The rain gauge funnels rainfall through a stainless‑steel screen filter that traps debris, preventing it from impending the flow of precipitation. Rainfall then flows through a nozzle into one of the two bucket halves.
The internal tipping mechanism assembly rotates around a pivot point. The balance arm tips when the first bucket is full, and the second bucket is moved under the funnel.
The tipping process repeats as long as the rain continues to fall, with each tip corresponding to a calibrated fixed quantity of rainfall.
A magnet attached to the tipping mechanism actuates a reed switch as the bucket tips. The weather station detects the closure of the reed relay on a pulse channel.
The outgoing water drains through outlets. The aerodynamic design of ARG314 reduces the amount of rain that wind carries away from the collecting vessel.