BOLTEK CORPORATION Lightning Detection StormTracker Lightning Detector with PCI style receiver card Installation/Operators Guide SEE NOTICES ON REVERSE
BOLTEK LIGHTNING DETECTION StormTracker Lightning Detector Disclaimer StormTracker lightning data is only approximate and should not be used for safety applications. Strike and storm locations indicated and alarm statuses may be erroneous and should not be used to safeguard personnel, equipment or data.
TABLE OF CONTENTS SOFTWARE LICENSE ........................................................................................... IV LIMITATION OF LIABILITY ............................................................................... IV WARRANTY ............................................................................................................ IV INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 INSTALLATION........................
Software License Boltek grants to customer a non-exclusive, paid-up license to use the Boltek Corp. software on one computer, subject to the following provisions: a) Except as otherwise provided in this Software License, applicable copyright laws shall apply to the software. b) Title to the medium on which the software is recorded or stored is transferred to customer but not title to the software.
Introduction Congratulations on your purchase of the StormTracker Lightning Detector. You will find StormTracker to be a useful tool in determining if there is lightning in your area, finding the location of storms, and determining whether storms are coming your way. StormTracker uses a direction-finding antenna to receive and locate the radio signals produced by lightning. The strength of the received signal is used to calculate approximately how far the strike is away.
1 Chapter Installation Installation consists of three stages: 1) Installing the receiver board in the computer 2) Installing software onto your hard disk 3) Installing the antenna and routing the cable StormTracker – PCI Installation Instructions There are three steps to installing your new PCI StormTracker card: 1. Installing the StormTracker – PCI receiver card in your computer. 2. Installing the lightning display software (NexStorm/Lightning2000). 3. Installing the Windows device driver.
Installing the Antenna The antenna is housed in a small black plastic box that must be mounted vertically on a non-metallic support. The antenna cable plugs into the bottom of the antenna housing. When mounting the antenna ensure the correct side of the antenna faces north. The cable plugs into the bottom of the antenna with the front of the antenna facing north. The front of the antenna corresponds to the top of the computer screen.
LIGHTNING Receiving lightning signals does not cause lightning to strike. Your LD-250 antenna is less likely to be struck by lightning than your anemometer, since the antenna does not need to be above the roof line. Still though you must exercise common sense when choosing a location for your antenna. If you mount the antenna on a ten foot pole on the highest point on your roof, with no trees or television tower nearby you are asking for lightning to strike.
The antenna may be mounted with nylon cable ties, or with nylon bolts through the mounting flanges (available at a hardware store). Do not use steel screws to mount your antenna, as the antenna must not be near any metal objects. If mounting the antenna outdoors, care must be taken to protect the antenna connector from moisture. While the antenna is completely waterproof the antenna connector must be sheltered from rain.
Antenna Mounting Suggestion – Outdoor End Cap Antenna ABS or PVC Pipe Antenna Mounting Suggestion - Outdoor End Cap Antenna ABS or PVC Pipe Tower Clamps Elbow At least 36" 6 TRACKING STORMS
Antenna Mounting Suggestion - Attic Antenna Antenna Mounting Examples Here an antenna is mounted in an attic. PVC plumbing hardware is used to attach the antenna to the framing. The vertical pipe is not cemented to allow the antenna to be rotated slightly for fine-tuning direction. The front of the antenna must face exactly north.
Here an antenna is mounted in a shed using PVC plumbing hardware purchased at a local hardware store. The antenna is attached using nylon cable ties. Here the antenna is attached to the drywall in the second floor bedroom of a house. The antenna is mounted on the wall using PVC plumbing hardware purchased at a local hardware store. The antenna is attached to the PVC pipe with nylon screws. The vertical piece of PVC pipe is not cemented so that the antenna can be rotated to fine-tune the direction.
Here the antenna is mounted to the side of a pole using ABS sewer pipe. The mast is 1 ½ inch PVC while the container for the detector is 3 inch PVC mounted to a tripod on the roof.
A Appendix Troubleshooting Problem: There is a very high noise count. Reason: There is something producing noise in the low frequency range StormTracker uses to detect lightning. It is most likely an electrical device near the antenna. StormTracker is a radio receiver sensitive to all sources of radio frequency energy. Lightning is one source but there are many others.
If the noise continues despite the shielding, unplug the antenna cable from the receiver board. If the noise continues the receiver board is picking up noise from other boards in your computer. You will have to change the position of the board in your computer. Increase the separation between the StormTracker board and any other board. Or try placing different boards next to the StormTracker board. Do not place the computer's video board next to the StormTracker board.
Problem: Very few strikes are displaying on the screen even though the strike count is very high, when in Display Recent Activity or Display Archived Data. Reason: You are trying to display strike data faster than your computer is capable, with Skip Strikes turned on. In an attempt to keep up with the fast display rate the program is skipping over strike data rather than displaying it. There are so many strikes to display that you are skipping more strikes than you are displaying.
B Appendix Making an Antenna Cable The LD-250 uses standard Category 5 (Cat5) 10baseT network cable for the antenna cable. You can purchase a replacement antenna cable from any computer store selling network hardware. Antenna cables may be up to 200 feet long. If you have access to a crimper for RJ-45 connectors and a source of RJ-45 connectors and Category 5 network cable you can make your own custom antenna cable. Making your own cable means you are able to pull the cable through conduits, walls, etc.
The actual color positions do not matter as long as you use the same color assignments on both ends, and you split the pairs correctly. The wire color assignments we use is POSITION 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PAIR 3 3 2 1 1 2 4 4 COLOR White/Green Green White/Orange Blue White/Blue Orange White/Brown Brown You can have up to 200 feet of antenna cable without using a separate antenna power supply.
