Tipping-Bucket Rain Gauge

0.2 mm/bucketResolution (pulse equivalent)

Φ200 mmCollector diameter

Pulse / RS485Metering output

IP65Outdoor ingress

Product overview and engineering role

The SimtoLink tipping-bucket rain gauge is for operational precipitation measurement in meteorology and hydrology. A mechanical tipping bucket produces the pulse count, and the gauge stays predictable across a wide temperature range and outdoor electromagnetic noise. On site, watch the collector diameter, how level the gauge sits, and how often the screen and collector are cleaned, so blockage and splash error stay down. It can be compared at the same station with a weighing gauge or a radar precipitation sensor for quality control in heavy rain. Terminals are pluggable, critical circuits are isolated and surge-protected, and firmware can take remote parameters and an OTA update, depending on the order code.

A tipping-bucket dry contact and an RS485 Modbus cumulative-rainfall register are standard, so an RTU or a telemetry platform can read the gauge. Optional gigabit Ethernet and MQTT/HTTP northbound templates shorten joint debug with smart-drainage and flood-command platforms. SimtoLink can customize the southbound point list, harness length, protocol mapping, and help with a third-party verification.

Reliability and field fit

Electrical safety and EMC follow the related IEC 61000-4 level-4 test items. Ports carry surge and reverse-polarity protection. Reinforced grounding and a partitioned layout hold down ground-loop and common-mode risk. Outdoor or coastal sites can take a higher ingress rating and a corrosion-resistant coating.

Parameters can be loaded in a batch, and minute and hour rainfall totals and thresholds can be set, depending on the acquisition unit. Configuration and firmware update over the air. On site, close acceptance as a power-on self-test, communications time sync, and a comparison check. Where the reading needs metrological traceability, SimtoLink helps submit the gauge to a third-party metrology institute and supplies the type-test file.

Key hardware parameters

The table is a typical build of this rain gauge, for selection and for a technical clause in a tender. A wider range, redundant power, or an intrinsically safe version is quoted separately; ask SimtoLink for the hardware specification and the installation and commissioning guide. Order codes in the family can differ slightly. The nameplate and the papers shipped with the gauge govern.

Parameter	Specification	Notes
Collector diameter	Φ200 mm (the diameter commonly used in national hydrological practice)	Can be custom
Resolution	0.2 mm/bucket (pulse equivalent)	0.1 mm/bucket can be ordered
Rainfall intensity (liquid)	0～4 mm/min	Splash error grows above this intensity
Accuracy (liquid precipitation)	±4% (≤10 mm) or ±0.4 mm, whichever is larger	The metrology certificate governs
Output	Tipping-bucket dry contact + RS485 Modbus RTU	Ethernet/MQTT optional
Supply	DC 12～24 V wide range / AC 220 V optional	Isolated (by model)
Ingress	IP65	A higher rating can be ordered
Operating temperature	-40～60 ℃	Typical outdoor range
Power	<2 W	Typical (heating snowmelt not included)
Installation and maintenance	Level with the bubble + clean the collector on a schedule	See the installation and commissioning guide

Typical deployments

Three forms this gauge usually takes on an IoT job, for design and for judging the return:

Smart campuses and sponge-city works

Rainfall goes to the campus energy or facilities platform, or to sponge-city monitoring, for minute totals, threshold alarms, and interlock with storage works, so fewer readings are copied by hand.

Hydrology RTUs and telemetry stations

Paired with a field RTU, solar supply, and a 4G/BeiDou backhaul, the gauges form an areal rainfall network. Pulse or Modbus registers drop into the existing point list, so a provincial hydrology platform or a basin company can take them on one interface.

Municipal drainage and underpasses

Points sit at pump stations, tunnel mouths, and cabinets on low roads, with an electronic staff gauge and video, for flood warning and a traffic-control plan. Wide temperature and port surge protection suit a long outdoor life.

Installation, grounding, and maintenance

Confirm supply range and polarity before power is applied. Pulse and RS485 wire order and the station address have to match the point list. Do not run them parallel to power cable for a long distance.
After mounting, check the collector with the level bubble. Tilt adds a systematic error. The stand should not settle.
On the first connection, compare pulse counts or Modbus registers with the platform total indoors, then move the gauge outside.
Clean the collector and the screen so leaves and silt do not block them. Outdoor lightning-protection earth resistance has to meet the local code.
While the gauge stays in service, compare it on site and archive the logs under the hydrology or maintenance procedure, and inspect more often before the rainy season.

Ordering, documentation, and support

SimtoLink can supply the hardware specification, outline drawings, a wiring table, and an example project for this gauge. Volume orders can include a sample review and inspection at the factory. Warranty and calibration follow the contract and the papers shipped with the gauge.

Typical applications

A tipping bucket is one of the precipitation sensors hydrology and meteorology use most, and it pairs with evaporation, water level, and soil moisture in a basin sensing network. The jobs below are about where the station sits and what the data is for, so it can join an RTU, a telemetry platform, and a flood plan.

Flood duty on small rivers and reservoirs

Stations are added across the basin. Minute rainfall totals trip a threshold into SMS, broadcast, and video. The mechanical record stays available to compare when a reservoir release order or an evacuation plan is written. Fused with radar quantitative precipitation, a single station is less likely to drift, which helps calibrate a flood forecast and review it afterward.

Urban flooding and underpasses

The gauge shares a screen with an electronic staff gauge, pump status, and traffic signals, so a short heavy burst and a surcharged pipe can be seen. An edge gateway keeps a local sliding total and resumes after a break, so a jittery public network does not invent or drop an alarm, and there is more time to close an underpass and direct traffic.

Irrigation districts and high-standard farmland

Field-scale rainfall drives the irrigation schedule, water-rights trading, and subsidy accounts, and the data joins the water-price reform platform and the agricultural water-price reform platform. Anti-freeze drainage and snowmelt design on the collector keep a reading through the freeze on either side of winter in the north, for decisions in the spring irrigation window.

Road weather and motorways

Service areas, bridges, and crosswind sections get extra gauges, with visibility, pavement temperature, and remote pavement state, for driver guidance. Each season, maintenance checks tipping sensitivity and the level bubble, so the maintenance score and the traffic-police procedure use the same numbers, and secondary crashes in patchy fog are less likely.