Customer Reviews

StrikeAlert II Personal Lightning Detector Pager

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had my StrikeAlert for a few years. Lightning is my #1 fear when I spot and chase. Being the person I am, when I got the unit, I immediately tested it during the next storm by taking a couple readings with it and comparing those to the national lighting strike map. It wasn't a perfect method, but I was able to determine that the unit was accurate enough for my purposes.

The good:
- Small and didn't get in the way. I could store it by clipping it on the visor of my truck. I can always find a place to put in in my briefcase or suitcase.
- Decent battery life. I can leave it on 24 hours and it still would be good. One battery would pretty much last all summer.
- Easy to read in the dark.
- Fairly decent construction and lasted through a few long, wet storm seasons

The bad:
- The Strike LEDs went out after a couple years without warning. Just powered it up one day and nothing but the power LED would light. I gave it to a storm chasing buddy. He fixed a cold solder that had finally broke loose.
- False readings. This is my biggest complaint. Opening and closing the door on my old truck would trigger it. Having it anywhere near the antenna of my ham rig would trigger it when I transmitted. I would say it is too sensitive, but I *don't* get good readings inside of any sort of structure. The false readings followed a pattern and I quickly got to where I would just ignore those if I was close to something that could cause false readings. My General unit doesn't seem to have these false readings issues, but that unit is bulkier, can't be clip onto my belt and eats batteries.

Even with the false positive annoyance, I recently bought another StrikeAlert II. My wife uses it to know when to head to the car while at a park or the zoo. I've used it during softball games to let refs know of an approaching storm. I don't trust my life to any one product, but I trust this one enough that if it says danger is coming, I believe it.

I bought this product for use when fishing and on the golf course. I have an storm and loud noise sensitive (fireworks, gun shots, etc.) dog at home whom at times needs to be medicated. This product alerts me when I play or fish for my personal safety as wel as for the health and safety of my pet. Highly recommend this product for the outdoors person, coaches and animal companions.

Works surprisingly well.

It also detects wind-created static on the thing you clip it to, if it's capable of storing up a static charge (clipping it to a bicycle helmet strap seems to be the best deal for bicyclists; clipping it to a wicker bike basket will produce constant alarms).

The on button begins to fail strangely after a while - you have to press it very hard very many times to turn the thing on. It's done that on two that I have. It does continue to work though.

Indoors sitting on a window sill, it also responds to the refrigerator and lights turning on and off, as well as lightning.

Some clue about what it's measuring might help the user in intuiting what false alarms are about.

The STRIKEALERT monitor does exactly what it is intended for, monitoring lightning strikes & storm tracking. Our company uses them in the oilfield to monitor & warn our field operations.

The lightening in Florida can come on unexpectedly and the strike alert is a must if you are outside and especially if you are participating in a sport that keeps you focused away from the weather. With a swimming pool, horseback riding, and outdoor volleyball and an 11 y/o granddaughter, I would not be without this product! I actually got one for the riding instructor who owns the farm and she is thrilled. Taking her riders on a trail ride while not knowing the weather conditions is not desirable. She uses it all the time. It may seem expensive, but being hit by lightening is a high price to pay when it could have been avoided. SAFETY FIRST with STRIKEALERT! Your best buddy when outside and especially in Florida!

It allows me to stay out on courses that don't have a lightnning system, when you hear thunder. But you can come in when things get close.

Could save a few hives here in Florida

Works great in the environment it was built for. (out doors away from white noise producing electronics). It will work indoors and around other electronics but its performance is degraded. I am a SkyWarn spotter and out in the field it does a GREAT job. If it goes off lightning has struck and its time to take shelter. As for the on off switch problems some people have had , BE EASY on the button. Pushing harder DOES NOT make it work faster. Its a small push button and only needs slight pressure to work. Just like the keys on a laptop. The Strike Alert and most consumer electronics are mass produced and may have a problem during assembly. Most problems will show up almost immediately and the warranty will take care of it. Use it as it was intended for (to alert you of a lightning strike near you)and you will enjoy it. Mine goes with me every time we are activated to spot storms. Some have wished it had the strike ranges broken down to smaller distances. That would be of NO USE for a strike alert item. Lightning can strike you 10-20 occasionally up to 50 miles from the storm itself. Count the number of seconds from the moment the Strike Alert goes off until you hear the thunder and then divide by 5 and you will have an idea of the distance of the strike to compare with what the Strike Alert is showing. You can only hear thunder up to about 10-12 miles away in a quite area. So as I said before if it goes off it does not matter how far it is it's time to take action to increases you safety from a strike.

Got mine years ago. Cheapest protection available. I used it when working on my tractor. Was reliable at letting me know when the Houston pop up storms were getting active. Mine had good battery life and the LEDs continued to work fine. If you spend time in active storm country outside, GET ONE.

Works well for my summer work above tree line this past year. Allows me to know when storms are far enough out to get down out of strike zone. We will see how long term reliability goes.

It was low cost for a detector; But it needs to be outside and it uses up batteries very quickly;

I guess it is for golfers. 18 holes and replace batteries.