will disconnect the panels/uv sensor cable you showed me to rule out solar panels being the culprit. A hurricane is coming my way so it will be a few days till I have good sun again for testing.

Offline nincehelser

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #132 on: October 10, 2018, 10:41:44 PM »
Thanks for the input nincehelser, I was wondering if you might have seen anything in you tear down that would relate to this. Maybe it was just a break in period for the motor on his? I don't know. I guess next I will disconnect the panels/uv sensor cable you showed me to rule out solar panels being the culprit. A hurricane is coming my way so it will be a few days till I have good sun again for testing.

I'm not sure about the motor break-in, but maybe.

After watching the AS3935 video I posted earlier in this thread, I wonder if some lightning sensors may have a different noise floor setting. 

Maybe a particular setting is required to avoid motor noise?


Offline MacGarage

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #133 on: October 11, 2018, 12:00:40 PM »
While I am waiting for a new Atlas sensor, I am noticing the false strikes, while much lower in number, are still occurring on cool, cloudy days now. This is with the replacement lightning sensor.

So for me, it seems to be getting worse instead of better. Hopefully, the new Atlas will be here this weekend and the problem will be solved.

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Offline MacGarage

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #134 on: October 13, 2018, 01:40:47 PM »
Well...no luck here with the replacement Atlas.

Within about two hours of installing it, on a cool but very sunny day, I received the first lightning strike. Once the direct sun got on the unit, they seemed to start up again.

My replacement one seemed to be a refurb as it has scratches and it looked to be used lightly.

Very disappointing and also upsetting about how much time I have lost on this new unit (and expensive).

I will forward my results back to Acurite and see what they say but my Amazon return for a refund is just about here. I really do not have time to keep dealing with this.

Edit: My replacement one came from AcuRite and my original one came from Amazon.a
« Last Edit: October 13, 2018, 09:58:50 PM by MacGarage »
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Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #135 on: October 13, 2018, 06:16:55 PM »
MacGarage looks like your experience has been about the same as mine with 2 bad units plus you tried another lightning sensor. I let mine run today with the solar panel ribbon cable disconnected and got no false strikes so I have removed most doubt of it being anything but the fan. With us combined being 4 for 4 bad I really think there must be a high rate of defective atlas weather stations.
I sent this to acurite today "I am on my 2nd weather atlas and both have had the same issue of false lightning strikes, I have tried them both with lithium and alkaline batteries. I have also tried them in different areas of my yard. The problem only occurs in direct sunlight and does not happen if I cover the solar panels. I have seen others with the same problem and was wondering if you may be developing a fix or if I need to return my 2nd one."

Offline daman

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #136 on: October 13, 2018, 07:53:52 PM »
Well...no luck here with the replacement Atlas.

Within about two hours of installing it, on a cool but very sunny day, I received the first lightning strike. Once the direct sun got on the unit, they seemed to start up again.

My replacement one seemed to be a refurb as it has starches and it looked to be used lightly.

Very disappointing and also upsetting about how much time I have lost on this new unit (and expensive).

I will forward my results back to Acurite and see what they say but my Amazon return for a refund is just about here. I really do not have time to keep dealing with this.
Yikes!  #-o

I don't think I'll be getting one from Amazon I don't want someone's used unit!
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Offline Storm017

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #137 on: October 14, 2018, 10:17:45 AM »
Thanks for the input nincehelser, I was wondering if you might have seen anything in you tear down that would relate to this. Maybe it was just a break in period for the motor on his? I don't know. I guess next I will disconnect the panels/uv sensor cable you showed me to rule out solar panels being the culprit. A hurricane is coming my way so it will be a few days till I have good sun again for testing.

I'm not sure about the motor break-in, but maybe.

After watching the AS3935 video I posted earlier in this thread, I wonder if some lightning sensors may have a different noise floor setting. 

Maybe a particular setting is required to avoid motor noise?
I have a couple of stand alone AS3935 boards, each board has a different Tune Cap values which needs to be set.  I do have different noise floor settings on both boards. Comparing the AS3935 boards to two 06045M detectors, it seems the boards are better in detecting strikes and producing less false strikes.  In my opinion, I think that is due to fine tuning the boards to the environment they are located in.

Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #138 on: October 14, 2018, 10:31:05 AM »
Here is a post on an atlas that is reading to high of temps in the sun but has no false lightning strikes, sounds like their fan is not running to me. https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=35274.new#new

Offline MacGarage

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #139 on: October 14, 2018, 11:09:26 AM »
I also noticed the rain measurement is off again on the replacement unit...I do not believe a customer should constantly need to work on a brand new, upscale unit.

This is the first false strike after setting up the replacement unit...it is cool but direct sunshine in the afternoon.



This is the first day for the replacement Atlas:



I can hear the fan running despite it being cool out.

Judging from the shape of the unit I received from AcuRite, I wonder if they just shipped me someone's return.



« Last Edit: October 14, 2018, 12:53:39 PM by MacGarage »
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Offline jstephens1

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #140 on: October 15, 2018, 12:01:00 PM »
i'll chime in with a positive report. i ordered mine from Amazon and have not had any false lighting strikes  in the past 7 days i've owned it

Offline galfert

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #141 on: October 15, 2018, 01:20:14 PM »
i'll chime in with a positive report. i ordered mine from Amazon and have not had any false lighting strikes  in the past 7 days i've owned it

Oh look the Acurite shills are coming in for damage control....  =D>  Relax I'm just kidding.  :grin:  Welcome to the forum. Glad you got a good one. That is promising that hopefully this will pass and quality control hopefully will improve and the Atlas Elite will come out without problems. I really want the Atlas Elite to be perfect. Fingers crossed.
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Offline jstephens1

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #142 on: October 15, 2018, 01:25:50 PM »
I've been around for many years, either i forgot my login account or just never posted :)

Offline havtrail

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #143 on: October 15, 2018, 05:01:21 PM »
Welcome anyway. A positive posting with good news is always welcome here...

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Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #144 on: October 15, 2018, 05:53:11 PM »
jstephens1 do you know if your fan is running?

Offline SkellyCA

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #145 on: October 17, 2018, 11:29:58 PM »
I did get some false strikes yesterday on the Atlas. None on the stand alone sensor.

Atlas showed 255 strikes yesterday morning. Closest was 7 miles away @ 7:23. Which puts these strikes just after sunrise.

So maybe our thinning ozone layer is letting in to much radiation?  :shock:
(That's a joke btw)
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Offline John Z

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #146 on: October 20, 2018, 12:03:07 PM »
I've been running a new Atlas for about a week. Yesterday I recorded 14 false lightning strikes. They occured under bright sunshine and clear skies. I took a fine little radio receiver to my outdoor device and tuned it to the frequency that the lightning detector listens at. I expected to hear noise from the motor. Nope, none detected, even as the fan spun madly. I did hear some of the blurps and bleeps that happen when the internal electronics computes and transmits, but I do not think they matter. The AcuRite engineers almost certainly mute the lightning detector to protect it from hearing that stuff.

Reviewing yesterday's data again this morning I realized that the period of false lightning also coincided with a period of rather low humidity.

 At the moment I'm thinking that the spinning fan blade can build up a static charge and an occasional discharge might register as lightning.  Think Van de Graaff generator. It's a known issue with fans, and is dealt with by incorporating anti-static materials in the blade plastic. I'll be testing this idea a few different ways, and will report back when I draw a conclusion.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2018, 12:50:38 PM by John Z »

Offline beamd

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #147 on: October 20, 2018, 03:35:58 PM »
Mine would register false strikes in the 100s each day. Going by your theory what is yours mounted too. Every location I tried was the supplied mount attached to wood which would offer no grounding.

Offline John Z

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #148 on: October 20, 2018, 03:59:21 PM »
My Atlas is mounted to an elevated deck railing using the plastic fixture provided.

Also, an update. I took my radio to the outdoor unit again this morning. I CAN here the fan motor noise, but only at frequencies below about 250 khz. The lightning detector listens at 500 khz. Both my new unit and a beta Atlas sound the same. I have had no issues with false lightning on the beta Atlas.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2018, 11:05:58 AM by John Z »

Offline DoctorKnow

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Re: Atlas Lightning Sensor Vs. Stand Alone Lightning Sensor?
« Reply #149 on: October 21, 2018, 09:09:35 AM »
John Z,

I still have not received my production Atlas... Has everyone already gotten theirs?
I  cannot imagine what Chaney could have changed between Beta and production that would have introduced these lightning issues? Even during winter when the air was very dry, I did not have fake lightning.
« Last Edit: October 21, 2018, 09:11:51 AM by DoctorKnow »