David wrote:
On May 28, 3:24 pm, Billy Burpelson wrote:
David wrote:
- header says it all
Have a good receiver
Have a decent antenna..
have a thunder storm in the area
- any responses would be appreciated
Tks
Well, you don't state what your goal is...nearby storms, storms from a
1000 miles away, VLF "whistlers"?

- Well, how about storms close enough to light up a Neon NE2 ?
For nearby storms, an interesting thing you can do is take a neon bulb
(typically an NE-2) and put one of its leads to the hot side of your
antenna and the other lead to ground. Even with a 15 or 20 foot long
wire, you will see it flash when storms are 5-10 miles away. BTW, the
NE-2 fires at about 60 volts. (So now you know why to disconnect/ground
your antenna when a storm is approaching). :-)


Nice trick, Thanks !

Rat Shack has a bunch of neon tubes; - but the employees there know
less than I do about them.

- any Idea which one would do the trick ?

As stated above, an NE-2 should do the trick and it should be marked as
such, even at Radio Shack. Any of the ones you point out will work. They
are the equivalent of the NE-2 but just have a series resistor you can
remove.The NE-2 has wire leads; the NE-51 is the same bulb but has a
bayonet base. If all else fails, find a night light that uses a neon
bulb; these are usually an NE-2 or equivalent with a series resistor.
Just remove the resistor. These are (usually) readily available at your
neighborhood 'Dollar Store'.