Strike finder questions.

[Mcstealth]

I looked at a plane today with a strike finder with an inop placard. 

I see the screen in the cockpit, but don't see a sensor, an antenna, some instrument on the plane that tells the screen what to say.

One, is it worth fixing? Two, what is usually wrong with them?

Yes I will look it up but I like asking you guys(and girls)

Thanks

David

[Hank]

The antenna for my StormScope is inside the belly, a large, flat piece of metal. Completely invisible from outside.

[Mcstealth]

54 minutes ago, Hank said:

The antenna for my StormScope is inside the belly, a large, flat piece of metal. Completely invisible from outside.

Well that explains a lot.

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, Mcstealth said:

I looked at a plane today with a strike finder with an inop placard. 

I see the screen in the cockpit, but don't see a sensor, an antenna, some instrument on the plane that tells the screen what to say.

One, is it worth fixing? Two, what is usually wrong with them?

Yes I will look it up but I like asking you guys(and girls)

Thanks

David

Insight still services them: http://www.insightavionics.com/strikefinder.htm

[Pinecone]

Mine is working and I like having it.  It shows me is the weather on the ADSB contains lightening or may just be rain.

Enough so that when I do a major panel upgrade, I am going to put in a WX500, which is a Strike Finder that will display on the GTN-750.

 

FYI, I will have a working WX-10 available in Jan/Feb.

[Mcstealth]

Anyone know what usually goes wrong with them?

[LANCECASPER]

2 hours ago, Mcstealth said:

Anyone know what usually goes wrong with them?

The Plasma display is usually what goes bad on an Insight Strikefinder. The unit can be sent back and replaced with LED for around $1400.

 

"Strikefinder" and "Stormscope" are not synonymous. Although they are similar they are not exactly the same technology - although it was ruled  that there was some patent infringement when Strikefinder came out. The units are not compatible in the sense if you have one and want the other kind, you have to start completely over with a new installation.

 

They both work well to stay clear of a rough, and possibly dangerous ride and are a nice piece of the puzzle when combined with what's out the window and what you see on XM or ADS-B weather. 

 

https://www.aviationconsumer.com/avionics/strike-finder-stormscope-flyoff/

[philiplane]

4 hours ago, Pinecone said:

Mine is working and I like having it.  It shows me is the weather on the ADSB contains lightening or may just be rain.

Enough so that when I do a major panel upgrade, I am going to put in a WX500, which is a Strike Finder that will display on the GTN-750.

 

FYI, I will have a working WX-10 available in Jan/Feb.

You really don't want a WX500. While they used to be pretty good, they have been discontinued. There is no new production. The WX500 and Skywatch systems are now owned by Extant Aerospace in Melbourne FL. The worst possible company for service and prices. We used to send our Stormscope and Skywatch systems to L3 for service before they sold the line to Extant. L3 was OK, usually a 10 day repair time and $2k per repair. That is no more under Extant. Prices are ridiculous and there is no definite turn time. The last repair quote from them was over $5k. And, they don't have any spares for exchange either. This company also service the Avidyne Entegra PFD/MFD line, with equally bad results. Avidyne is supposedly taking the repair pricing and booking back in house to smooth out the customer complaints, but Extant is still the one repairing the items. 

A Strikefinder on the other hand is a better unit. It can't display the strikes on other screens, because the display and processor are combined. The only other component is the antenna. It's a simple, lightweight, highly accurate lightning detection device. I wouldn't fly without mine. It is slaved to the HSI so when you turn, the strikes move to maintain the orientation, making weather avoidance easy. In the event you need service, Insight is the best. I had my display upgraded to the latest LED display and they had it back to me in a week.  

Edited August 5, 2023 by philiplane

[Sue Bon]

I have a Stormscope and since my panel upgrade, it shows strikes on most flights and where there are definitely none. It has shown multiple strikes in clouds that turned out to be about 1 meter tall. I frequently get strikes showing just behind my tail. My 2 cents is that a Strikefinder or Stormscope is only as good as its information. Mine was much more reliable before the upgrade.

 

 

[EricJ]

The displays generated by these systems are approximations.   The direction of the detected energy is estimated, and the range is often estimated based on the received strength compared to some reference strike level.    So stronger strikes appear closer and weak strikes appear further away regardless of their actual location.    The information can still be very useful, especially in the presence of strong storms and frequent strikes, but it should be recognized that the indications are approximations and do not carry a lot of accuracy.

[0TreeLemur]

I've dodged many thunderstorms this summer using the Stormscope WX10A in our J.   This year is my first experience with one.  Wow.   Great technology.

