Lightning Protection Via WYZE cam

Power & Lighting
1

Attached is a photo of a device that I cobbled together in a cardboard box to shut down my computer when I am not home and lightning strikes nearby.

Granted a rude shutdown is not a good thing to do, but I lost 2 cable boxes and some HDMI splitters recently; additionally the small air gap provided by the relay in the WYZE plug would be defeated by a significant local strike, this setup will probably work on strikes elsewhere on the local grid. I need to devise a small relay to create an air gap for the Cable coming in the house as this is what happened to my equipment. My iMac was OK as it was off and the terminal strip was off (air gap).

15 Amp capacity of the WYZE Plug is more than enough for my iMac Mini and it’s peripherals and the relay mentioned above.

I set the plug to be normally ON and configured the Camera for movement & sound detection to turn off the plug as the detector beeps & blinks the range of the strike on LEDs when detecting.

For testing I have the plug configured to come back on at about 33 seconds. I presume that it will work for 1:30:00 but I have not tried that long yet; An hour and a half should allow for the storm to clear.

When the plug comes back ON I started timing the camera, it appears that it takes the camera/program about 4:00 min. to reset (Cool Down Period?). This slowed down the testing, but is OK for this application as it will need to stay off much longer for a storm.

I used a Piezo Electric lighter to simulate the lightning.

Also in the process of this I discovered that when the WYZE Plug and the bridge camera (not the one I use for the device) the plug will not function properly. Sounds like a TEMPEST problem, but I have not yet tracked it down yet.

Cardboard box is for light isolation that is seen as motion.

IMG_0427
IMG_04274032Ă—3024 1.66 MB

Manufacturer of my detector

http://www.strikealert.com/
http://www.strikealert.com/pdf/StrikeAlert%20Instrux.pdf

Dave Ketterer
DOE TEMPEST Coordinator (Retired)
Cherry Plain, NY

PS: This whole setup was only around $100.00 If WYZE built one with this capability and the cable isolation relay for about $129.00 (especially if an interface to shut down gracefully were incorporated) I think you would have a hit.

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Sounds interesting. I never heard of this technology.

However, from your link:

Will the StrikeAlert units work Indoors?
While the StrikeAlert units will work indoors, their ability to detect lightning strikes can be affected by electromagnetic emissions. Click here to view Product Information.

Personally I avoid this risk by using cheap computers. :wink:

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3

I failed to mention that my 15 year old Strike Alert is incredibly sensitive, often picking storms in the 60 mile range that I view on “My Radar” on my iPhone.
While is was putting this little system together there was an approaching storm near Rutland, VT some 60+ miles away that kept triggering it.
I have done some limited TEMPEST testing at home on this unit. Placing it in-front of my (42” Vizio) it will trigger spuriously.
Best practice is to place it 6’ from any electrical wires or equipment.
Just for reference I believe that these units utilize EMP pulses. Probably would alert to a Nuclear explosion, but I have no way to test this.

B reds

Ketterer

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