It isn’t that hard to make an electronic rain gauge if you have a steady source of power or you don’t mind changing batteries often. But [Matthew Ford] offers a third option: a simple device ...

So that’s where the tipping bucket rain gauge comes in. Invented in 1662, this clever instrument doesn’t just measure rainfall; it records it in real time. Inside the gauge, a small, see-saw-like ...

Most rain gauges just use a graduated cylinder to capture ... This is visualized by a VU-meter chip on a column of LEDs mounted inside the house. After the break you can see the project box ...