Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

Thank you! It wasn't my first idea. It actually came up after some long shower testing :)

nice to hear a review... I might buy one, too!

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed my reference to a true classic :)

Thanks for the kind comment. Regarding your suggestion about leveling, there was actually a scene with me checking if the Rain Gauge is level, but I ended up cutting it in post-production :) As for the wind, you're absolutely right. It's important, and I didn't think about that. Maybe I should consider installing it in a slightly more sheltered location. Thank you!

I agree, LoRa is absolutely perfect for such applications. Not only does it have a long-range capability, but it also has minimal power consumption. It works perfectly in devices where there isn't a lot of data to transmit. I should definitely consider working on a LoRa project someday :) Thanks for the comment!

@@SmartSolutionsForHome LoRa Gateway first then you set yourself up for more LoRa projects that feed HA through the gateway ;)

Valuable comment thanks. Do you use a separate rtc chip in your board designs? I suppose it comes down to whatever has the least current draw?

@@bsmithril yes, separate RTC both due to lower power consumption, and also because it can run directly from a LiPo battery with no voltage regulation. Same with the MCU and GSM modules in these - all run from 3.4V to 4.2V, so well within the range of standard batteries. Reduces the BOM/assembly cost and power losses of using regulation. The LoRa modules (when used) do need 3.3V but it’s only on for a few seconds during a normal upload cycle.

I was wondering if anyone would recognize it. +10 points to you for knowing classic movies! ;) P.S. I'm glad you liked the video and the project.

Thank you and welcome aboard! :)

I'm glad I met your expectations :)

I'm really glad! I'm happy that someone is looking forward to my videos :)

Might it be possible to modify the ESP code to report a zero X seconds after the last rainfall, before going into deep sleep - so that HA knows there is now no rain, as opposed to the rain rate last reported...?

Thanks for the interesting idea. I considered it, but I think it could negatively affect the measurements. Some droplets could bounce off that grill and not enter the interior. That's why I placed it slightly below.

I appreciate that, thanks! :)

Dzięki :)

This is something I've been thinking about for quite some time. But I didn't want to prolong this project any further. I plan to make a weather station at some point, with wind, rain, temperature, humidity, and pressure measurements. If possible, I might even add an air quality sensor - we'll see :) And when that happens, I'll definitely add a solar panel because, with such power consumption, batteries won't stand a chance.

Yeah, I actually wanted to use it in the first version. The problem is, it's not active in deep sleep mode. So, in order to minimize power consumption as much as possible, I had to use an external sensor and wake up the ESP32 using a regular GPIO.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome I see. I also agree about limitations with ESPHome. It's great and fast for many things, but when you want to do more advanced things I often find it difficult and you have to resort to crazy constructs, even with lambdas.

Stay tuned! An alternative version of the Rain Gauge is currently being created :)

Thank you so much 😀

Glad you liked it!

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! In my climate (Poland), it should hold up for about a year or so. We'll see how it goes in reality.

Dzięki! W takim razie pozdrawiam kolegę również z Trójmiasta! :)

I tried my best to make it as good as possible, and I'm thrilled that it turned out that way! :)

I will definitely try to create your device, will see how it will perform south of Poland.

@@KrzysztofStrug Powodzenia! Daj znać jak będziesz miał jakieś pytania :)

You've raised a very interesting point! :) The device you're describing is something completely different from mine. The task of a Rain Gauge is to accurately measure the amount of rainfall in a given time. Due to the specific bucket capacity, you will indeed receive information about the rain with a certain delay. Therefore, it won't work well as a good warning system. As for the acoustic sensor, I have mixed feelings. It seems to me that it will be very susceptible to interference from any other sound, but I could be wrong, of course. I think that optics would be a better solution than acoustics. Look into how such sensors work in cars. Just a few drops on the windshield, and the wipers already know to turn on :)

