2ecc23dd   
   From: kristoff@skypro.be   
      
   Hi,   
      
   First of all, thanks all for the replies. It's great to see all these   
   replies.   
      
      
   (inline comments)   
      
      
   On 08-04-18 21:41, Ecnerwal wrote:   
   > Plastic fiber is very limited, (both data rate and distance) but if   
   > those limits match what you need to (want to) do, fine. If your interest   
   > extends beyond "within room" or "room to nearby room" you might want to   
   > skip it and start learning glass fiber.   
      
   Well, to put things into perspective, my motivation here is not to   
   actually use this. It is to learn.   
      
   So it doesn't matter is isn't optimal. (If it is just "plug an play",   
   there isn't much fun about it, no?)   
      
      
   I have been looking at this kit and also at the hardware used by ronja   
   (a free-space optics project), on how to interface the optical part with   
   the electronics.   
   First step is to get something working (basic on-off switching or analog   
   signals) and then try to interface the receiver with a high-speed DAC   
   and an FPGA or so and work from there on.   
      
      
   But that is for in the future. First things first. :-)   
      
      
   >   
   > IIRC (it's been a long time since I touched the stuff) you can basically   
   > just cut it, but results may be improved by a polishing process of some   
   > sort.   
      
   I didn't know you can polish plastic fibres too. That's interesting.   
      
   I'll give it a try.   
      
      
      
   >   
   > To give an idea of just how crude things can be and work, on a TOSLink   
   > (audio, probably the most common application of POF in the consumer   
   > space, if the junky lights are not in fashion) I have connected a normal   
   > TOSLink cable to a "combined headphone jack and optical out" port by   
   > sticking in a section of ball-point pen plastic (from behind/above the   
   > ink) to activate the port in optical mode and serve as a crude coupler   
   > to the tip of the TOSLink cable.   
   That's a nice hack. :)- Very interesting!   
      
      
   Is TOSlink LED or laser based?   
      
      
      
   > So I can't see any reason you could not print a connector. Or drill a   
   > hole in the end of an LED and epoxy the fiber in, if you don't need a   
   > dismountable connector, source-side.   
   :-)   
      
      
   > Terminating glass fiber is a bit more complex than cutting it at any   
   > particular angle, though that complexity may be hidden if using   
   > mechanical-splice connectors.   
      
   OK, I understand that.   
      
   But my motto has always been to first learn how to crawl, and then walk.   
   I'll put glass-fibre on my "to do" list.   
      
      
      
   > The vast majority of POF I have seen in the wild is 1000um (1mm) core.   
   > 1.8mm would get you more light, but with even greater degradation in   
   > distance and data rates due to the larger core having even more modes   
   > (leading to different optical path lengths and thus transit times, so   
   > pulses get "fuzzy.")   
   In the mean time, I found a reference for 20 meter of 1 mm POF cable and   
   I'll start with that.   
      
   But it's a good idea to experiment with thicker POF later on. I   
   understand that the thicker core and the additional modes will "smear   
   out" the signal more.   
      
      
   Cheerio! Kr. Bonne.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)