Lightning - page 5 - General Help and Assistance on using CHDK stable releases - CHDK Forum

Lightning

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Offline colinbm

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  • Canons S2IS Infrared, S5IS, A570 pair, SIGMA DP2
Re: Lightning
« Reply #40 on: 03 / July / 2010, 11:43:50 »
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Yikes !
Talk about being thrown into the deep end !
I haven't learn't to walk yet.
OK we will see what comes out of it.
Thanks for all the help, I am learning a lot.
Cheers
Col

Re: Lightning
« Reply #41 on: 03 / July / 2010, 22:25:16 »
@colinbm,

""When you are up to your "rear end" in alligators, it is difficult to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp.""

Actually, it is not as difficult as it sounds. At the moment my workbench is a mess due to being used as a storage room. That is what happens when a person decides to renovate a house. When I have time I will build the circuits.

Take a look at:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html
http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/LM555.html#2

(if the second line comes up as 404 error, cut and paste will take you to the web page)

All you need is a free running 555 timer and inhibit the timing until there is a pulse from the RF receiver.
I will have to look at my 555 timer collection. If I find the circuit I will upload it to the forum.

I was reading one of the radio amateur sites; to make the RF detector directional, the guys use a cheap aluminium pie dish mounted behind the antenna and point it in the direction of the lightning strike. Insulate the antenna mounting and connect the dish to zero volts. It also increases the signal strength.

I suggest purchasing a small electronics breadboard from Jaycar. They come in handy for electronics experimenting; especially when the components need to be varied.

The hard part is working out the trigger rate for the camera. One of the programmers may be able to assist.   

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Offline colinbm

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  • Canons S2IS Infrared, S5IS, A570 pair, SIGMA DP2
Re: Lightning
« Reply #42 on: 04 / July / 2010, 02:15:32 »
Thanks thepanoguy
Actually "up to your "rear end" in alligators" is my normal state.
This will put me "up to my ear hole in salties" :-))

Now just to make sure that I am up to speed, here is a list of the parts that I have used for the Lightning Detector & RF Probe.

Lightning Detector
http://electroschematics.com/1021/lightning-detctor/
C1- 100pF-Jaycar RC5324.
C2- 470pF-Jaycar RC5332.
C3- 10nF or 0.01uF-Jaycar RM7065.
C4- 4n7 or 4.7nF or 0.0047uF-Jaycar RM7047.
C5 & 6- 47uF- Jaycar RZ6574 X 2.
R1-10mO-Jaycar RR1672.
R2- 33kO-Jaycar RR0632.
R3- 100kO-Jaycar RR0620.
R4- 15kO-Jaycar RR0600.
R5- 33kO-Jaycar RR0608.
D1- 1N4148-Jaycar ZR1100.
D2- LED- old stock ?
TR1, 2, 3- BC109C ?-Jaycar ZT2298 X 3.
VR1- 10k Trim Pot-Jaycar RT4360.
WD1- Piezo Buzzer-Jaycar AB3462.
9volt Battery & clips with leads.

RF Probe
http://sound.westhost.com/project74.htm
C1- 47pF-Jaycar RC5312.
C2- 1nF-Jaycar RG5010.
R1- 10kO-Jaycar RR0596.
D1- OA91 (Germanium)-Jaycar ZR1141.
Co-Axial cable, Banana Plugs X2, Alligator Clip & nail.

Cheers
Col



Re: Lightning
« Reply #43 on: 05 / July / 2010, 22:07:42 »
@colinbm,

House renovations are getting in the way. At the moment I have just one nostril protruding from the mud and the alligators are taking large chunks out of my rear end.

Thanks; I saved the page for reference. I know that I have archived a 555 timer circuit ideally suited for the application. I just have to find it.   

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Offline colinbm

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  • Canons S2IS Infrared, S5IS, A570 pair, SIGMA DP2
Re: Lightning
« Reply #44 on: 06 / July / 2010, 03:18:48 »
You keep up with the good work on the renovations.
This photography stuff is recreational :-)
Cheers
Col

Re: Lightning
« Reply #45 on: 06 / July / 2010, 03:42:13 »
@colinbm

It feels like I have been cursed.
The fun in life is getting sidelined by the jobs that I hate doing.
Maybe I may have just offended the recreational Gods.

Did you manage to get a good performance out of the lightning detector?

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Offline colinbm

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  • Canons S2IS Infrared, S5IS, A570 pair, SIGMA DP2
Re: Lightning
« Reply #46 on: 06 / July / 2010, 03:47:52 »
I haven't finished the RF Probe yet.
I haven't stood in traffic with the lightning detector either.
But it goes off in the house when different things get turned off.
Col

Re: Lightning
« Reply #47 on: 08 / July / 2010, 18:42:06 »
Well, we haven't had any good lightning in the past couple weeks, but I can report that I had lots of success with the MD script and fireworks: IMG_3967.

My Flickr Page
I use the chdk on my SX230 and SD1100 cameras, and I installed them using a Macbook, currently running 10.6.8.

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Offline Sow.N.Reap

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Re: Lightning
« Reply #48 on: 24 / July / 2010, 00:32:44 »
I know ya'll have been talking about a different camera but I can say that on my S5, Fudgey's Fast MD script will capture lightning.

Here's just a few of my lightning photos using the script (all but 2 are straight out of the camera .. no post processing other than resizing). Some taken using AutoFocus, some set on Manual focused to Infinity: Lightning Set - Flickr

I have a bunch more but since I'm limited to to how many photos I can have in my free Flickr account that's all I posted.

I've also used the script (with & without flash) to capture Hummingbirds which can be seen here: Birds Set - Flickr

I should have posted long ago to thank Fudgey for this script. Thanks much Fudgey for a great script !!!!
« Last Edit: 24 / July / 2010, 00:36:40 by Sow.N.Reap »
Canon S5is .. My Flickr page

Re: Lightning
« Reply #49 on: 25 / July / 2010, 15:14:16 »
We got some more lightning, so here's another update. I tried to use the MD script on my SD1100 and it sort of worked... in that I got one decent photo of lightning, but it missed the vast majority of the lightning strikes that I saw. It got set off, but not nearly fast enough to actually catch the lightning. Also, this storm happened in the day, so it wasn't that dark outside.

Here's the one photo I got: IMG_4351
My Flickr Page
I use the chdk on my SX230 and SD1100 cameras, and I installed them using a Macbook, currently running 10.6.8.

 

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