FAQs

When lightning is detected at 25 miles away the TALOS Lightning Detector will flash green and beep once. The reason that your TALOS Lightning detector may be beeping twice but flashing green is because your detector is counting two lightning bolts that are appearing 25 miles away in quick succession. So while it sounds like it's beeping twice, it's actually just detecting a second bolt.

The SFD-1000-P and SFD-1000-G do require 4 AA batteries (lithium recommended).

1 year battery life (based on average use)

If you use Lithium AA batteries, you should get approximately 12 months. If you have constant interference from electronic devices, the batteries will not last as long.

Electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, computers, etc. can cause interference that blocks your lightning detector from being able to receive the lightning signals.

The TALOS Lightning Detector will indicate interference in two ways.  The first way is a single LED that flashes white. The second way is that it will blink three LEDs red, blue, and green 5 times indicating continuous interference.  Relocate your device to stop the interference.  Occasionally the interference may be detected as a lightning strike. 

Your lightning detector is optimized for outdoor operation and will be less sensitive inside structures. Some structures like metal buildings and steel-reinforced concrete provide a good deal of shielding, so the lightning detector may not work well or at all.

Concrete block structures typically provide some shielding so you should easily see lightning closer than 16 miles away, but the more distant strikes might not register.

The batteries in the TALOS lightning detector last for about a year but is dependent upon storm activity. If you live in an area prone to more active weather, then the batteries will be depleted quicker. When the batteries begin to die, a low battery warning will come on. Look for the low battery LED to flash red to indicate when it is time to change batteries.

If you mount the Storm Front Detector permanently, you will need a drill and a screwdriver. The mounting method may vary depending on the material you are mounting the Storm Front Detector on.

Your TALOS Lightning Detector is intended to provide notification that there may be lightning in the area, but it shouldn’t be relied upon as your only source of information.

If your lightning detector alerts you with lightning in the area, always consult local media, NOAA weather Radio, or websites like LightningMaps.org or WeatherBug -> Alerts -> Spark .

When lightning is first detected (up to 25 miles), the detector will flash all 8 LEDs for 5 minutes. To save battery life, after 5 minutes of lightning detection, the detector switches to blinking every other LED for the remaining time that lightning is detected (red, blue, or green depending on distance of lightning).

Lightning strikes are detected instantaneously and we follow NOAA recommendations to keep flashing for 15 mins after each strike. If another strike comes in within the 15 mins, then the timer is reset to 15 minutes again.