Among the many ways investigated for radar estimation of rainfall, polarimetric methods are the most promising. However most polarimetric algorithms are degraded by attenuation by precipitation and clouds and by calibration error. A new method was recently proposed in which the differential polarimetric attenuation is used to perform an accurate rain rate measurement. The method is independent of the radar calibration and of the attenuation by undetected clouds. This algorithm is also usable as a qualitative hail detector, as well as a detector of anomalous propagation. The goal of the paper is to describe the results of the first experimental implementation of this method using the 35 GHz RABELAIS radar, as attenuated radar, and the 3 GHz CAMRa radar as a reference. We show that the proposed algorithm is stable and enables us to retrieve the actual rain rate even from an observed signal attenuated by more than 30 dB. The results are insensitive to the value used for the power coefficient of the Z(R) relation. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union