Tipping Bucket Mode

At last, a sensitive rugged, reliable, low-maintenance way to measure rainfall.

The RG-11 Rain Gauge counts the number and size of the drops hitting the sensing surface. The algorithms within the RG-11 interpret this data and produce the same sort of output produced by a tipping bucket style rain gauge. The RG-11 pulses the relay contacts closed when a set accumulation of water has been reached. The RG-11 resolution may be set using the DIP switch to be a drop-in replacement for most tipping buckets.

Alternatively, it can be set to be ten or a hundred times more sensitive, See the RG-11 instructions for details on setting the resolution.

An RG-11 can measure rainfall in thousandths or even ten-thousands of an inch, where tipping buckets typically do not start indicating rainfall until after several hundredths of an inch have accumulate.

The RG-11 features an LED that lights whenever the output is active, helping with troubleshooting.

Real tipping buckets are real simple. Why replace them?

A mechanical tipping bucket works by gathering water into a large funnel, and filling a mechanical bucket that tips when the weight of the water reaches a threshold. This approach is simple, accurate, fragile, and high-maintenance. If you jostle a tipping bucket it will register it as rain, making them unsuitable for mobile applications. Debris can clog the collection funnel. They should be cleaned periodically, because the water and dust leave residue behind on the moving part. They do not start to register until enough rain has gathered on the funnel and filled the bucket-- typically several hundredths of an inch.

In contrast, the RG-11 counts individual droplets. Thus, it is a hundred times more sensitive than a typical tipping bucket. Further, the RG-11 contains no moving parts. The RG-11 is unaffected by motion and the sensing surface is convex and self cleaning.

Questions? Email us at info@hydreon.com or call 877-5-SENSOR (877-573-6767)

Accuracy and the RG-11

Not as accurate as a properly maintained Tipping Bucket, but a better choice for many applications.

The RG-11 totalizes a statistical phenomenon, so we do not specify an accuracy limit. Sometimes the RG-11 will read a bit high, and sometimes a bit low, and most of the time these readings will be within 20% of the readings from a tipping bucket. Over a long period of time these generally average out. A few notes:

A tipping bucket will typically miss the first couple of hundreds of an inch of rain as the collecting funnel fills. The RG-11 starts totalizing right away, and is thus more accurate than a tipping bucket for small rainfall accumulations..
If the tipping bucket mechanism gets stuck for any reason, the tipping bucket will not read at all. If the tipping bucket becomes clogged it may not read. The RG-11 is more accurate in these conditions.
The RG-11 will generally not detect snow. A tipping bucket will read the snow after it melts.
We know of no above-freezing condition that will cause the RG-11 to fail to detect rain.
We know of no dry condition that will cause the RG-11 to falsely indicate rain.

The RG-11 is vastly more rugged than a tipping bucket, and low maintenance. The RG-11 is generally less accurate, but it is "good enough" for any number of applications. In many applications, such as mobile or marine, a tipping bucket will not work at all.

The RG-11 is a great choice for:

Applications where maintenance is difficult
Marine or mobile rain sensing, where motion would make a tipping bucket not work.
Sensing very small amounts of rain for data gathering and correlating to other factors
Use in conjunction with tipping buckets to extend the range to small amounts, or for increased system reliability.
Qualitative data gathering for applications such as erosion monitoring.
Input for an irrigation system.
input for process control.

The above graph show the rainfall accumulation of an RG-11 (green line) and a reference tipping bucket (red line), during a rainstorm at our headquarters in Minnesota on October 22, 2010.

Pricing

	Model RG-11 Rain Sensor / Gauge
	RG-11 Optical Rain Sensor / Rain Gauge. Rugged, sensitive and low maintenance.

	Quantity	Price per unit
	1 - 2	$59.00
	3 - 9	$49.00

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