The Stormscope is based on differential reception of "sferics", the radio frequency noise produced by lightning.  The receiver is connected to two coil antennas on the belly. It is quite accurate in azimuth.  I've done some research to better understand how it works.   As I understand it, the unit estimates azimuth this by measuring the time delay between reception of the strike signal by two coils separated by about 8 inches!   That's why the processor for Stormscopes is so heavy.  It is a very precise instrument.  Stormscopes are not so accurate in range.  To estimate the range to the strike it uses an assumed relationship between signal and range, which is often a pretty poor approximation.  However, with a good measurement of the azimuth combined with the ADS-B composite radar obs on the iPad, you can see the storm and measure the range.

Mine sometimes seems to pick up a lot of noise when flying at lower altitudes.   Above maybe 5k AGL that goes away.  I love it.

[Mcstealth]

Hmmm. The circuit breaker says storm scope. The face plate has a "BFG"

Maybe it's not a strike finder?

[LANCECASPER]

Hmmm. The circuit breaker says storm scope. The face plate has a "BFG"
Maybe it's not a strike finder?

What does the the face of the unit say (model or brand or number of buttons and location, picture, screenshot, sketch on a napkin, crayon drawing . . .lol)?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mcstealth]

22 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

What does the the face of the unit say (model or brand or number of buttons and location, picture, screenshot, sketch on a napkin, crayon drawing . . .lol)?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LANCECASPER]

31 minutes ago, Mcstealth said:

 

The face of the StormScope WX-950 and WX-1000 are almost identical. The 1000 has BFG in the upper left, so I am guessing this is a WX-1000, which has a processor in the avionics bay in the back (swap the processor first since it's the easiest - 5 min. job). If it is inop find another removed WX1000 that works and it should be plug and play to find out which part, the display or processor that is INOP.  Or talk to Don Valentine at Stormscopes.com and he may be able to repair it. The ones coming out of airplanes will be less expensive since 2nd, 3rd, 4th owners don't understand why they should keep these units.

[Mcstealth]

Thank you Lance

[Pinecone]

22 hours ago, philiplane said:

You really don't want a WX500. While they used to be pretty good, they have been discontinued. There is no new production. The WX500 and Skywatch systems are now owned by Extant Aerospace in Melbourne FL. The worst possible company for service and prices. We used to send our Stormscope and Skywatch systems to L3 for service before they sold the line to Extant. L3 was OK, usually a 10 day repair time and $2k per repair. That is no more under Extant. Prices are ridiculous and there is no definite turn time. The last repair quote from them was over $5k. And, they don't have any spares for exchange either. This company also service the Avidyne Entegra PFD/MFD line, with equally bad results. Avidyne is supposedly taking the repair pricing and booking back in house to smooth out the customer complaints, but Extant is still the one repairing the items. 

A Strikefinder on the other hand is a better unit. It can't display the strikes on other screens, because the display and processor are combined. The only other component is the antenna. It's a simple, lightweight, highly accurate lightning detection device. I wouldn't fly without mine. It is slaved to the HSI so when you turn, the strikes move to maintain the orientation, making weather avoidance easy. In the event you need service, Insight is the best. I had my display upgraded to the latest LED display and they had it back to me in a week.  

Thanks for the info.

[Stan]

Don Valentine repaired my WX-1000 before my trip out west this May. 

While I was in California I had a problem with my display connector, he sent the parts and got me on my way. 

I highly recommend him.

[JohnB]

Interesting topic. I had an Insight strikefinder, which worked perfectly, I "upgraded" to a WX-500 when I installed my glass panel, and have had problems, first inop intermittently, now inop most of the time, and have had it replaced with a reman unit with same problem. Seriously thinking about removing the WX-500 and going back to the trusty strikefinder which I still have, and get that new LED screen which sounds nice.

 

[takair]

My working WX-1000 is so old it actually shows 3M where the “new ones” show BFG. One thing I’ve noticed is that the spherics devices can start to show activity before heavy precipitation starts. I assume this is in the inflow stage. What this means is that it will show significant movement in clouds before it shows up as precipitation on radar. This seems to be an advantage to having both. Also, no delay like data link weather, so you are getting it real time. Great cross check for datalink. It is certainly more of an avoidance tool than radar. Once you are very near a storm, it is often hard to distinguish how close you are….so best to avoid the strikes all together if you can’t visually see the storm. 

[0TreeLemur]

2 hours ago, takair said:

My working WX-1000 is so old it actually shows 3M where the “new ones” show BFG.

Mine too, but the paint on the logo is still crisp and shiny, making it "look" new!

[laytonl]

I’ve installed a strikefinder in one airplane and a stormscope in another.  Strikefinder is easier to install and works great.  My current Mooney has a Wx500 showing on the GTN750 and it works great too. I wouldn’t want to fly in the Southeast without one of these.  Lee