Bolteck/Nexstorm question

[jamie]

Hi guys,

I have finallyh worked out why i have been getting lightning stikes around the house from the electric fence .

Its not because of a short. Its because there is too much power and when it is wet things become more conductive. Process of elimination by taking individual wires off and failure to find a clear short before this leads me to this conclusion.

So what i need to do is change the settings on the softwear so it isnt picking up the electric fence when it is wet.

Is it as simple as adjusting the squelch (not sure on spelling) level so it doesnt pick up weak strikes?

Thanks in advance

[Manukau heads obs]

yes, squelch will help, I have set that higher and that has helped alot (LD250)
but also are you using the latest nexstorm verison, as there was an improvement to the electric fence routines about 2 years or so ago (which I Helped Relko with as I had electric fence problems at the time)

[jamie]

no still using a very old version. Might have to spend a day upgrading everything including WD as that is very old too

ok ill have a play with the squelch later today after work.

[Tornado Tim]

Strange how your electric fence is causing you issues when its wet.

My Next door neighbor has an electric fence and it never seems to have that issue when its wet.

You may want to raise up the boltek antenna to stop it from seeing the fence.

[jamie]

It only started doing it this summer. I thought it was a short but its not. There is some serious juice running through the fence. Strongest shock ive ever had off a farm fence. Ill get the Amps this afternoon.

I get raise it any higher Tim. Its already much higher than the roof which is equivalent to a 2 storey roof.

[Manukau heads obs]

what about the earth for the electric fence?

[jamie]

hmmmm there is an earth on that set of fences and that is working as far as i can tell.

around the house it is 5000V and 9 amps and the tester shows no shorts. we cant see or hear a short.

ive changed the squelch and it doesnt make any difference. DAMN IT!!!!

[Tornado Tim]

I was going to suggest taking a portable AM radio with you, but you will be hearing the same stuff all the time.

You could "blind" the boltek in that direction but that will render it useless if a storm developed to your North.

Btw, what bits of the fence did you replace in that one year period? That might help you isolate whats causing it.

[jamie]

havent changed anything. have it isolated to a big area.

i like your idea of a portable am radio tho tim. i could walk along fence with AM going and find where the cracking is strongest because we cant hear it by ear and nor can the tester pick up a fault.

[ricky]

The setting that will help is 'noise sensitivity' rather than squelch, try setting higher.. the 'discard artificial noises' setting was the improvement to reduce fence noise but it will reduce real strike sensitivity as well

[jamie]

The setting that will help is 'noise sensitivity' rather than squelch, try setting higher.. the 'discard artificial noises' setting was the improvement to reduce fence noise but it will reduce real strike sensitivity as well

cheers ricky, ill have a go at that this weekend.

Dad spent the morning checking and macking the earthing better. Now up over 5500 volts around the house, still no clear short, yet lightning tracker is still picking something up.

When i turn everything off in a 300m radius around the house the short isnt there at all. BUT its quite strange how when i turn everything off directly around the house (150meters) and leave everthing else on, the short stops but will start and stop spontainiously.

this is driving me mental