"Jim Fisher" wrote in message
...

increments. This thing supposedly added $3,500 bucks to the Trade-a-Plane
value of my plane when I sold it.

I am comparing it to a $3000 or so used Strikefnder or Stormscope.


It was nothing like the newfangled gizmos that plot a little lightning bolt
in the exact range and direction of your position.

The "newfangled gizmos" -- even the $14,000 ones -- still are not accurate
enough to plot your way through embedded storms. They are most useful in
steering you to areas where storms are absent -- and a used $3000
Strikefinder/Stormscope does that just almost as well as the new $14,000
units.

Spending $14,000 on a Stormscope makes no sense IMHO...a better plan would
be to spend $3,000 on a used Stormscope and then spend the difference on a
weather datalink system which includes data from the national lightning
detection network.


My point is that this handheld gizmo would just HAVE to give me at least
as
much info as my old Stormscope--which wasn't much but would probably come
in


A Strikefinder or Stormscope -- any age, any model -- is most helpful when
it is blank. They tend to be quite accurate in determining storm direction
but poor in determining distance. However, when a Stormscope or
Strikefinder of ANY vintage shows a blank screen then you can be very
confident that there is no convective activity within the range of this
sferics device.

I think a better analogy is that this gizmo would just HAVE to give you at
least as much information as an ADF -- while an ADF can indeed point to
thunderstorms, I certainly would not use an ADF to verify the *absence* of
thunderstorm activity, and I doubt this portable device would be that
reliable or sensitive either.

The bottom line is that an old Stormscope or Strikefinder may not be
terrific at telling you where thunderstorms ARE, but they sure are
outstanding at telling you where thunderstorms are ABSENT. I doubt this
portable device could determine the absence of thunderstorms with the same
level of sensitivity.

--
Richard Kaplan, CFII

www.flyimc.com