Rain sensor: Capacitive or Hydreon version, what to choose?

Capacitive sensor	Hydreon RG-9 sensor
High sensitivity	Very high sensitivity
Some indication of the amount of rain	Indication Rain Yes/No
Big surface	Big surface
Total Integration with CloudWatcher	Very good integration with CloudWatcher
Quite inexpensive	More expensive (still reasonable)
Strong heater valid for any weather condition	Weaker heater (not suitable for snow or heavy dew)
Great support	Great support

Drawbacks for each model

Capacitive sensor	Hydreon sensor
Solid dirt (such as bird droppings) requires cleaning	Very dusty and windy environments will require replacing the transparent dome
May need recalibration (easy to perform) as it ages	Intermittent lights (such as the rotating anemometer shadow) can fool the sensor
Relatively delicate surface	Strong daylight may slow the detection – not an issue for nighttime astronomy may be for solar observatories.

With our thanks to G. C. and William Bristow for sharing their experience with the Hydreon rain sensors.