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For today's weather discussion head to: New Zealand Weather & Climate
These topics are a read-only archive and may be subject to out-of-date information.
For today's weather discussion head to: New Zealand Weather & Climate
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Hello
Hi from the NZ Thunderstorm Soc, the NZ Boring Weather Soc,the Anticyclonic Gloom club, the I hate Kay Gregory Club, whatever...
Good to have a NZ weather forum on-line again, (and from Christchurch)lets hope (...removed...) that you Graham keep things in line that any discussion on this forum is related to weather discussion only.
No interesting weather to note, except for some uninteresting weather we had today, and yesterday and the week previous. Looks like more to come
JohnGaul
NZBWS
Edited by moderator 18/3/2003
Good to have a NZ weather forum on-line again, (and from Christchurch)lets hope (...removed...) that you Graham keep things in line that any discussion on this forum is related to weather discussion only.
No interesting weather to note, except for some uninteresting weather we had today, and yesterday and the week previous. Looks like more to come
JohnGaul
NZBWS
Edited by moderator 18/3/2003
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Hi John
Yes nothing interesting happining at all. Well I guess thats all I have to say at present, where is Jim Hickey? I've never really had a grudge against any of the weather presenters but if anyone, yes I would say Kay as well.
Aaron Wilkinson
Aaron Wilkinson
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Agreed, it's not like we're even getting any rain !
The only interesting event from last week was that the sferics counter I made and installed after the last ChCh storm finally registered some activity .... from the West Coast !!!
This shows 22:00 on the 2nd to 19:00 on the 3rd:
At the moment the count represents the number of 50ms intervals that the input remains on for during a minute - prior to this I recorded no more than 10 per day !
I plan to upload live data to the website every 15 minutes when I get the time
Steven
The only interesting event from last week was that the sferics counter I made and installed after the last ChCh storm finally registered some activity .... from the West Coast !!!
This shows 22:00 on the 2nd to 19:00 on the 3rd:
At the moment the count represents the number of 50ms intervals that the input remains on for during a minute - prior to this I recorded no more than 10 per day !
I plan to upload live data to the website every 15 minutes when I get the time
Steven
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Great stuff and also your Web site, Graham
Fantastic to a have sfreric recorder from somewhere in Christchurch
...and Aaron, I see you have found this forum
Some lovely Cu development around the Port Hills today with the NE against the southerly. Barometer, even tho' solid in movement, down to below 1010hPa, first time for a while. May get a southerly change tommorow afternoon, first time for a while !!!
JohnGaul
NZTS
Fantastic to a have sfreric recorder from somewhere in Christchurch
...and Aaron, I see you have found this forum
Some lovely Cu development around the Port Hills today with the NE against the southerly. Barometer, even tho' solid in movement, down to below 1010hPa, first time for a while. May get a southerly change tommorow afternoon, first time for a while !!!
JohnGaul
NZTS
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Hi all
Good to see this forum up and running! I used to visit the old one occasionally but got very frustrated at the way it was set out. This is very slick and much easier to get around...I will be a regular visitor!
I was born in NZ(Auckland), grew up there(AKL and Wellington), then left. I have been in Australia for 11 years now so now call myself an Aussie through and through(sorry guys).
However, I still visit NZ every couple of years to see relatives and still hold a strong interest in the NZ weather. eg the only tornado I have seen to date has been in NZ(at National Park a couple of years ago).
So, once again, good to see this site going and...I'll be back
Matt
Good to see this forum up and running! I used to visit the old one occasionally but got very frustrated at the way it was set out. This is very slick and much easier to get around...I will be a regular visitor!
I was born in NZ(Auckland), grew up there(AKL and Wellington), then left. I have been in Australia for 11 years now so now call myself an Aussie through and through(sorry guys).
However, I still visit NZ every couple of years to see relatives and still hold a strong interest in the NZ weather. eg the only tornado I have seen to date has been in NZ(at National Park a couple of years ago).
So, once again, good to see this site going and...I'll be back
Matt
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Steven,
That sfx counter - home built?
Would be interested to hear about your setup. Do you use any isolation from your PC (Optical, diode or ???)
(I have a basic system but unfortunately it is very expensive to run: I have a 120m copper mast connected directly to my PC power supply, I simply count the number of times I have to buy a new computer each month to work out the lightning count
That sfx counter - home built?
Would be interested to hear about your setup. Do you use any isolation from your PC (Optical, diode or ???)
(I have a basic system but unfortunately it is very expensive to run: I have a 120m copper mast connected directly to my PC power supply, I simply count the number of times I have to buy a new computer each month to work out the lightning count
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The lightning counter is much more sensitive than I expected - I wasn't even sure it was really working until last week. The simplest way of cutting its range is to lower it (3m agl now) and move it to an eastern wall to use the house as a shield to the west - or even put it inside !
Of course, I really need a local storm as a reference ......
It uses a very simple, untuned design from:
http://homepage.mac.com/tbitson/weather/owlm/
but I get the opto-isolator to pull down the input of a basic DSE micro-controller which just sends a "p" to the serial port of the PC for each 50ms it stays low. Of course, the opto-isolator is only rated at 5kV so it's minimal protection and mostly to stop false triggering - hopefully the earth connection would take most of the energy if it's not a direct hit !
I'm going to update it the code to send the duration of each continuous pulse so that might give more information on proximity.
That's an expensive 1-bit counter with a slow reset time you have !!!
I have UPS's on my PCs but that's because there are enough outages here (cars, trees bringing down lines) to be a nuisance - they have "surge protection" but I'm not sure that would be enough for your situation.
Steven
Of course, I really need a local storm as a reference ......
