[Laser] Tx lens diameter.

[Kerry Banke]

Just  a note on using beam expanders.  One setup I use has  a laser pointer 
expanded out to 50mm.  I have what I would call  a very good pointing setup 
with  fine micrometer adjustment and have found that for LOS it's about as 
tight of a beam as practical for my setup.  Even with a 24X scope It takes 
a little time to  to hit a 2" retroreflector at 4 miles using a very slight 
manual raster scan.  Maybe the bigger issue is that a change in temperature 
in direct sunlight causes the beam to walk off the target.
Kerry N6IZW -

At 12:14 PM 6/16/2004 -0400, you wrote:
>Richard,
>
>Keep in mind that you'll need to test your expander using a very distant 
>target.  A perfectly collimated beam should have a diameter of 6" right in 
>fron the of the transmitter, and 6" a mile away.  I used a white factory 
>building 3/4mi away and a 20x spotting scope to make my adjustments.  Keep 
>in mind that aiming something like this on a LOS path will be pretty much 
>impossible.
>
>I hope that helps!
>Andy K0SM/2
>
>Richard Burrows wrote: