Metservice lightning page

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kaimaikid
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Metservice lightning page

Unread post by kaimaikid »

Can anyone tell me why the Metservice forces people to pay for seeing where storm cells are so that they can be tracked and especially seeing where up to the minute accurate lightning strikes are???

Seriously I would have thought that that information would be classed as public safety and therefore not commercial.

Your thoughts???
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Tornado Tim
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Tornado Tim »

The same argument was said about the radar......

Metservice don't care about the public, this was made clear when they only decided to the put the Radar's up because they were getting extra money coming in from the advertising and not putting it up well before hand to help the public out.
A guy wrote on Metservices Facebook page and had to ask for a Radar page to be put up for the purpose of the Rena.
State Owned Enterprises have only one way of thinking and that is to make money, unfortunately the public comes second off. Thats just how it is.

Unless the metservice becomes a government department, you cant validate what the metservice does is best for the public. It will always be $ first for them.

I remember Jamie saying that some (if not all) forecasters at metservice are not happy what data the public gets. I believe that too as I rang MS some time ago reporting in a storm to them and confirming rain rates etc and he was more than happy to tell me all the details about the storm etc...

I thank Metservice publicly for what they have done on the radar front but I am not surprised about there motivations.

Right now we just have to lump it, Weatherzone does do Lightning for NZ as does WWLN and GPATS as I understand does Lightning detection as well.

Me and Ricky are going to try and set up a Hi-res Lightning detection network (based on blitzortung), but the accuracy will very much depend on how many people sign up for there house to become a home of a detector.
More on that a bit later when me and ricky have confirmed the PCBs etc......
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by NZstorm »

The NZ lightning detection is partly owned by Transpower I think. I seem to recall that.

In USA the main lightning detection network is privately owned and you have to pay for real time lightning. Their free chart is about 20mins old I think. (Viasala).

Me and Ricky are going to try and set up a Hi-res Lightning detection network (based on blitzortung), but the accuracy will very much depend on how many people sign up for there house to become a home of a detector.
More on that a bit later when me and ricky have confirmed the PCBs etc.....
Looks interesting Tim.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

There used to be a free lightning page from MetService that showed you where all the strikes were but that's disappeared now. :cool:
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Tornado Tim
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Tornado Tim »

NZ Thunderstorm Soc wrote:There used to be a free lightning page from MetService that showed you where all the strikes were but that's disappeared now. :cool:
Yup Geography Network went offline as did public met strike.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by tgsnoopy »

I think I knew the page you refer to, I should point out it was never intended to be accessible to the public.

I feel that the lightning data Metservice forces users to pay for, should be made available for free in the interests of Public safety.

Whilst I largely work in Biomedical these days I still am actively involved in radio. I am forced to use domestically sourced amateur information on lightning tracking as the ridiculous fees Metservice charge are beyond my capabilities.

Rigging aerials is simply out of the question if lightning is around, but lightning is the cause of most failures, hence risk and needing accurate current information.

Then there are other activities, prime examples are tramping, cycling, golfing and horse riding.

Lightning strike data should be available free of charge to the general public in real time "like it is in most other Western Countries".

Suggest letters to Tony Ryall (I think, the SOE Minister?) may help.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by NZstorm »

My favourite lightning detector is the am radio. I often use it when storms are around.

In USA the radio static is a constant screech when a supercell is near.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Michael »

I use my am radio to listen to rhema and southern star and the horses lol, FM gets crackles if close enough,also the 160m band is good for lightning,its just above the bc am band.Iused to listen where it said 2NA on the dial near 1600 khz,was better than the 2YA end.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by NZ Thunderstorm Soc »

NZstorm wrote:My favourite lightning detector is the am radio. I often use it when storms are around.

In USA the radio static is a constant screech when a supercell is near.

Same here, Steve. I've always used that form of detection since day one, although my wife gives me funny looks when I have the radio on and I'm not on a station, with all this crackly noise coming out.. :crazy:
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Twizel Dave »

Hello all. Ha ha yes I remember also listening to the sound of lightning on an AM wireless I smuggled into my bedroom as a lad. I used to wonder how far away the faint lightning was and enjoyed counting the seconds between a loud burst and the thunder afterwards.

Some one told me quite some time ago that there is a lightning weather station around here that the public is free to view but I have no idea of the internet web address.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Nev »

^ Try clicking on the links at the top of this page.
kaimaikid
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by kaimaikid »

Only problem with most of the Boltek stations in NZ is their ranging is inaccurate esp. if the station is surrounded by hills or buildings or trees etc.

Ideally from what I have read recently using a central TOA processor with lots of non-directional antennas inputting info back to the central TOA pro. would be a whole heap more accurate.

Better still would be the Metservice allow public viewing of their high res real time lightning strike page.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by iomkiwi »

kaimaikid wrote:Only problem with most of the Boltek stations in NZ is their ranging is inaccurate esp. if the station is surrounded by hills or buildings or trees etc.
....snip...
From my personal experience (and it may be due to me basically being surrounded by water) it was the software that was not allowing me to get the ranging right. I would have the ranging maxed out as far as it would go and the storms were still plotted to close. Since I changed software there is a lot more scope to play with - but I've still got a way to go before I get it right.
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Re: Metservice lightning page

Unread post by Twizel Dave »

Nev wrote:^ Try clicking on the links at the top of this page.
Hello Nev and thank you but I'm certain it was somewhere about the Twizel area.
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