Hi All,

Roelof rather beat me to a comment. The use of optical "transmission"
lines is, these days, an entirely practical solution to many problems.
Optical devices are available for operation from baseband to very high
frequencies. The technology is out there. What is missing in amateur
radio circles seems to be the applications. I remember quite a few years
ago when working with Alan G3NYK, he proposed optical coupling at MF in
an experimental tx. Unfortunately the client "fell over"(commercially)
and we never got the chance to do the work but the application was a
very elegant solution to a particular problem at the time.

73


On Thu, 2011-08-11 at 12:26 +0200, Roelof Bakker wrote:
> Hello Andy,
> 
> The antenna will work with an optical feedline.
> I can't imagine that fiber optic forms the other half of the dipole.
> 
> The probe capacitance is rather low, about 3 pF.
> My guess is that the "counterpoise" is formed by the PCB part, carrying  
> the buffer amplifier.
> 
> The layout of the PCB art work has some effect on the received signal  
> strength.
> Using leaded components, the pick up area measures 30 x 40 mm.
> A PCB with SMD parts will give the same output with an "antenna" measuring  
> 24 x 30 mm.
> 
> 73,
> Roelof, pa0rdt
> 

-- 
73 es gd dx de pat g4gvw
 qth nr felixstowe uk
(east coast, county of suffolk)