Astraphobe DSL lightning protection - has anyone tried it?

Electron1

Electron1

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I saw this at Makro and looked it up:
http://www.astraphobe.com/
The Astraphobe automatically disconnects your line for you when a storm approaches, and reconnects it once it's safe to do so!


Disconnects your DSL / telephone line in the presence of a storm.
Reconnects your DSL / telephone line automatically when it is safe to do so.
Storms within 40km (24 miles) are tracked, LCD display shows estimated distance.
Easy to use menu system allows you to to customise your preferences.
User configurable disconnect distance, disconnect timer and audible alarm.
Information screen shows storms, lightning strikes, line disconnects and other information.
Protects all equipment directly connected downstream of your incoming line from surges present on the line: e.g. ADSL modem, telephones, computers, Ethernet switches, games consoles, televisions, media players etc.
Easy to install - just plug in between your line and modem.
International award winning storm sensing system.
Click to expand...

Good idea but pricing is expensive. Online is about R1400.00, Makro is R1499.00.
Would like to know more about it though - how exactly does it pick up lightning up to 40km away?
Also has it been independently tested?
What guarantee do they give if equipment is hit by lightning?
Also it only seems to disconnect the telephone line, no power protection.

More from their website:
Mode of Operation
The Astraphobe has four modes of operation. Each mode has a corresponding display, which will always start with either the word “Online” meaning your line is connected, or the word “Offline”, meaning your line has been disconnected.

In normal operation, when no storm is nearby, the Astraphobe will display a message showing that you are online, that its clear, and approximately how long it has been since a storm was detected.

When a storm has been detected some distance away, the Astraphobe will show “Online. Stormy!” on the top line of the display. On the bottom line it will indicate the estimated distance to the storm, together with a timer counting up the time since the last successfully analysed strike.

If the storm gets too close, the Astraphobe will internally disconnect your line. On the top line the text will indicate “Offline” together with the current distance estimate of the storm and a timer counting down. When the timer reaches 0, your line will be reconnected, but any strike too close to you will reset the timer!

The Astraphobe incorporates a special power failure recovery mode. During a storm when the Astraphobe has disconnected your line, if the power goes off either momentarily or for an extended period, when it comes back on again the Astraphobe will enter power failure recovery mode, keep your line disconnected whilst it scans for storms. If no storm is found, your line is reconnected.

Flexibility
You may choose what distance the storm may approach, and what timer values to use.

Other features
A menu is used to select the various options. The Astraphobe also incorporates a feature where one may display and reset a strike counter, as well as display the total number of strikes, storms and disconnect events.
Click to expand...
 
It works by detecting and analysing the radio waves (magnetic pulses) given off by lightning. I have been using an Astraphobe for the last week, but so far there has been no thunderstorms in my area, so I can't comment on how effective it is.

I have found that it is sensitive to interference. I have a treadmill in the same room as my Astraphobe and when it runs it the Astraphobe picks up a lot of interference from it.
 
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Electron1 said:
I saw this at Makro and looked it up:
http://www.astraphobe.com/

Good idea but pricing is expensive. Online is about R1400.00, Makro is R1499.00.
Would like to know more about it though - how exactly does it pick up lightning up to 40km away?
Click to expand...
Nice find; it's high time we had tech like this around, instead of dumb MOV-based passive devices. So, from reading the blurb they're doing the EM-wave detection thing, which accounts for the range. From the PDF they can also discriminate between in-cloud, inter-cloud and ground-strike lightning. As it's apparently a high-sensitivity device it's sensitive to RF, well, spam (actually EMI) from noisy electrical devices (fridges, aircons, electronics) and needs to be installed away from such devices as well as in an open and unshielded area (so not underground, etcetera)

Also has it been independently tested?
What guarantee do they give if equipment is hit by lightning?
Click to expand...
It's a new device, likely too new for that kind of thing to have happened. But don't hold your breath that they will ever do the guarantee thing, lightning just can't be predicted and for all that they are monitoring for the EM signature and physically disconnecting the phone line in the box, a good solid lightning strike right on you will overwhelm everything.
Also it only seems to disconnect the telephone line, no power protection.
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Yep, because the (usually above-ground) phone line is a MONSTER transmission line into which surges are induced that then merrily proceed to fry (at least) the front-end of your router. And, if you're really lucky, will go right through said router and into the Ethernet cabling on the other side of it. That said, my personal observations is that nice long UTP runs (with eight independent wires per cable) are themselves transmission lines into which surges get induced that can take out switches and Ethernet ports on connected PCs/devices. And anyway, they say in the manual that you have to ensure that you have the power side taken care of too. Which means if you want to do this right, you're looking at one of these on your phone line (far and away your most serious exposure), (MOV-based) surge protection on your plugs, and clamping devices on Ethernet cabling. Which, yes, adds up to a pretty penny ..but what is your stuff actually worth?
 
I would like to see a SABS test of the device.
Lot of money to lay out for something you hope will work.
 
