Strike Alert Lightning Detector

BOUGHT THIS AS MY FIRST LIGHTNING DETECTOR TO USE JUST AS A REFERENCE WHILE I AM OUT CAMPING OR HIKING. IT WORKS GOOD WHEN THERE IS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WHICH IS WHAT IT IS MADE FOR BUT THE CLOUD TO CLOUD OR INTRA-CLOUD LIGHTNING IT EITHER DOESN'T DETECT IT OR MIS-JUDGES THE DISTANCE. THE UNIT WILL TELL YOU IF THE STORM IS MOVING CLOSER OR MOVING AWAY FROM YOU. IT ALSO GIVES YOU THE STATUS OF THE BATTERIES EVERY TIME YOU TURN IT ON. ITS NICE HAVING THE AUDIBLE ALARM THAT CORRESPONDS WITH THE DISTANCE, BUT ITS EVEN BETTER THAT YOU CAN SHUT IT OFF SO FOR INSTANCE IF YOU ARE AT WORK YOU CAN HAVE IT ON YOUR DESK TO WATCH THE LIGHTNING BOLTS.

I've found out why sometimes battery life gauge gives false reading. It actually differs from battery to another. People - check the batteries capacity before you buy it - i have Panasonic & Energizer. If you use two twin none rechargable Panasonic Alkaline Gold Batteries from the same box & the same capacity it will give you the correct battery life gauge. But if you mix different capacities or maybe mix one battery with less life than the other it may also trigger false battery gauge reading. You need to make sure that both batteries are the same capacity ( read battery info before buying it ) like 2500mah & 2500mah and secondly if they are rechargable batteries like Energizer make sure that the twin batteries are from the same box - same capacity & recharge them both at the same time to give the chance for the correct battery reading :) Also an aged battery will have a lower capacity which may trigger lower battery life gauge. Edit : It appears that it will only give a correct battery reading if you used a ( maybe a certain kind ) none rechargable batteries.

I got this lightning detector because I LOVE taking photographs of lightning storms over the South shore on Lake Superior. They happen often during Summer months, often with no sound/thunder nor rainfall. I live about 30-35 miles away from the lake though and rarely get the same shows near my home. So I wanted a way to tell if there was anything brewing over the big lake all the way out at my house. Most detectors only read up to 25 miles max or they run several hundred dollars for a unit. It's mostly just for convenience of having an alert that tells me when it's worth making the drive to take photos, so I can't justify a $200-$300+ detector. This one has worked well for me. Keep in mind it doesn't function very well inside of buildings or vehicles. It's meant to be used outside in the open atmosphere where it can detect the electromagnetic fluctuations from lightning bolts. It will still detect some strikes inside though, just not all of them. The instructions could have been written better in my opinion. But I got the hang of it. You hold the power button to turn it on in silent mode. Or continue to hold the power button when turning it on until it makes an audible beep to put it into audio alert mode. Press and hold until the lights activate to get it's storm direction prediction. Coming in, going away, standing still, or not enough strikes to make a prediction. Then you long press the power button until the device turns off to power down. Not sure why so many people seem to be struggling with the functions, but hopefully that helps someone. Mine hasn't given any false alerts as of yet. And I left it on during a storm all day, all night, and to mid day the following day and the battery was still going strong. I manually shut it off. For the price and the fact that it detects up to 40 miles as opposed to 25 miles, I think it's worth it and reliable enough to trust for a personal safety device or a notification system like I'm using it for. I would recommend it to a friend. There are likely better more expensive ones but this does well enough to negate any need for me to spend that kind of money on a higher end one

This little device works great, no its not as fancy as the 300-500 dollar options but for 50 bucks ill gladly take it. Don't mash the button down crazy hard and it won't break as others have indicated, this is my second one of these. The first lasted 2 years till it was lost on a canoe trip and i didnt have any problems with it. To the people who complain about false alerts, it senses electro magnetic energy nothing more nothing less. It can't tell the difference between your computer, tv or AC compared to a lightning strike. When you use it out on camping/hunting trips with out being surrounded by household electronics then it works like it's should.