I can not turn off my ThunderBolt.

Press and hold the button marked with a green square for three to five seconds.

I can not turn on my ThunderBolt.

Press the button marked with a green square. If the ThunderBolt will not turn on, the battery may be dead. Please ensure that the battery is good or that the ThunderBolt is plugged in with its AC adapter.

Note: If your battery dies, you should re-run the Noise Test when you replace the battery.

The ThunderBolt screen constantly displays "High Background Noise."

You are in a location with too much interference for the noise suppression built into your ThunderBolt to screen out. Some examples of locations with a large amount of background noise may include power plants and high-tension power lines.

If you are using an AC adapter, make sure it is the one supplied by Spectrum Electronics. Spectrum Electronics uses special low-noise AC adapters. An ordinary AC adapter produces too much electromagnetic noise, and should not be used with your ThunderBolt.

I ran a Noise Test and the TunderBolt will not work.

This usually means that you ran the Noise Test when a storm was closer than 75 miles. Re-run the Noise Test when there are no storms within 75 miles. Running a Noise Test when a storm is closer than 75 miles can cause your ThunderBolt not to respond to lightning.

How do I change the warning range on my ThunderBolt?

Press the Down Arrow key to bring up the menu. Scroll down to "Alarm Range" and press the Enter button (the upper left button on the keypad). Use the up or down arrows to choose the range you want, then press the Enter button to select the range.

A storm is local, but my ThunderBolt is not indicating "Storm Is Local"

1. If you did not run a Noise Test when you received your unit:
Run the Noise Test to establish a threshold of electromagnetic noise in your area. To do this, first make sure there is no storm present within 75 miles. Turn on yourt ThunderBolt and press the down arrow to bring up the menu. Scroll down to Noise Test (option 5), and press the Enter key. Allow the Noise Test to run completely; this will take about fifteen minutes.

2. If you did run the Noise Test when you received your unit:
There might be several reasons why your ThunderBolt is not reporting a storm.

If you are using your ThunderBolt at high altitudes (above 5,000 feet), you may need to run the Noise Test periodically, about every week to every other week.

If you have just turned on your ThunderBolt while the storm is overhead, you may need to wait for the ThunderBolt to accumulate data. Make sure your ThunderBolt is on for at least 30 minutes prior to when you need it, to allow ThunderBolt time to locate and track storms.

If you have run a Noise Test but a storm was nearby when you ran it, run the Noise Test again when thee are no storms within 75 miles.

Sometimes, a storm may develop right overhead. In this situation, you may not receive advanced warning of the storm, because the storm did not exist before it formed.

If you are using the ThunderBolt in an area completely surrounded by high mountains, ThunderBolt may not be able to detect far-off storms. The low-frequency signals generated by lightning can not reflect off the upper atmosphere and may not be able to penetrate mountains.

Many storms may have cloud-to-cloud lightning, but not cloud-to-ground lightning. Cloud-to-cloud lightning and "sheet lightning" are not dangerous, and your ThunderBolt will not warn you of these situations. ThunderBolt is designed to ignore harmless cloud-to-cloud lightning; it will only warn of storms that produce dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning.

If none of these situations applies to you, please contact our technical support department at 678-578-8503.

My ThunderBolt doesn't work, and I hear a rattling sound when I move it.

If you drop your ThunderBolt on a hard surface, you may jar the internal antenna loose. Should this happen, please contact our technical support department at 678-578-8503 to arrange repair.

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