WX-10 stormscope

[swingwing]

I just upgrade to a nice 182Q. I'm in the process of working to fix what's broke. It has a WX-10 stormscope that displays "FLAG" when power up. I found the user manual online, but it doesn't address this. I'm assuming it means it's broke, but I don't know. Any advise on what I should do next?
Are these older WX-10 stormscopes useful or worthless?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Art VanDelay]

I LOVE a good storm scope ! I wish the 777 I fly at work had a stormscope. It doesn't replace radar it augments it. Very good tool for spotting convective activity before radar sees it. I would keep that if at all possible.

 

[Ted]

I agree with @Art VanDelay completely. Stormscopes are great tools and augment radar.

The WX-10 is an older unit and not as good as the later units (especially the WX-500) but can still work. It does sound like yours is broken. I don't know enough about the WX-10 to tell you which component is broken, but I have a WX-10 computer that I pulled in working condition if you're interested. The display on the 414 wasn't working so I opted to pull the setup for that and a few other reasons. Ultimately I hope to put in a WX-500.

 

[neilw2]

I agree with @Art VanDelay completely. Stormscopes are great tools and augment radar.

The WX-10 is an older unit and not as good as the later units (especially the WX-500) but can still work. It does sound like yours is broken. I don't know enough about the WX-10 to tell you which component is broken, but I have a WX-10 computer that I pulled in working condition if you're interested. The display on the 414 wasn't working so I opted to pull the setup for that and a few other reasons. Ultimately I hope to put in a WX-500.

I LOVE a good storm scope ! I wish the 777 I fly at work had a stormscope. It doesn't replace radar it augments it. Very good tool for spotting convective activity before radar sees it. I would keep that if at all possible.

Not to hijack the discussion completely but....

How does a stormscope enhance your capability? I ask because I too have a 182Q w/ a WX-500 in it. I know it works as it has spotted convective activity ahead but have yet to use it tactically.

The way I look at is I use the ADS-B stuff to see areas that may have T-storm activity. I try to avoid any convective areas but will fly those areas if I can remain in VMC. If I can't it's time to get out of the area or land until it passes. Would you use a stormscope to fly with embedded stuff?

Not arguing just understanding how best to use these from some seasoned pros

 

[Ted]

Not to hijack the discussion completely but....

How does a stormscope enhance your capability? I ask because I too have a 182Q w/ a WX-500 in it. I know it works as it has spotted convective activity ahead but have yet to use it tactically.

The way I look at is I use the ADS-B stuff to see areas that may have T-storm activity. I try to avoid any convective areas but will fly those areas if I can remain in VMC. If I can't it's time to get out of the area or land until it passes. Would you use a stormscope to fly with embedded stuff?

Not arguing just understanding how best to use these from some seasoned pros

Radar tells you where precip is, but doesn't tell you about convective activity.

Stormscope tells you where lightning is, i.e. a thunderstorm you don't want to fly through. There can be lightning without precip, but most often it can tell you the difference between precip that you don't want to fly through (because it's a storm) and precip that's ok to fly through. Heavy rain doesn't always mean a thunderstorm. In fact, lots of times I've flown through heavy rain and it was perfectly smooth, it was just heavy rain. This gives you more information which means more options.

Personally I like having NEXRAD download (ADS-B or SiriusXM), on-board radar, and a stormscope. That's what i had in the 310, and it worked great.

 

[blueskyMD]

I have old WX 10 in my Lance and in conjunction with NexRad from ADS-B its invaluable and I love it.
one way to test if your storm scope is working is as follows : find stormscope antenna on the belly ( its a black rectangle plastic ) then take your power drill /driver and have someone run it close to antenna. If its working your scope will light up like fireworks in the sky

 

[swingwing]

Thank you for all the information. I really wanted a stormscope to use in conjunction with ads-b. I would never thread through thunderstorms but believe the information will be helpful to confirm where I shouldn't be. Also Want to be able to monitor the afternoon pop ups that are so common here in the northeast.

I was emailing with Don from Valentine Aviation and he was able to help with my issue. Apparently I have a WX-11 processor that is driving the WX-10 display. The WX-11 is able to be gyro stabilized. Either there is a problem with the connection to my heading indicator or it was never hooked up. He told me how to clear the "flag" an use without gyro stabilization like a WX-10

 

[weirdjim]

The nice thing about stormscope is that it will also detect the internal in-cloud electrical activity that makes small lightning bolts between adjacent layers/sections of the building tstorm before the large bolts come out of the bottom. It gives you a good 15-20 minutes of prewarning that this sucker is about to light the fuse.

The drill trick is fine IF your drill is a brush-type motor. The little sparklies from brush to commutator simulate a lightning bolt nicely. There are some high-end drills that use non-brush technology.

Jim