Ambient Weather WH31L Lightning Detector for Models WS-2000, WS-5000

I live in Northern Colorado and we have Thunderstorms and I am a Ham Radio operator so it is important to know when lightning is in the area to allow me to unhook my antennas to protect my equipment.

The detector connected flawlessly to the WS 5000 and detected lightning 10 miles away.

It detects lightning strikes, but the distance is 7-10 miles off when compared to local weather station apps. I can see lightning striking very close by and it says the lightning is several miles away. I contacted customer support who advised me to adjust the sensitivity but that created false alarms. I’ll live with it.I installed it below my weather station in the optional radiant shield. Looks cool!

I added the WH31L to my Ambient Weather WS-2000 weather station. If you read the documentation it suggests not placing it inside of a building because it will attenuate the detection range. (As an RF engineer I totally get-it, their statement is accurate). What I did was to double sided sticky-tape it to the center of a window pane in one of my upstairs bedrooms where the window faces west.I set the sensitivity to the maximum because there are no electronics nearby.. By the way, do not set it to maximum if you have something like a laptop or computer within five or six feet of it. That will make the detector go crazy from all of the RF interference and the little fogged out area on the detector will just turn solid red as if it was detecting one constant lightning strike.Today we had our first thunderstorm and I used the Ambient Weather app on my phone with alerts set for lighting detection turned on (It SMS messages me). As soon as I got the first notification I checked the Ambient Weather app and it detected lighting at 24 km (roughly 19 miles). I compared that to the Lightning detection network (you can use Weather Underground to see something really close to that) and the strikes were about that distance away.In the hour long thunderstorm I detected more than 422 lighting strikes. Some were very close (less than a km) most were further away. I did not see many beyond 24 km so that gives you an idea of what detection is like from a second story window with no metallic objects nearby.I am very pleased with the detector. It integrated easily and only required two Lithium AA batteries (not included with this sensor, some other Ambient Weather sensors come with batteries, this one does not).

I’ve added this lightning detector to my ws-2000 weather station about 30 days ago & so far it has been detecting lightning during the few storms we’ve had. When I compare the lightning data from this detector to the NWS lightning information during a storm, it seems to be very close & very close to matching the distance reported with the NWS data. I have the detector at the factory settings & it’s inside a La Cross UV Sensor Protection Shield case that holds it perfectly & that is mounted a few feet beneath my weather station. The lightning detector is about 10 feet off the ground & not around any other electrical wires.

Had to buy the optional lightning detector to get my new ambient weather station to be able to detect lightning. I just hope it works now that it is Winter. I don't expect to see any thunder snow this year.

The install was pretty much plug and play. My Ambient unit recognized the detector almost instantly and the signal range is good. The detector is stunningly accurate. During a storm last night, the device recorded a strike 19 miles away and I was able to verify that exact distance by comparing the lightning data from the Radarscope android app using the distance tool. It was exactly 19 miles.

I added this lightning detector to my weather station, partly because I like gadgets and have a fairly tall antenna outside. I don't trust that the lightning arrestor on the antenna will block lightning, and I wanted to have some basic warning if lightning was getting close so I could disconnect my coax. I haven't had a thunderstorm yet, but I feel better knowing I'll have a heads-up as one gets closer. Simple set-up with the included clamps and screws. The real beauty of this unit was the wifi setup. I set the dip switch to high sensitivity and put the battery in. The unit connected itself to my WS-2000 console automatically. A quick look at the set-up screen verified everything. Well done Ambient Weather.