If you enjoy photography you know that it can be very hard to capture certain events. Our friend Viktor has built this DIY Lightning Detection for Photography which has a PIC microcontroller controlling the events. The photodiode monitors the ambient light levels and triggers the camera when it sees a lightning strike. This project is safe for your camera since it is optically isolated for your cameras protection. Viktor will send you the source code upon request so you can make your own. He has also offered to sell you the parts so you can build your own if you would rather not hunt down all the parts.
“The circuit is based on a 16F628A PIC microcontroller. The light sensing part (OPT101) is a monolithic photodiode and single-supply transimpedance amplifier in a single 8DIP package allowing a smaller final product size. When designing the PCB care must be taken to position this part in a place where it can “see” the ambient light and lightning bolts.”
