water gauge

[HS93]

This may interest some of the members, I was asked some time ago to make this. the brief was to make a way of determining rain fall over a day/month he is doing the electronic part using a picaxe so temp sunlight and wind will also be logged on a min by min bases it is to help him grow grapes.
any way after several and a bin full of brass and a lot of aspirin this is what I came up with , it can be calibrated to a few milligrams of water, the water is collected over a known area, this can then give you rainfall per period of time , when the desired amount of water has been fed to the bucket, the bucket will have moved down and set of a circuit activated by the reed by the round disk his has a magnet in, the servo then turns quickly to 90 deg and back and it is ready to count again, it is under trials, I hope there is not a need for a MK7 version as I am out of ideas, this one can be adjusted to set the water in the bucket and the speed it tips.

Peter

[Bluechip]

Hi Peter

Very nice, sort of thing that appeals to me ..  

Can I ask the source of the 'universal ball joints' .. I assume that's what they are ..

Tried to get some about 2 yrs ago, all I could find were some desparately flimsy things or others which were quite industrial, a lot bigger ( and priced to suit ...    than I needed ).

Those look about right ..

Dave BC

[HS93]

they are just model plane/boat ball joints, i think they work out at about 35/50p each they are taped to take 2mm rod and the ball has a 2mm stud if you want an address in your area let me know.

Peter

[Bluechip]

Hi Peter

Many thanks .. that was quick   

I got some from a local shop, in a pack of two hinges/ball joints. Sort of polypropylene mouldings, very cheap, and somewhat nasty ...
Not a very good shop, more for plastic kits etc. rather than anything more serious .. 

Would like a source on mail order if you have one.

I'm fooling about with Picaxe/PIC's at the moment, so I need to get a couple of servos anyway.
Not that I have any specific use for them. Just want to have a play ....

Dave BC

[John Hill]

That is a very nice execution of an original idea!

The classic way of making a recording rain gauge was the 'Dines Tilting Syphon' rain gauge.

I am sure it will be described on the net somewhere but I recall them well.

If you can imagine a vessel like a tea pot with a long spout,  rain was collected from a wide diameter funnel and filled the 'tea pot' which was resting on a sharp edge and was balanced so that when not full the tea pot rested in the normal position. As the tea pot filled it reached a point where it overbalanced and the vessel tilted the spout downwards and water started to flow out which caused the vessel to tip back to the starting position.  Once water started to flow it continued to siphon until the vessel was empty even though back at the normal position.

A simple pen mechanism made marks on a clockwork driven paper chart though no doubt modern version would have an electrical pickup of some kind.  The pen also showed the rate of rain.

John

[Pete49]

very nicely done
On Ebay (Oz) there are wireless weather stations with rain gauge,windspeed & direction,windchill , in & outside temps etc for $99 freight free. But not as nice as your model 
Cheers
Pete

[HS93]

That is a very nice execution of an original idea!

The classic way of making a recording rain gauge was the 'Dines Tilting Syphon' rain gauge.

I am sure it will be described on the net somewhere but I recall them well.

If you can imagine a vessel like a tea pot with a long spout,  rain was collected from a wide diameter funnel and filled the 'tea pot' which was resting on a sharp edge and was balanced so that when not full the tea pot rested in the normal position. As the tea pot filled it reached a point where it overbalanced and the vessel tilted the spout downwards and water started to flow out which caused the vessel to tip back to the starting position.  Once water started to flow it continued to siphon until the vessel was empty even though back at the normal position.

A simple pen mechanism made marks on a clockwork driven paper chart though no doubt modern version would have an electrical pickup of some kind.  The pen also showed the rate of rain.

John

Hi yes i have seen that type in fact that was the first one I made, ( well a version of it) but we wanted to be able to mesure small amouts of rainfall during a day and they only seem to work with larger amouts, the one i have built will work down to 15 ml the pot is a small medicene pot befor it gets to that it goes through a small tank that limits the flow to the unit so it is not overwhelmed in downpours but will be able to catch small sprinkles.
Pete49
yes i have seen them but it was the need for acurate mesurments plus thethe need to be able to log the rainfall from a remote position  and to be able to retrive it  infact the picaxe unit we are using could have bougout us a few of the ebay ones.

[navzptc]

Would like a source on mail order if you have one.


Dave BC

Dave,

Try here: http://www.fast-lad.co.uk/ and do a manual search for 'ball'.

One of my regular suppliers who offer great service.

Andy

[HS93]

this is one shop in the uk that has a lot of ball joints etc and not bad to deal with

http://www.modelshopleeds.co.uk/catalog/index.php?cPath=37_105_101&sortcol=3&sortdir=a&page=1

I also use this store a lot they have parts deliverd to the uk in 5 days normally

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dinball_Mis-Items_W0QQ_fsubZ1403110QQ_scZ1QQ_sidZ42095710QQ_sopZ1QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322
 
I also use them for bearings look at the prices for 10 have not been able to beat them

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Dinball_Single-size_W0QQ_fsubZ7867793QQ_scZ1QQ_sidZ42095710QQ_sopZ1QQ_trksidZp4634Q2ec0Q2em322

Peter

[Bluechip]

Andy, Peter..

Thanks for the links ... just the job   

Duly squirrelled away ..

Dave BC

[tumutbound]

very nicely done
On Ebay (Oz) there are wireless weather stations with rain gauge,windspeed & direction,windchill , in & outside temps etc for $99 freight free. But not as nice as your model 
Cheers
Pete

I've got one of those. It works OK but doesn't look nearly as good as Peter's model.
Mine uses a tipping bucket (self emptying) rain gauge which seems to be the most common.

[Just noticed that my rainfall readings are no longer being recorded. http://cnc.turkeys.net.au/weather
Probably time to clean out the spiders ... ]