Lightning counter

       

Did you know such a device? It is a lightning counter. It works according to the principle of a current probe / toroidal current transformer and counts – probably on a purely mechanic base – the number of lightning strikes an earthing system has had to carry. The extreme amplitudes (>10kA) and rise time edges (>5kA/µs) make it fairly easy to design a plain and simple mechanical device that is capable of distinguishing lightning strikes from other fault currents (short circuit: ≈1kA/ms).