Working: A fiber optic trigger lead for (DR)SSTC`s

["Tesla list" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Original poster: Finn Hammer <f-h@xxxx>

All,

I can now verify, that it is possible and easy to make a fiber optic 
trigger connection to any SSTC. I just completed one for myself, 
starting out with a transmitter driven from a 555 trigger generator:
The transmitting LED is driven btwn pin3 and ground of the 555, with 
a 680ohm resistor to set the current.
http://home5.inet.tele.dk/f-hammer/fibergut.jpg
Nothing fancy, the transmitter is at the top of the box. Bypasscaps 
below board.
Closed, the box looks like this:
http://home5.inet.tele.dk/f-hammer/fiberbox.jpg
The receiver is active low, so I had to reverse it. At first I used a 
comparator, LM311 and it worked well on the breadboard, but I thought 
it better to have some hysteresis, the more tha merrier. Since I 
could not find any schmitt triggers in an 8DIP housing, I wired the 
555 as a schmitt:
http://home5.inet.tele.dk/f-hammer/donglesch.jpeg

I wanted the whole circuitry to fit into a 9pin Dsub shell, so I 
needed the 8pin package.
15V is already available in the socket, Since I use Stephen Conners 
PLL drivers, still not a lot of space left:
http://home5.inet.tele.dk/f-hammer/dongle.jpg
It all plays very well, here is a short video of one of my DRSSTC`s 
driven by the combo on each end of 100 feet of fiber:
http://home5.inet.tele.dk/f-hammer/fibertrigged.wmv

You guys remember how good it felt to make your first working 
electronic project? Then you know how I feel now. I feel pretty damn good!

Cheers, Finn Hammer