A scan in the around 100 - 200 kHz should give you a good hint.
New data… I did see the status go back to “OK”, but then back to “LIGHTNING DISTURBER” again a minute or so later.
Hmm…
Update: I went ahead and moved the AIR to the backyard where the Atlas is. Status was “OK” for a few minutes, then popped back to “LIGHTNING DISTURBER” again. ARGH!
I’m going to try pulling the batteries to power-cycle the AIR and see if that makes any difference.
WF has never done an update of Sky or Air via OTA. The risks are to high something goes wrong. Though maybe in the future they will but I never saw any till now.
Here are the specs of the chip used
https://ams.com/documents/20143/36005/AS3935_DS000385_1-00.pdf/cbda4a76-569a-cb79-bd62-f94778783cde
extract
Lightning Algorithm
The lightning algorithm consists of hardwired logic. False events (man-made disturbers) which might trigger the AS3935 are rejected, while lightning events initiate calculations to estimate the distance to the head of the storm.
The Lightning algorithm is broken up into three sub blocks:
- Signal Validation: Verification that the incoming signal can be classified as lightning.
- Energy Calculation: Calculation of the energy of the single event.
- Statistical Distance Estimation: According to the number of stored events (lightning), a distance estimate is calculated.
In case the incoming signal does not have the shape characteristic to lightning, the signal validation fails and the event is classified as disturber. In that case the energy calculation and statistical distance estimation are not performed and the sensor automatically goes back to listening mode.
The shortest time span between two lightning strikes that the AS3935 can resolve is approximately one second.
Once a signal is classified as disturber the sensor is deactivated for a further 1.5s time period. As the duration of disturber signals can vary, this sensor down time will prevent the sensor from triggering repeatedly due to longer disturber events.
Signal Validation
During the signal validation phase the shape of the incoming signal is analyzed. The sensor can differentiate between signals that show the pattern characteristic of lightning strikes and man-made disturbers such as random impulses. Besides the watchdog threshold the spike rejection settings SREJ inREG0x02[3:0] can be used to increase the robustness against false alarms from such disturbers. By default the value is set toREG0x02[3:0] = 0010. Larger values in REG0x02[3:0]correspond to more robust disturber rejection, yet with the drawback of a decrease in detection efficiency. In Figure 42 the detection efficiency is illustrated as function of distance for various settings of SREJ.
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Well, if my problem is that the AIR is often in “LIGHTNING DISTURBER” mode and shuts down for 1.5 seconds, that might account for the “deafness” I’m experiencing. Or maybe it’s just showing longer in the app because of the reporting frequency.
The reboot didn’t help. I even put the AIR in yet another location inside the house, and it still goes into “DISTURBER” mode pretty quickly.
I also have an Acurite 06045M detector that also has an AS3935 chip. It’s showing an occasional interferer (it has a dedicated LED for that) once every several minutes, but nothing that looks like a continuous issue.
Ligtning disturber is on by default i think i dont know why maybe WF can explain this
For now I’ll just leave the AIR on the south side of the house near the Atlas and see what happens. My next big chance for thunderstorms doesn’t look to be until Sunday, though.
Thanks for the help!
you’re a very welcome
remember lightning is a tricky thing. Several here , like me, use more complex systems like Blitzortnung and even those things are darn sensitive (and can detect up to 5000 km or better) but the time you spend to find the sweat spot … it can take weeks to eliminate slowly all internal interference, then see where to set it in regards to your neighbourhood … but one advantage, we have the signals making it a bit easier to see what happens.
I include @anon84912554 so they can have a look at raw data, maybe they can already advice if there is no apparent failure of the little chip … never know.
Oh, yeah. I understand that. I’m not discouraged at all. I’ve just finally gotten around to figuring out what the issue is.
Some people have been having trouble with the AS3935 in the Atlas. Acurite has tracked it down to noise coming off the aspiration fan motor wire. My two units have been fine, though.
I did get a hold of a Blitzortung Blue kit yesterday. I’ve been wanting one for years and one came up for sale on eBay recently. I hope to start construction soon.
Again, thanks for the advice!
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I have an Air that reports Lightning Disturber 1440 times s day. It also reports lightning.
I don’t think that an SDR will tune down that low without an HF upconverter like the Ham It Up…
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I have an SRDplay RSP2 that goes down to 1kHz without an upconverter. I’ll give it a shot later today.
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Hi @george.nincehelser . The LIGHTNING DISTURBER can largely be ignored. It is the algorithmic filter in the Franklin Lightning detector chip that indicates some electrical activity is being detected but the filter is disqualifying it as NOT lightning. That’s why we buried the display of ‘disturber’ —it’s pretty much irrelevant.
As many have suggested here, try locating your AIR in a different spot. And try rotating it 90deg as there is some directional bias to the detector. As a reminder, the lightning detector is designed to alert you of incoming lightning activity. It is not powerful enough to sense and report every single strike.
We love hearing your feedback. Keep us posted! 
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Thanks. I have put the AIR near my Atlas on the south side of the house. According to the forecast I might see some lightning activity this Sunday and see how the readings compare.
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Well, it’s early Sunday morning. A small thunderstorm just passed by.
I visually saw lightning out my window.
My Atlas picked up 6 strikes with the closest estimated a 6 miles.
My Acurite 06045M lightning sensor lit up red many times, but I don’t have a counter for it.
No lighting was registered at all by the AIR, even in its new position near the Atlas.
The SKY did send me an alert that it was raining, though, so at least the system as a whole is functioning.
I’ll watch it some more as Dark Sky’s forecast is predicting more rain activity until 6:00AM.
Oddly, the forecast from the WeatherFlow page is giving a 0% chance of rain today.
So what’s next? This AIR is a kickstarter unit. I’m not sure if it is covered under warranty or not. It’s pretty close to a year in age,
WeatherFlow doesn’t have a forecast. Where are you seeing this?
It’s showing up on my grid, here: Tempest
I assume it is coming from some third party?
the forecast is from Weatherunderground, service that is having some rock and roll hours as they can’t cope and are trying to change model …
Many of us have disabled it already.
Regarding lightning … not sure what is happening. You have a piezo lighter ?? Try to fire it close to the Air, it is known that this can trigger it, or a flash from a photo camera …
and it is the Sky that measures rain, not the Air 
Yes, WeatherUnderground. It’s an old Internet service that is on its last leg. I consider it total hogwash and unreliable.