It uses a very simple, untuned design from:
http://homepage.mac.com/tbitson/weather/owlm/
but I get the opto-isolator to pull down the input of a basic DSE micro-controller which just sends a "p" to the serial port of the PC for each 50ms it stays low. Of course, the opto-isolator is only rated at 5kV so it's minimal protection and mostly to stop false triggering - hopefully the earth connection would take most of the energy if it's not a direct hit !
I'm going to update it the code to send the duration of each continuous pulse so that might give more information on proximity.
That's an expensive 1-bit counter with a slow reset time you have !!!
I have UPS's on my PCs but that's because there are enough outages here (cars, trees bringing down lines) to be a nuisance - they have "surge protection" but I'm not sure that would be enough for your situation.
Steven
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Possible Cb for the 12th in Chch
Hello
John, on the 12th you mention nice Cu, I'm thinking they could of also gone to a small Cb as shown by this satellite pic
http://satellite.landcareresearch.co.nz ... d12033.txt
Is that Cb sort of looking stuff, could be? notice the wispery sort of tops suggesting the top of a Cb.
Oh and thanks Steven for providing this forum, it's really cool!
Aaron Wilkinson
John, on the 12th you mention nice Cu, I'm thinking they could of also gone to a small Cb as shown by this satellite pic
http://satellite.landcareresearch.co.nz ... d12033.txt
Is that Cb sort of looking stuff, could be? notice the wispery sort of tops suggesting the top of a Cb.
Oh and thanks Steven for providing this forum, it's really cool!
Aaron Wilkinson
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thats the same design i have in use here , for counting lightning strikes...using a dallas 1 wire setup....and my software....which can be added to any weather station setup....
50 miles radius it supposed to have.....a good earth is the key
(http://ps.gen.nz/~windy/lighteninggraph.gif)
you can purchase them as a kit or pre made....i have one here that I am going to install at the Brynderwyn weather site next time i am up that way (south of whangerei)
pity we cant have access to the met service lightning maps
the idea of the pusle length has been branded about on the 1 wire discussion list....let me know if it works!
50 miles radius it supposed to have.....a good earth is the key
(http://ps.gen.nz/~windy/lighteninggraph.gif)
you can purchase them as a kit or pre made....i have one here that I am going to install at the Brynderwyn weather site next time i am up that way (south of whangerei)
pity we cant have access to the met service lightning maps
the idea of the pusle length has been branded about on the 1 wire discussion list....let me know if it works!
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Here's an alternative which is tuned and has a sensitivity adjustment - it can also be standalone and even portable.
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/lightning.html
It might be interesting to see how it compares with the simple design.
Steven
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/lightning.html
It might be interesting to see how it compares with the simple design.
Steven
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Hello
Good to see a proper NZ weather forum starting up again. Like John has said, it's been pretty quiet down here lately, and dry as well - even the forecast drizzle hasn't yet eventuated. However I did notice a heavy surf at New Brighton on the NIWA webcam, courtesy of the departing low leaving the Chathams. Pity the Napier beach cam hasn't been updated - there must've been some massive swells there if the forecast was right.
Ben Tichborne
Good to see a proper NZ weather forum starting up again. Like John has said, it's been pretty quiet down here lately, and dry as well - even the forecast drizzle hasn't yet eventuated. However I did notice a heavy surf at New Brighton on the NIWA webcam, courtesy of the departing low leaving the Chathams. Pity the Napier beach cam hasn't been updated - there must've been some massive swells there if the forecast was right.
Ben Tichborne
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Re: Possible Cb for the 12th in Chch
[quote="Aaron J Wilkinson"]Hello
John, on the 12th you mention nice Cu, I'm thinking they could of also gone to a small Cb as shown by this satellite pic
http://satellite.landcareresearch.co.nz ... d12033.txt
Is that Cb sort of looking stuff, could be? notice the wispery sort of tops suggesting the top of a Cb.
Oh and thanks Steven for providing this forum, it's really cool!
Aaron Wilkinson[/quote)
Yes, the cloud did look interesting in a period of non-eventful weather.
It may of been a bit cooler in the upper air, but I didn't see any glaciation.
But owing to the fact we are in a settled, mainly anticyclonic weather period, I didn't expect anything. We had our chance over the spring and early summer when low pressure systems passed over or near to the country but now weather patterns have changed. Cyclones/low pressure systems to the north of NZ don't help much either.
JohnGaul
NZTS
John, on the 12th you mention nice Cu, I'm thinking they could of also gone to a small Cb as shown by this satellite pic
http://satellite.landcareresearch.co.nz ... d12033.txt
Is that Cb sort of looking stuff, could be? notice the wispery sort of tops suggesting the top of a Cb.
Oh and thanks Steven for providing this forum, it's really cool!
Aaron Wilkinson[/quote)
Yes, the cloud did look interesting in a period of non-eventful weather.
It may of been a bit cooler in the upper air, but I didn't see any glaciation.
But owing to the fact we are in a settled, mainly anticyclonic weather period, I didn't expect anything. We had our chance over the spring and early summer when low pressure systems passed over or near to the country but now weather patterns have changed. Cyclones/low pressure systems to the north of NZ don't help much either.
JohnGaul
NZTS
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I'm always hopefull
Yes it might of been a small Cb or might not have but then...
looks like some nice cumulus congestions etc popping up over the N Is today from the NOAA Sat pic (18th).
Can't wait until I hear that sound of hard rain hitting the roof and knowing I'm inside a warm cosey (spelling?) house, we haven't really had any good sort of stuff for a while now here in Cantab.
Aaron Wilkinson
looks like some nice cumulus congestions etc popping up over the N Is today from the NOAA Sat pic (18th).
Can't wait until I hear that sound of hard rain hitting the roof and knowing I'm inside a warm cosey (spelling?) house, we haven't really had any good sort of stuff for a while now here in Cantab.
Aaron Wilkinson