[SMCARA] New HF Antenna

[Dave Q]

Dr. Ben Dover gave it away way too early. 

Happy First. 

Dave  W3DLQ 

.. iPhone

> On Apr 1, 2018, at 17:47, tomnd3n at MD.METROCAST.NET wrote:
> 
> Laser Com, Inc. of Titusville, Florida recently announced their
> development of an HF antenna system based on their proprietary
> laser communications system.
> 
> Dr. Benjamin Dover, Laser Com’s chief engineer, cited their research
> into laser-based space communications as providing the “happy
> accident” that led to the discovery of the laser based HF antenna
> system.
> 
> Dr. Dover said that an accidental connection of the wrong cable
> led to the discovery. A cable that had been carrying HF signals was
> inadvertently connected to the modulation input of the laser transmitter
> that that Ben was testing. “Imagine our surprise,” said Dr. Dover,
> “when we noticed that HF radio frequencies were being radiated all
> along the laser beam. This is something we never expected. The
> possibilities are endless.”
> 
> Laser Com plans to market the HF laser antenna not only as a
> commercial product, but also as a low cost amateur radio antenna.
> Dr. Dover set up the prototype as a demonstration of the product’s
> simplicity.
> 
> The secret to the HF laser antenna is in the base unit’s modulation
> transformer that directly modulates the Plesseo-Dyminium laser crystal.
> The user simply places the laser box on the ground and adjusts the
> laser beam straight up into the air. As the laser beam rises into the sky,
> the HF signal travels up the laser beam and is radiated all along the
> length of the optical beam.
> 
> The laser beam shines nearly a mile into the atmosphere. However,
> due to path losses along the beam, the actual HF radiation is only
> transmitted by the first few hundred feet of the laser’s beam. The
> result is an omni-directional vertical HF antenna that is several hundred
> feet high.
> 
> Acting like a co-linear antenna array, the over all antenna gain is
> approximately 10 to 15 dB, depending on the actual HF frequency band.
> 
> Dr. Dover said, “We are really excited about this product. There are no
> antenna restrictions on an invisible light beam, no lightning risks, and
> no damage from wind storms. The only down side is signal attenuation
> due to heavy fog, which can attenuate the HF signal by as much as 6 dB.
> Otherwise, this is as near to a perfect antenna as you can hope for.”
> 
> Laser Com plans to introduce the amateur version of this antenna at the
> Dayton Hamvention this May.
> ______________________________________________________________
> SMCARA mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/smcara
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:SMCARA at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to quickskys at gmail.com