Need a circuit that might help you to measure the exact distance of a distant thunderstorm lightning, which might be reaching your location quickly? The explained circuit will help you to estimate the approximate distance of a faraway thunderstorm lightning in advance and probably help you get a warning signal regarding how long it might take this thunderstorm to reach your area.
Overview
The clouds in the skies are dimly lit, presenting an portentous forewarning of the thunderstorm that may be on its path. Certain enough, the very first flash of lightning is observed; it might be fascinating to find out how far at a distance the thunderstorm is actually. The circuit explained here is supposed to offer the solution to this query.
Light (which includes lightning) moves at a speed of 300,000 m/s. Sound waves, in this situation thunder, moves in atmosphere at a typical speed of 333 m/s, based upon the ambient temperature. This can be the explanation exactly why the thunder is commonly heard a short time following the lightning flash is viewed. The thunder requires around 3 seconds more time traveling one kilometer compared to lightning; this is actually the same as 0.3 seconds for every 100 meters. The circuit places this hypothetical knowledge into exercise.
How the Circuit Works
The 555 timer IC works like an astable multivibrator having a frequency of 3.33 Hz; the time scale is 0.3 s. This is precisely the time differential between the trvelling speeds of the lightning flash and the thunder.
When the lightning flash is displayed, the distance meter is initiated by temporarily pressing pushbutton S2. Counters IC2 and 1 lC3, that are joined in series, receive a reset signal which resets these to zero. The output signal of IC1 is ascribed to the clock input of the first counter (IC2) and it is subsequently worked upon by the latter.
LED D1 illuminates soon after 0.3 s. Every succeeding clock pulse triggers the following larger output right after 0.3 s. The counting procedure is cut off by pushing pushbutton S1, when the thunder becomes audible to the ear. The distance of the thunderstorm from the user's position is portrayed by 1 or 2 of LEDs across D1 ...D18.
Counter IC2, counts the space from 100 m to 900 m. In case the thunderstorm is beyond that, counter lC3 deals with the kilometers. For instance, if just LED D5 lights, the thunderstorm is at a distance of 500 m; when LEDs D16 and D3 illuminate, the distance is 7300m (maximum distance = 10 km).
The absolute maximum current consumed by the circuit will not surpass 30 mA; a 9 V battery is as a result adequate to power the circuit. An electronic watch having chronograph feature can be used to help align the circuit. P1 is tweaked such that the last LED D18 is lighted 27 seconds once S2 has been released (the stopwatch has to be initiated at the same time).
Additional refinements in the proposed thunderstorm distance counter circuit might consist of an LDR which enables the lightning to launch the counter by itself, and a mic to halt the procedures automatically. However, the LDR could be beneficial exclusively during the night and the difficulties related with capturing faraway thunder using a microphone. . .
Possibly it could be a great deal better in the end to carry out precisely what we normally do. . . bury your head beneath the pillow and forget the whole thing!
Leave a Reply