http://www.devtoys.com/Default.aspx

This website has some cool DIY Projects for anyone looking for the next thing to do.

Everything from turning your IPOD into a universal remote to turning a laser pen into a wireless audio transmitter. I wish I knew about some of this stuff back when I had to create science fair projects.

I wonder if you linked 15 of those laser pointer transmitters together if you could wirelessly transmit the VGA signal to the PJ.... Anybody see as much potential here as I do. Please some EE guy shoot me down before I go and by 15 pointers and solarcells.

Actually that would probably work, but any movement of the lasers or receiver would cause it to mess up.

Pulls gun from hip, cocks it, and is ready to shoot.

several reasons it wouldnt be good:

Probably not enough bandwidth to carry the VGA signal, the VGA signals operate at higher frequencies which leads to it being much more subceptible to interference.

The laser pointer uses IR light transfer, not RF. This means the laser has to be POINTED at the reciever(in this case a solar cell), you could just as easy use a photo-transistor. The base of the transistor is simply the light emitting into the device. You would need an IR filter for this though.

my final project in school was controlled via an IR remote control that I had to design using 555 timers and such.

I found that if I created say a 500 Hz signal at the transmitter, the reciever would be OFF on its interpretation, and would say something like 508Hz or something. This also varied with how perfect (or not) the transmitter was pointed at the reciever, and of course how far away the transmitter was from the reciver.

Basically, you would want a wireless RF (radio frequency) system to pull it off.

steve,

I know that at Eglin AFB, they had a remote site for monitoring tests out on the range, and to get network connectivity out to it they used a laser data link that worked amazingly well... until the fog rolled in and then they dropped off... but I am interested in the idea, what kind of bandwidth/resolution do you think is necessary to make it work? Unless I am mistaken the limitation of the bandwidth is simply the sensitivity of the photoreceptor since the system is amplitude modulated(not frequency dependant)... right? so the task would be to find a photoresistor or transistor that can sense enough different light intensities and sample at a fast enough rate to cover the signal. Doesn't the analog aspect of the system cover the sampling rate, it would then be a mater of gain adjustment to make it work? I am just an ME/AE guy myself so all of this electronics and signal stuff is a little beyond me. Please let me know if I am missing something

-Rob

The cool factor alone would be worth it

Agreed!

interesting...hmmmm....