Put a funnel on top of that cylinder for higher resolution.
wvmarle:
Put a funnel on top of that cylinder for higher resolution.
Good idea, then use the funnel area to cylinder area ratio as the measurement base.
Tom.. 
get some milk jugs, cut them to have only vertial walls.
measure the open area
let it rain, pour out the water into a measuring cup.
simple calculation to know amount of rain.
You know, if it turns out to be your code we will never let you forget it. 
SteveMann:
You know, if it turns out to be your code we will never let you forget it.
In the unlikely event that it's code it will be a great lesson to newbies!
I suspect the code was fine.
maybe it was the spiders inside and the leaves on top.
fresh batteries.......
but, hey, if NASA has to 'correct' the data to validate the models, who are we to just use the output as it comes in ?
Anyone ever actually question how they erased the 5 years of down temperatures ? adjust the data !
dave-in-nj:
fresh batteries.......
BATTERIES! ! ! ! ? ? ? ?
D1 Mini powered from a USB cable.
PerryBebbington:
BATTERIES! ! ! ! ? ? ? ?
D1 Mini powered from a USB cable.
My remote head uses two AAA batteries.
Transmits thru RF signal
As you might be able to see mine is on the end of my house. There are cables into loft with a D1 Mini on the end.
I suspect that being in the US you probably have about 10 acres just for your outside toilet
2xAAA won't keep an esp8266 going for very long. If you need to monitor for events from anemometer & rain gauge, you cant put esp into deep sleep, it takes too long to wake (250ms or so, iirc). Lowest consumption without using deep sleep is 20mA.
I used an attiny85, running at 1MHz, and using various other measures to reduce consumption, to monitor the sensors and communicate with the esp using software serial. This meant that the esp could deep sleep for long periods, wake, communicate with the tiny, connect to wifi and send data, and back to deep sleep in a few seconds. It works, and runs for about 3 months on a 18650 li-ion battery.
In its next iteration, an atmega328 will wake on interrupts from the sensors and send data occasionally over LoRa. That should last as long or longer on 3x AAA.
I will play with mine in the next week. I'll get over to that side of the toilet in a few days.
My thoughts are to drip a known quantity of water from a bottle and count number of tilts.
Hope to get a per-tilt volume of rain.
dave-in-nj:
I will play with mine in the next week. I'll get over to that side of the toilet in a few days.
TMI.
Update
I poured 750ml of water through the rain gauge slowly and got 315 pulses.
I checked the size of the aperture and confirmed it as 50mm x 110mm, so 5500mm^2
750ml = 750000mm^3
750000mm^3 / 5500mm^2 = 136mm
136mm / 315 pulses = 0.4329mm per pulse.
That's what I am going with for the calibration, unless someone can tell me something I missed.
Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.
I would bet the design target was 0.5mm / pulse, that would make for easy display and accumulation math.
Next time you shinny up the pole, see if it's adjustable, bet it is.
I did wonder if it might be 0.5mm per pulse as that would bring my calculations close to the amount of rain collected in a bowl.
You can't adjust it, it's a bucket with a fixed size.
Hi,
Karma for updating your subject...
PerryBebbington:
You can't adjust it, it's a bucket with a fixed size.
You could reduce it. You could syringe a measured volume of glue into the bottom each bucket (wedge the see-saw to keep that bucket up until glue sets).
PaulRB:
You could reduce it. You could syringe a measured volume of glue into the bottom each bucket (wedge the see-saw to keep that bucket up until glue sets).
++Karma; // I like out of the box thinking
However, I'll stick to adjusting the multiplication factor in my code.
finally got over to this side of my 1 acre American toilet..... LOL ( see post #68 )
using my regular commercial MISOL rain gauge with digital dimply, [ 'digital display' for those who know how to spell and type ] I ran a test.
the top is 4.32 inches long, and 1.94 inches wide. the radius on the corners is not large over 0.2 inches, but I don't have a device to measure radius accurately.
using an eyedropper to dispense fluid.
having the tipping bucket tip, yes, it is very clear to hear it tip. and it takes about 3/8 teaspoons, or about 2 mL to tip.
tipping every 2 minutes
Readings in 100's of an inch
0
1 = 0.01 inches
1
2
2
4 first double number jump
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
11 second
11
11
12
12
13
13
14
14
14
15 3.9mm or 0.15 inches
total of 27 tips
clearly the unit has some calibration of mm to inches
and the display only does a single decimal place.
next run will be in mm.
is there a way to use some microphone with an Arduino to select out the tap of the tip ? love to have it run for X tips and see the results.
with digital dimply
With WHAT???
Is that a swear word????