Optical SETI Photo Gallery -- Volume III
Replacing Copper with Optical Fiber
In June 2001 we were visited by "the mother of all thunderstorms," which
blew heck out of nearly every piece of electronics at the observatory.
We lost 3 (out of a possible 4) serial ports on the OSETI computer, along
with the GPS receiver and its driver/receiver cards. Basically, the
cables between the control room and the telescope acted as antennas,
destroying stuff connected at both ends. We replaced the computer
motherboard, the GPS receiver, and the driver/receiver cards. And we
decided to get rid of the offending wire cables, replacing them with
optical fiber. Here's Jason Gallicchio, bravely routing optical fiber
(you can see the orange fiber hanging down from the yoke); he also built
and tested a pair of RS422-to-optical translators, to carry the 1 pps
and 10 MHz signals from the GPS receiver.
