[NLRS] Use of Light in VHF Contests

[Richard Clem]

>>>>>>u should need to have 1 stage of electronic detection..

But I think the rule needs to say more than that.  Exactly what it needs to
say, I'm not so sure.

As my youthful experiments proved (along with the QST article I linked
earlier), it is trivially easy to demodulate a flashlight signal.  What I used
was an early version of the solar cell.  (I don't remember what they
were--they weren't silicon, but they put out 1/2 volt in maximum light).  I
simply plugged that cell into the input of an amplifier, and lo and behold,
sound came out of the speaker.  The author of the article I linked believed
that the light beam was actually being modulated by the physical vibration of
the bulb's filament, although I have my doubts about that statement.  The
intensity of the beam did vary somewhat with the modulation, so it was some
kind of AM that was going on.

Electronic detection of a CW signal would be even more trivial, it seems to
me.  All you would need to do would be to switch on an oscillator in time with
the light.

Like I said, modulating a flashlight is an interesting experiment I did as a
kid.  And it was promoted as a _substitute_ for amateur radio during the war!

If the rule is modified to allow flashlight QSO's, I'll gladly recreate the
"rig" I built a long time ago and hand out a few points.  But IMHO, it's an
activity very distinct from ham radio.

73,
Rick