Introduction

I got the idea of the lightning flash counter while reading a book of high voltage technology [1] where a schematic diagram of such a counter was just presented.
By following the related reference I found the original article [2] and decided to built it, just for fun.

This circuit allows the detection of every lightning strike in a radius of about 20-30 km from the counter, by receiving the EM pulse with a special antenna. I slightly modified the original circuit to allow the connection with a PC to record time and date of each strike.
Results provided by this device my be useful to evaluate the best lightning protection level for a specific area, if compared with others regions. Additional information can be found in the original article.

[1]	M. AUGET et M. IANOZ, Traité d'Électicité, vol. XXII, Haute tension, Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes, Lausanne, 1990.
[2]	S. A. PRENTICE, Compteur de coups de foudre, Electra CIGRE, No. 22, may 1972, pp. 149-179.