Rain Sensors

Whys and Wherefores

The original idea for this project was to design and build a rain detector that sounded an alarm to warn us of rain when we've got washing hanging out to dry.

But then I watched a video by Explaining Computers that demonstrated a project to measure rainfall. That piqued my interest so I decided to build that too.

I've decided to combine both items into a single project with all the sensor equipment mounted together.

Requirements

  1. All electronics should be kept inside the house.
  2. The gauge and detector should be mounted close to each other in a location that is as unaffected by surrounding structures so that it receives the full rainfall.
  3. Both should be located as close as possible to the house to minimise the length of wiring runs.

The project builds

It has been decided to locate the rain detector next to the rain gauge on the roof of our garage, which is a reasonably exposed location but also conveniently close to the house to minimise the length of external wiring.

The detector and gauge will both be wired to a junction box that will be located near them both. Wiring will be run from the junction box to the house.

Each sub-project has its own page, as follows:

Rain Detector

This comprises a rain detector unit mounted outside. It is connected to a simple alarm circuit inside the house.

In progress

Rain Gauge

This comprises a rain collector unit mounted outside. It sends data to a microcontroller inside the house that calculates the rainfall, displays it and records the rainfall per day on removable storage.

In progress

Junction box

Since the rain detector and gauge are to be mounted together outside and both will be connected to equipment in the house, a junction box is used to connect both sensor units to wiring that runs to the house.

In progress