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Back in the 90's I found an old cardboard box full of radioshack electronics components and a paper schematic of how to put it together. I asked my dad what it
by acidburnNSA 6y ago
Back in the 90's I found an old cardboard box full of radioshack electronics components and a paper schematic of how to put it together. I asked my dad what it was. He had been into an electronics hobby in the 1980s and told me that it was a amplifier to receiving laser light bounced off of a window for spy stuff. I couldn't believe it. The kit became my first significant soldering project. I got it all together and put my beloved laser pointer on a tripod and tried bouncing it in. I never did get it to the point that I could hear voices but boy could I ever hear cool vibration noises when I tapped the window.
It was extremely fun and I've been soldering things here and there ever since.
- Darkphibre 6y agoJust a thought: Could be your window was doublepane for insulation? The airgap would probably act as a buffer. Regardless, awesome story. I'm glad you found an engineering passion, and kudos to your dad for letting you run with it! :)
- acidburnNSA 6y agoThanks! It was a double-pane sliding glass door actually so maybe that did have something to do with it. Though, I also tried from the same side as the laser for most of my trials (i.e. laser and voice both coming from the inside).