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Post by wvengineer on Nov 30, 2016 15:24:22 GMT
www.space.com/34824-nasa-x-ray-tech-deep-space-communication.htmlNASA is experimenting with using X-Rays for communication in deep space. At it's core, it is EXTREMELY high frequency radio. If it works it could enable very high speed (gigabit speed) throughout the solar system. It also could go though some things that normal radio can't. Like the plasma cloud around a reentering spacecraft.
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Post by GTCGreg on Nov 30, 2016 15:28:24 GMT
If we can modulate a light beam to transmit information in fiber optic cable's, I see no reason why we can't modulate an x-ray beam to transmit information.
What really surprises me is that nobody has tried this before.
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Post by the light works on Nov 30, 2016 17:45:49 GMT
If we can modulate a light beam to transmit information in fiber optic cable's, I see no reason why we can't modulate an x-ray beam to transmit information. What really surprises me is that nobody has tried this before. I suspect it is because nobody has seen a use for it. logically, a transmitter could operate on any frequency that we could get it to deliver granted, modulating light is a bit different transmission technology than other parts of the EM spectrum. a fiber optic transmission is more comparable to RF transmission over a copper connection than it is to radio transmission. |
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Post by GTCGreg on Nov 30, 2016 18:32:08 GMT
If we can modulate a light beam to transmit information in fiber optic cable's, I see no reason why we can't modulate an x-ray beam to transmit information. What really surprises me is that nobody has tried this before. I suspect it is because nobody has seen a use for it. logically, a transmitter could operate on any frequency that we could get it to deliver granted, modulating light is a bit different transmission technology than other parts of the EM spectrum. a fiber optic transmission is more comparable to RF transmission over a copper connection than it is to radio transmission. Infrared TV remote? |
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2016 1:48:35 GMT
I suspect it is because nobody has seen a use for it. logically, a transmitter could operate on any frequency that we could get it to deliver granted, modulating light is a bit different transmission technology than other parts of the EM spectrum. a fiber optic transmission is more comparable to RF transmission over a copper connection than it is to radio transmission. Infrared TV remote? okay, that qualifies. |
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Post by wvengineer on Dec 1, 2016 3:51:30 GMT
My first question is how do you build an antenna for that? The wavelength for X-rays is generally considered to be between 1x10^-9 to 1x10^-12 m(1-.001 nm) A 14 element, high gain Yagi antenna would be smaller than all microchips ever made. Common computer processors are 14-22 NM in size and the smallest microchip now is 7mm. Human DNA is only 2.5nm in size. So antennas for something like this are nearly having to be made at the molecular level.
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Post by GTCGreg on Dec 1, 2016 4:04:18 GMT
My first question is how do you build an antenna for that? The wavelength for X-rays is generally considered to be between 1x10^-9 to 1x10^-12 m(1-.001 nm) A 14 element, high gain Yagi antenna would be smaller than all microchips ever made. Common computer processors are 14-22 NM in size and the smallest microchip now is 7mm. Human DNA is only 2.5nm in size. So antennas for something like this are nearly having to be made at the molecular level. They do make small solid-state X-Ray detectors. I saw some when I took a tour of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Labs last summer. Some are so sensitive that they can detect a single X-Ray photon. I would think that if you put one at the focal point of a small parabolic dish, you would have a pretty good X-Ray antenna.  |
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2016 4:04:33 GMT
My first question is how do you build an antenna for that? The wavelength for X-rays is generally considered to be between 1x10^-9 to 1x10^-12 m(1-.001 nm) A 14 element, high gain Yagi antenna would be smaller than all microchips ever made. Common computer processors are 14-22 NM in size and the smallest microchip now is 7mm. Human DNA is only 2.5nm in size. So antennas for something like this are nearly having to be made at the molecular level. my grasp of antenna tech is limited at best. it looks like CB wavelength is close to 40 feet. so CB antennae are usually a fraction of the wavelength. would it be possible to make a viable antenna that was a multiple of the wavelength? |
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Post by the light works on Dec 1, 2016 4:10:11 GMT
My first question is how do you build an antenna for that? The wavelength for X-rays is generally considered to be between 1x10^-9 to 1x10^-12 m(1-.001 nm) A 14 element, high gain Yagi antenna would be smaller than all microchips ever made. Common computer processors are 14-22 NM in size and the smallest microchip now is 7mm. Human DNA is only 2.5nm in size. So antennas for something like this are nearly having to be made at the molecular level. They do make small solid-state X-Ray detectors. I saw some when I took a tour of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Labs last summer. I would think that if you put one at the focal point of a small parabolic dish, you would have a pretty good X-Ray antenna. good point. satellite communications are around the K u band, which is in the neighborhood of 2CM and smaller, and my internet dish is a two meter dish. |
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Post by silverdragon on Dec 2, 2016 9:53:17 GMT
Can I poke at the elephant in the room?..
Is anyone else here wary of a space-craft overhead beaming X-Rays at the earth?..
I am therefore going to presume its very low dose so that it creates no harm, or, its going to be a guided beam aimed at the receivers.?.
The problem with that being that during the buffeting of re-entry, how the hell do you keep a transmitter aimed directly at the receiver?..
The smaller the things are, yeah, thats better, its just they are going to be very hard to "Aim" at?..
So, maybe a collection of the smaller receivers on a "dish", and the one receiving the best stronger signal gets priority.
I have attempted to cq-dx over long distance with a CB "array" of more than one mobile antenna, and it does work. As long as they are pointing more or less in the right direction....as in, have nothing blocking their field of view, like buildings, mountains, other high sided vehicles etc?.
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Post by wvengineer on Dec 2, 2016 10:19:48 GMT
I think the danger aspect will be related to the power involved here. Are we talking dental x-ray power, metal inspection x-ray (that requires 3 ft concrete shielding), or something very low power? I am not seeing an answer to this at the moment.
The articular says that X-ray would require less input power than a laser of similar output. So I would guess that we are talking about pretty rather low power setups here. Additionally, an x-ray transmission would be subject to the same inverse square law as light and radio waves
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Post by GTCGreg on Dec 2, 2016 14:59:53 GMT
I think the danger aspect will be related to the power involved here. Are we talking dental x-ray power, metal inspection x-ray (that requires 3 ft concrete shielding), or something very low power? I am not seeing an answer to this at the moment. The articular says that X-ray would require less input power than a laser of similar output. So I would guess that we are talking about pretty rather low power setups here. Additionally, an x-ray transmission would be subject to the same inverse square law as light and radio waves While all transmissions, including lasers, are subject to the inverse square law, you can use the law to your advantage by simply building larger receiving antenna arrays. This is easier to do at shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies). So a rather large high-gain antenna array or parabolic reflector for X-Ray frequencies would be tiny compared to the same gain antenna at much lower wavelengths. |
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