The Blitzortung Project is an 'on going' project to realize a 'volunteer based' system for lightning detection... a term used widely, at least in the United States is the phrase, "Citizen Scientists'...
Blitzortung is NOT a company or corporation.
...not a Government Project.
...not an explicit 'Open Source' Project.
...not a system for 'lightning warning' or insurance claims...
etc...
The data is not for commercial use.
Blitzortung is classed as "Hobbyist".
The design and production of kits is not, and won't be "crowd sourced".
The intitial production and development is supported by three main developers who invest their time, money, resources as they are able, in order to follow a series of "steps" toward a goal... beginning with original simple receivers, the Greens in several variations, progressing to the Red in a couple of variations, and now the next phase will be the "Blue" syustem, likely in several stages.
The system servers are supported by casual advertising on the two websites, and money out of pocket... as are the builds and production of initial system kits. The algorithms and processing are mostly proprietary and it is extremely unlikely they will ever be open sourced.
Development and design are accomplished when the developers have time available in their busy lives and careers.
Valuable lessons involving signal detection and processing, logistics, etc, were learned in 2014 with an unprecedented demand for systems worldwide. Keep in mind this project originally began as a concept in 2002 or 2003, thereabouts... The growth and logistical surprise of 2014 exhausted the RED supplies, including at least one GPS chip that was preferred, but supplies were exhausted, though a sub was available.
New operating principles and suggestions were discovered with the Greens and the Reds, which are being incorporated into Blue. So much so that the Green systems will not provide adequate data, such as the RED and Blue are capable of. Though RED will likely be viable for many years down the road, the Best of Red and other features will be incorporated into Blue. And by rough count, the receiver portion of BLUE has been through about 4 major (if you will) revisions and polishing since January. This system will be slick.
RED and Green required an operator with electronic skills to build. Blue will require much less background, but will still require a technical skill level of some degree, depending on which intermediate versions might, or might not, be released prior to the 'completed' more advanced system release... . And if there are intermediate releases, don't expect them to be equivalent to the final concept. In my opinion such demands for release dates, etc might push the developers to that end, and the 'intermediates' might be somewhat disappointing to some of us 'purists'... just a thought.
To be seeking a re-run and re-release of RED systems would be like demanding a return to B&W 6mhz TV. The organizational resources must be turned to BLUE, and further design and improvements in the processing servers.
As far as replacement parts....
You might have trouble getting the original GPS module, from what I understand, and have to do with a different version.... perhaps with a feature missing.
The PDF document contains lists of virtually all of the parts required... however some are quite specific... for example the specially chosen LED on the E field preamplifier.
Yes,... the boards themselves were last produced a year ago.
If you have contacted Egon about replacement parts for RED through the address on the 'contact' page of the website, and he's informed you that part isn't on hand, then that's the way it is.
On the other hand, it's possible that the required parts ARE on hand, and if so he will do his best to get them to you. At last report he did have some odds and ends.
We have sucessfully repaired several stations in the United States with locally available parts, including mine, though my repair was minor.
But the last complete kits available for 'general' distribution were prepared and distributed last year!
The developers in Europe have jobs, families, and lives outside of this project, and devote, probably, too much time and effort to it,. Please give them a break!
This is a "science project" of the hobby class, not a money-making plug-and-play gadget,. The data is viable... accurate when all the rules observed, and fun. The coming system(s) will be even more so if the developers are allowed to pursue peacefully.
Cheers!
Mike
Blitzortung is NOT a company or corporation.
...not a Government Project.
...not an explicit 'Open Source' Project.
...not a system for 'lightning warning' or insurance claims...
etc...
The data is not for commercial use.
Blitzortung is classed as "Hobbyist".
The design and production of kits is not, and won't be "crowd sourced".
The intitial production and development is supported by three main developers who invest their time, money, resources as they are able, in order to follow a series of "steps" toward a goal... beginning with original simple receivers, the Greens in several variations, progressing to the Red in a couple of variations, and now the next phase will be the "Blue" syustem, likely in several stages.
The system servers are supported by casual advertising on the two websites, and money out of pocket... as are the builds and production of initial system kits. The algorithms and processing are mostly proprietary and it is extremely unlikely they will ever be open sourced.
Development and design are accomplished when the developers have time available in their busy lives and careers.
Valuable lessons involving signal detection and processing, logistics, etc, were learned in 2014 with an unprecedented demand for systems worldwide. Keep in mind this project originally began as a concept in 2002 or 2003, thereabouts... The growth and logistical surprise of 2014 exhausted the RED supplies, including at least one GPS chip that was preferred, but supplies were exhausted, though a sub was available.
New operating principles and suggestions were discovered with the Greens and the Reds, which are being incorporated into Blue. So much so that the Green systems will not provide adequate data, such as the RED and Blue are capable of. Though RED will likely be viable for many years down the road, the Best of Red and other features will be incorporated into Blue. And by rough count, the receiver portion of BLUE has been through about 4 major (if you will) revisions and polishing since January. This system will be slick.
RED and Green required an operator with electronic skills to build. Blue will require much less background, but will still require a technical skill level of some degree, depending on which intermediate versions might, or might not, be released prior to the 'completed' more advanced system release... . And if there are intermediate releases, don't expect them to be equivalent to the final concept. In my opinion such demands for release dates, etc might push the developers to that end, and the 'intermediates' might be somewhat disappointing to some of us 'purists'... just a thought.
To be seeking a re-run and re-release of RED systems would be like demanding a return to B&W 6mhz TV. The organizational resources must be turned to BLUE, and further design and improvements in the processing servers.
As far as replacement parts....
You might have trouble getting the original GPS module, from what I understand, and have to do with a different version.... perhaps with a feature missing.
The PDF document contains lists of virtually all of the parts required... however some are quite specific... for example the specially chosen LED on the E field preamplifier.
Yes,... the boards themselves were last produced a year ago.
If you have contacted Egon about replacement parts for RED through the address on the 'contact' page of the website, and he's informed you that part isn't on hand, then that's the way it is.
On the other hand, it's possible that the required parts ARE on hand, and if so he will do his best to get them to you. At last report he did have some odds and ends.
We have sucessfully repaired several stations in the United States with locally available parts, including mine, though my repair was minor.
But the last complete kits available for 'general' distribution were prepared and distributed last year!
The developers in Europe have jobs, families, and lives outside of this project, and devote, probably, too much time and effort to it,. Please give them a break!
This is a "science project" of the hobby class, not a money-making plug-and-play gadget,. The data is viable... accurate when all the rules observed, and fun. The coming system(s) will be even more so if the developers are allowed to pursue peacefully.
Cheers!
Mike