@@SmartSolutionsForHome when I started experimenting with my rain gauge, I didn't have a clue how long it might take for it to tip over first 😉 And having the ability to measure fainfall in a given time period felt like a bonus to me because I could estimate the soil moisture levels. But things turned out differently so now I'm measuring soil moisture levels instead ;-) I read an article of a student from the Dutch university TUDelft, who started experimenting with quite a similar setup. His goal was to build an affordable acoustic rain gaug (disdrometer) and he uses the setup to count individual drops and measure the size of each droplet to calculate the amount of rainfall. Obviously, that is way out of scope for my project but it got me thinking. A €0,50 piezo electric speaker and a €0,05 resistor connected to an ESP32, what possibly go wrong? 😄 An optical rain sensor will be my next option. I allready scrapped 2 mice for that, but unfortunately they didn't have a commonly used sensor and I didn't have the time to play around with a signal analyzer yet.

I used PETG, and as for specific requirements, there aren't any. However, to eliminate any slight differences, I added two screws that can be used to calibrate the device precisely during assembly. I talk about it in the video :)

The "tipping bucket" concept itself is a popular method for measuring rainfall. That's why many devices use it, like Netatmo, for example.

Thanks for the interesting comment. Something like that does seem like it could work, but I think it would be much more power-hungry than the Hall sensor.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome The idea is that a moving magnet generates the interrupt pulse; there should be no power used at all [except deep sleep quiescent current], power is generated by the magnet moving.

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm not sure why that would be... Thank you for letting me know! I'll look into it right away. By the way, I've assembled a few boards if you're still interested :) store.smartsolutions4home.com/product/ss4h-rg-rain-gauge-assembled-pcb

@SmartSolutionsForHome I figured it doesn't work from the product list (maybe because name or email hasn't been entered yet). From the product itself it does appear to work. Thanks for the info 👍

Of course, you're right. Thanks for pointing it out - I'll fix it. P.S. You've got a really keen eye :)

haha I just spotted that today also

Sorry that there's no information on the board I sent you. The password is: "1is9NCSaaThA." If you're planning to do it via Wi-Fi, I recommend you this link: esphome.io/components/captive_portal.html As for using the USB-UART adapter, I'll try to make a quick instruction guide as soon as possible.

Maybe I'm not saying no. Actually, I quite like that idea! :) Do you have it implemented yourself somehow? Could you tell me more about how you did it?

I designed and 3D-printed it myself.

It's 5mm in diameter and 3mm tall.

I actually wanted to use the internal Hall sensor in the first version of my gauge. The problem is, it's not active in deep sleep mode. So, in order to minimize power consumption as much as possible, I had to use an external sensor and wake up the ESP32 using a regular GPIO.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome ahh, yes. That makes sense 😀

Someone already asked the exact same thing earlier :) I replied to him: "Yeah, I actually wanted to use it in the first version. The problem is, it's not active in deep sleep mode. So, in order to minimize power consumption as much as possible, I had to use an external sensor and wake up the ESP32 using a regular GPIO." I can see that you know ESP32 more than the average bread enthusiast. Fellow engineer? :) Thank you for the comment.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Maybe I'm in the hardcore enthusiast category :-) I started from ESP8266 examples and have put together a unified firmware for my house that can be configured to drive various displays (ws2821, LCD, OLED, LED matrix) or various sensors (button, bme280, Lux, VOC, dust particles, IR motion) and provide REST, MQTT, Redis interfaces. Instead of using something like Home Assistant I'm running services I wrote in Java, Python, and Prolog. Later I made it portable to ESP32. I'm kind of roll your own personality. Haven't had a rooftop weather station since I took down the one I got from Dallas Semiconductor implemented with 1-wire devices, but always tempted. When I was first reading the specs and included devices for the ESP32 and got to the touch and Hall sensors I started laughing - of course you did...

