• Brand: Nylex
• Model: Rain Gauge 1000 Professional (RG1000)
• Maximum volume: 250 mm of rainfall

My needs

I was given this rain gauge as a gift from my father-in-law after we moved into our 10 acre property. He was a farmer and knew the importance of rain for our planned pasture, veggies and fruit trees, so it was quite a thoughtful present.

What I like

• Accurate – this rain gauge uses a funnel and a narrow inner measuring tube, which makes the difference between each 1 mm increment much easier to distinguish
• Precise – the funnel reduces evaporation which gives a truer reading each time
• Easy to use – for rain fall of 25 mm or less the inner tube is filled, and for anything larger the inner tube is tipped out and refilled from the outer tube to get the total reading

Extra considerations

• Site selection – if possible the site selected should be open, unobstructed by high trees or fences, on level ground, not on a slope or terrace (my whole property is on a slope with trees so this required some planning)
• Mounting position – for accuracy it should be secured to a post by mounting in a true vertical position as near to ground level as possible, or at the lowest safe height. The post on which the rain gauge is fixed should be twice as far away as the height of surrounding buildings or trees, so I chose the top of a pool fence which is 2.5 m lower and 9.5 m away from the house roof.
• Manual process – ideally this should be measured and logged at the same time each day, which sometimes is not practical (e.g. work day vs. weekends, unplanned activities, holidays, etc.)

Further information

The Nylex information page is fairly sparse, although this a simple unit.

Other options

After comparing several all-in-one weather stations, I have concluded that the ideal unit would be the 6250AU Vantage Vue or 6152AU Vantage Pro 2 from Davis Instruments. These outdoor wireless weather stations provide the following array of sensors and a number of other features:

• Rain collector
• Anemometer
• Temperature
• Relative humidity
• Barometer
• Wind direction

Internet logging would be provided by the 6555 WeatherLink IP or DB100AU MeteoBridge (also from Davis Instruments), allowing data to be logged to a weather website for viewing stats and charts. They also have USB and serial port options for connecting the display console to a PC for logging purposes, however that would require the computer or laptop to be running 24 hours a day.