The Hydreon RG-15 is a high-accuracy, maintenance-free optical rain sensor intended to replace conventional tipping buckets.

Features nominal accuracy of within 10% compared with tipping bucket

Low power consumption makes it well-suited for solar charged applications

RS-232 serial communications for configuration and data collection

The Hydreon RG-15 Solid State Tipping Bucket is a rainfall-measuring device intended to replace conventional tipping buckets. The RG-15 is rugged, reliable, maintenance-free and features a nominal accuracy of within 10%. The RG-15 is designed to replace tipping bucket rain gauges in many applications where their maintenance requirements make them impractical.

DesignThe RG-15 uses beams of infrared light within a plastic lens about the size of a tennis ball. The round surface of the lens discourages the collection of debris, and the RG-15 has no moving parts to stick to, and no water-pathways to clog. The device features an open-collector output that emulates a conventional tipping bucket, as well as serial communications that provide more detailed data and allow for configuration of the device.

The RG-15 may be configured through the serial port, or optionally via DIP switches. Power consumption of the RG-15 is very low, and the device is well-suited to solar-power applications. Dip Switches can control the units (inches or millimeters) and resolution (0.01″/0.2mm or 0.001″/0.02mm) of the device. Commands can also be sent via the RS232 serial port to override them.