I'm glad you're enjoying my content! I'm doing my best :) As for gathering information from the weather station, I totally agree with you. It can't be relied upon when it comes to watering anything. Regarding the ready/assembled PCBs, here's the link: store.smartsolutions4home.com/product/ss4h-rg-rain-gauge-assembled-pcb/. I'm currently waiting for the components, but I should have a new batch available in the store soon. Sign up for the mailing list, and I'll notify you by email once it's ready.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome thanks for the delivery. I have received the assembled PCB. I now want to install the ESPHOMe part. On your site, you point to the chapter 'How to use OTA' , but I can't find this chapter? Can you help me? I do see an SSID but don't know how to connect?

I'm glad you like it! P.S. I soldered a few pieces, so for now, it's available: store.smartsolutions4home.com/product/ss4h-rg-rain-gauge-assembled-pcb/

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Hey thanks... was going to order but s/h says $65 to ship to US. Have to pass for now unless it's using wrong currency.

​@@fins5150 Yeah, I know sending a courier from Poland to the States is ridiculously expensive. But if you don't mind waiting a bit for the delivery, the shipping only costs 8 bucks.

Cześć! Użyłem dokładnie tego: "PVB16". Jest to dość popularny lakier do PCB do kupienia w większości tematycznych sklepów lub Allegro. A co do stacji pogodowej to tak, planuję coś takiego zbudować. W tajemnicy Ci powiem, że już nawet zacząłem to robić :)

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Super! A nie rozważałeś może otworzenia zbiórki kickstartera z tym lub innym projektem tak abyś mógł wziąć sobie trochę urlopu od pracy a żona nie marudziła, że pracujesz po pracy nad tymi projektami? Było już w historii sporo takich inicjatyw. np HackRF był wyceniony na 80.000 usd a udało się uzbierać 602.000 usd. Niestety linki będą usuwane przez YT więc nie mogę wstawić linka ale google pomoże. Myślę, że poziom profesjonalizmu i zaangażowania w swoją pracę czyni Cię bardzo wiarygodnym na tym rynku więc szanse są bardzo duże. Z mojej strony mogę Cię tylko zachęcić. Chętnie wesprę ten projekt!

@@marcinu10 Szczerze to nie rozważałem nigdy tego typu zbiórek. O HackRF słyszałem oczywiście. To jest coś naprawdę użytecznego i innowacyjnego. Nie dziwię się, że aż taki sukces osiągnęło. Ja raczej nie zrobiłem nic super odkrywczego.. póki co :) Ale to miłe co napisałeś. Ps. co do pracy po pracy i marudzenia drugiej połówki to nawet nie wiesz jak bardzo masz rację! ;)

Thanks, I'm glad you like the project. And about the batteries, I definitely put them in properly. In the next scene, you can see that the LED is lit. I didn't move them around between shots :)

@@SmartSolutionsForHome 7:09 it looks like you have there, looks like you got the + end against the spring with you meant to have the - against it, it's normally the - with the flat bottom of the battery goes onto the spring

@@AdamHinckley If you take a close look at the moment you mentioned, you can see that there's a "-" written on the battery with an orange tip. It might actually seem like the tip is not flat, but it's definitely flatter than the one on the opposite side :)

@@SmartSolutionsForHome normally the '-' has a flat bottom, them batteries look to me haven't, normally where I am, the '-' has the flat bottom

You didn't miss it; I guess I just forgot to mention it. I used PETG.

@@SmartSolutionsForHome Maybe the most important thing is layer height, on the funnel? Because it needs to be smooth? Any other tips?

Sure, you can change the software to whatever you want. I even added programming pins on the PCB so it's easier for you to do that :)

Another follow up, what's the estimated time the batteries run?

I mean how long can the batteries sustain the system before it drains

@@rainergeraldr.galinato7142 you can search for "mosfet as load switch", which will keep the microcontroller off until the bucket it tilted (then it sends the update to thingspeak and opens the mosfet again to power off).

It's made by the PCB manufacturer. In this case, it's JLCPCB.

Here :) store.smartsolutions4home.com/product-category/ss4h-rg-rain-gauge/

I don't know Mr. Bruce, but I guess I should thank him then :)