SIGNAL TRANSMISSION FROM REMOTE TELEMETRY ANTENNAS USING WIDEBAND ANALOG FIBER OPTIC LINKS

Abstract

This paper will present the results of an investigation of the feasibility of using broadband analog fiber optic technology to send telemetry antenna outputs from remote sites to a central site. The fiber optic hardware consisted of a prototype analog fiber optic transmitter and receiver plus 10 km of single-mode fiber. Laboratory tests were performed to simulate the performance in the real-world. The fiber optic system had a noise figure of 33.5 dB and a third order intercept point of 16.75 dBm. The use of this fiber optic system to transmit a 215-320 MHZ telemetry antenna downconverter output over a 10 km fiber would only degrade the quality of real-world telemetry signals by a few tenths of a decibel. Key words: analog fiber optic transmission, remote telemetry antennas.