Hi there as far as i know before any device can be conected to telkoms network it should have some tests done by telkom icasa and sabs I wander if this was done. Who is the local agents for this product?
 
See the link in the first post for their details. Good question.
 
Electron1 said:
I would like to see a SABS test of the device.
Click to expand...

craigcul said:
Hi there as far as i know before any device can be conected to telkoms network it should have some tests done by telkom icasa and sabs I wander if this was done. Who is the local agents for this product?
Click to expand...

The only way they appear to want to be found is as Astraphobe, a Jacstech search is almost useless, with the name of apparently a company director being the only hit. And CIPRO, now CIPC, is not being hugely helpful either. Re the bolded bit: they *are* a local company. ;)
 
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The various press releases on the net say "ICASA approved".
 
I asked them if it was tested by icasa and SABS and this was the reply it was tested under local conditions byTelkom Labs and labs in the USA.

(For various business reasons we chose to have the unit tested by a different accredited laboratory, not SABS. It passed all tests and is fully licensed by ICASA.

For your info it has also been tested by independent lab overseas for the USA market, it passed the relevant testing there too, namely FCC part 15 and 68.)
 
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It would be handy if they published the test details on their website.

I would like to see an independent review of a unit tested under our Highveld storm conditions - if it was tested over December 2014 we would have a good baseline as this would be as real world as you get.
 
I read about this in popular mechanics, then made made contact via the web page and also asked some questions, then bought from Makro. (first I downloaded the manual!) Happy so far, it does work. One afternoon it disconnected and I was rather irritated as I had just been outside and the weather looked fine, but then I looked out the back window (to the south west) and there was a huge storm coming, few seconds later heard the thunder, and a few minutes later it was on us! Mine hasn't had any interference yet.

One afternoon it picked up over 1000 strikes!
 
Allow me first off to introduce myself, Jorgen from Jacstech, the manufacturer of the Astraphobe. I would like to clarify a few points. Electron1: yes it has been thoroughly tested. Part of the dev & verification included test units installed in Joburg, Pretoria and Durban. Sensing side of system tested in conjunction with SA weather service (radar & lightning detection network). The retail version was then tested by Telkom, at their labs in Pretoria. Subsequently licenced by ICASA.

Mystic007 and bdt are correct, it has a radio receiver & picks up on the energy that is transmitted by the storms. Again bdt is correct in terms of guarantee, its impossible to provide a blanket cover as each household is different and the rest of the house may not be wired correctly / earthed etc. The issue for some time has been lightning coming in via the adsl line, that's what the Astraphobe was designed to stop. I personally lost count of how many routers, switches etc I had to replace. Had one strike that took out all the normal stuff, but it also went through my Ethernet network and fried my motherboard, a WD NAS, MVIX and a few other bits.
Electron1, we chose to use Telkom labs for the formal testing and not SABS for various reasons which are not valid to discuss here. Telkom labs has an impressive operation in Pretoria, and we wanted the certainty that the Astraphobe would not affect ADSL line quality. I also took a couple units overseas for FCC testing, the unit passed with no problems the testing for FCC Part 15 and FCC Part68. The unit was then submitted to ICASA for licensing.
Going to add some further reviews to the website...
 
Thanks Jorgen for the info.

How long does the ADSL stay disconnected for, after a storm has been detected?
I assume it will stay disconnected for a period of time until the storm dissipates?
 
Hi Electron1, yes there is a safety delay. One can choose a value here, either 5, 7 (default), 10 or 15 minutes. The manual refers to this parameter as the "Reconnection Timer". This is closely linked to another option, the "Disconnect Distance", which is the distance in km a storm may approach before the Astraphobe disconnects the line. Default is 6km.

Let me explain how it works, we assume default values of 6km and 7 minutes: The Astraphobe picks up a storm that's moving towards you, from about 40km away. It notifies you via the screen, and shows how far the storm is. The storm gets closer. When it gets to 6km, the Astraphobe disconnects your line. At that moment, the reconnection timer starts counting down from 7 minutes. Any subsequent strike from the storm that is still within 6km causes the timer to restart the countdown from 7 minutes, so while the storm is raging overhead you stay disconnected. If the storm moves away, or dissipates, eventually the timer will reach zero, and the line is then reconnected. So in other words, if no more strikes, the timer will not be reset, neither will it be reset if the strikes are being detected at say 20km.

The reason to able to set these options and not hardcoding it, is to create flexibility. In an urban area where most of us live, strikes tend to dissipate over a relatively small area, so selecting a closer disconnect distance and short reconnect timer is 100%, in this way you are inconvenienced to the minimum. But if you live on a smallholding or farm, and your line runs above ground on poles, rather choose a bigger value such as 14 or even 20km.
 
Out of interest, we had access via the SA Weather Service, from the weather radar located in Irene. The lab location was just 4000 metres from the radar site, I can try post some pics then you can see what some typical storms look like from a birds eye view. Its quite scary / impressive.
 
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