Friday, April 1, 2016

PE4BAS lightwave converter

I have been experimenting lately and by coincidence I made a homemade lightwave converter out of my Yaesu FT-817. I'm not a maths expert but I learned some things at school long time ago. One thing I learned was how to calculate lightwave indexes. Reading some of my old calculations, I found somewhere at the attic in a box, I had a fabulous idea. Why not build a simple lightwave converter to transmit on the lightwave bands.

So I thought this can be simple with components I already have. To start I use the FT-817 as modulator/receiver. A simple RF to light conversion module was made out of some optocouplers and small mirrors. To have control over the whole thing I use a Light Wave Ratio meter which is nothing more then some tiny parallel mirrors. One of the mirrors inside is mechanically controlled. I use a l.t.v.c. to get a reading on the meter.
 Before I test this I made a calculation of the lightwave form with a computer program. The picture on the left is how things are looking. I know it sounds very complicated for most of you, but it isn't. It's simple as what. Finally I could test the whole thing and check out propagation. Unfortenately at the moment I'm the only station on the world which is transmitting lightwave signals as far as I know. So, my call was lonely and probabely heard by no one or by some very distant aliens.




I realize not everyone has the ability to build this, but if you do please let me know if you're interested in a sked. I will only be on only today. Hopefully I'll be able to make some contacts...


5 comments:

Paul Stam PAØK said...

Hallo Bas, hij is weer leuk. Ik zat al te denken wat zou Bas vandaag bedenken. Ik trap er niet in. ;-) 73 Paul PC4T

Hans said...

Leuk bedacht Bas.73 Hans, PE1BVQ

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Ja, uiteraard heb ik het allemaal verzonnen. 1 April! Jammer, weinig reacties. 73, Bas

Rob PE1ITR said...

Verzonnen of niet de gedachte is al leuk. Met het idee wordt overigens al flink geëxperimenteerd. Check out deze pagina http://reast.asn.au/optical.php.

Veel leuke links. 73 Rob PE1ITR

PE4BAS, Bas said...

Hallo Rob, niet helemaal verzonnen. Ik weet dat men experimenteert met powerLEDs. Ik kocht op een verkoopavond een dummyload met lampjes. Toen kwam ik op het idee. Toch bedankt voor de link. 73, Bas