Prior to purchasing my WH57, I had read the problems associated with single sensor lightning detection, particularly the difficulty of differentiating between strong signal at great distance and weak signal at closer distance.
I ended up purchasing out of curiosity, rather than the expectation of receiving a trouble free detector.
I have to admit, that I personally, have been pleasantly surprised.
My only issue, was that I had to wait over 3 months before I had any lightning to detect.
Anallysis of my weewx data dump (taken before my most recent strikes)
Count Distance(Miles) Distance (Km) Step
55 24.85484768 40
32 22.9907341 37 3
61 21.12662053 34 3
39 19.26250695 31 3
44 16.77702218 27 4
40 14.91290861 24 3
14 12.42742384 20 4
30 10.56331026 17 3
8 8.699196688 14 3
7 7.456454304 12 2
1 6.21371192 10 2
1 3.728227152 6 4
1 3.10685596 5 1
Now, in the UK the met office publishes an observation map, where lightning stikes can be selected.
The position is based on triangulation from multiple sensors.
I've found that the distance is surprisingly accurate.
Further, the detector has recorded a strike at nearly 50 miles (recorded at the max distance of 25 miles).
My GSD detection system has proved terribly inefficient, their limit appears to be 7 miles.
Perhaps I need to get the vet to tune their antenna
I have posted that I now use weewx to log and graph "signal reliability".
Further I've noticed a strange behaviour.
The WH57, WH32, and WH31/WN30 sensors all share the same body, and presumably the same transmission module, but maybe not the same aerial.
2 of my WH31 are located in my 2 greenhouses, 1 of these sensors is at the furthest reach of my property.
They also get cold at night. They only ever drop to the equivalent of 3 bars on the signal graphic.
My WH57 and WH32EP have proved more of a problem despite being much closer to my gateway
My WH57 is located in my conservatory approx 12 feet from the back wall of the house (my only false strikes were my mobile phone and my laptop).
I found that both of these sensors lose signal during the night when the temperature drops to about 10C/50F.
They both have fresh energiser lithiums.
The WH57 was effectively offline for several hours.
In each case, rotating the sensor body around its vertical axis, such that the left hand side of the body (viewed from the front) is facing the gateway, has improved the issue. Both sensors still drop to the equivalent of 2 bars.
For reference, all my soil moisture sensors have the coiled wire fix (and behave themselves), my WS80 rarely dips and my WH40 occasionally dips to 3 bars. Both of these are also located about 80 feet from the gateway.
This post comes with no guarantees, but if like Aircub, you have not recorded strikes, it might be worth trying a slight relocation and/or re-orientation.
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