The ADL product, and some of the wx radar websites, overlay radar data (typically obtained from here) with sferics (typically obtained from here).
I would expect a stormscope to show the same thing as the sferics data and in general it corresponded fairly well, where I had an opportunity to compare the two in flight (not very often because at most altitudes I fly at where hazardous wx was relevant, I get no 3G/4G so would have been using Thuraya, which I don’t like because it often doesn’t work and is cumbersome to use, with the Thuraya satphone on the end of a USB cable) after allowing for the stormscope range being out by anything up to a factor of 2 (usually in the “safe” direction i.e. showing the strike a lot closer than it really is). Azimuth was usually very accurate (within a few degrees) relative to visually detected CBs; a lot more accurate than my £13k TCAS 
I found cases where the WX500 stormscope showed strikes (isolated ones, never a cluster of them) but the sferics image didn’t show anything, but never vice versa.
So I can’t agree that a stormscope is pointless, although I well see that Jason’s radar is better for tactical avoidance of hazardous wx if flying in IMC in a well de-iced aircraft – if the decision is to be either radar-only or stormscope-only. Big jets (a bigger version of Jason’s) evidently agree with this and while all have radar, most don’t have a stormscope or indeed any kind of airborne-delivered wx feed.
However the cost delta is a factor of 10 at least, and you cannot fit a radar to almost all SEPs, whereas you can fit a stormscope to just about anything. I think most twins used for serious IFR already have radar installed (not always working though, due to cost of repairs). You could fit a radar to a TB20 or an SR22 etc (an under-wing pod) and @pilot_dar will probably know how but the paperwork and flight testing would cost you a fortune
I have often used the stormscope to make long-range tactical decisions. In light GA IFR one is constantly making these, playing the buildup-avoidance game as far ahead as one can see; 100nm in some cases. ATC don’t always believe you (although that one didn’t involve the stormscope)
From my (limited) experience of flying with a stormscope near convective weather, it will light up long before any lightning reaches the ground, which I presume is what you call “actual lightning strikes”. But when we are in the air, we are also concerned about discharges between clouds, and in that case I have seen active areas with strikes which wouldn’t have been particularly conspicuous on a ground based radar. If I had the choice to do so, I would try to fit weather radar and stormscope onto a plane and try to overlay both. At least in some Avidyne equipped SR22 that I rented, the MFD would actually allow you to combine the downlink radar with the stormscope strikes, a presentation which I find useful.
JasonC wrote:
A stormscope? Really? I think they are a waste of money personally.
I don’t think they provide particularly accurate information and even when they do, it is limited in scope to significant electrical activity and still only provides an approximate direction and intensity. In Europe it is far more useful to get airborne or down linked radar. The downlinked version can usually include actual lightning strikes anyway.
Why do you think that, Jason?
Robin_253 wrote:
A second hand stormscope can be bought on ebay for 2k$, maybe even less. Installation would be possible on every airplane as per EASA minor change. Can’t see any cheaper solution for a “real time” inflight weather info. As Peter suggested on low altitudes cellular connection might give you access to standard weather apps. ADL app works great in this scenario.
A stormscope? Really? I think they are a waste of money personally.
A second hand stormscope can be bought on ebay for 2k$, maybe even less. Installation would be possible on every airplane as per EASA minor change. Can’t see any cheaper solution for a “real time” inflight weather info. As Peter suggested on low altitudes cellular connection might give you access to standard weather apps. ADL app works great in this scenario.
Gotta be honest, Peter, I was surprised at how affordable it was to replace my radar with a new unit, actually. The option I had was trying to get an old bulky EX600 that could display the old analog radar. They kind of start at $6K used if you can find one. New they’re $10K. In the end the new radar cost $15K and it displays directly on the Avidyne as an overlay, so not that bad. I made the decision that it was worth the extra cost $5-8K in cost in the end.
At the risk of being accused of nit-picking, on-board weather radar is the only means of getting real-time information. All other means have 10-20 minutes of lag. You might say that this is of no importance if it hadn’t already killed a number of pilots, so I am going to seize the opportunity to link the NTSB’s corresponding Safety Alert about the issue here.
Probably this.
For heavy use and where you have the right software running at your end and don’t mind doing some messing around, the Thuraya system is cheaper than the above’s Iridium. Thuraya is also less reliable, however.
For low level flying (say below 3000ft) and with even less reliability you can use 3G/4G and just a smartphone.
