4 ms·

what exactly is a waveguide? How much stronger is that compared to something like a directional antenna at 1W rubbing your face?

sandworm101 5y ago
It is a pipe that moves radio/light/sound waves from one place to another, usually between where they are created and where they are being used such as between transmitter and antenna or, in this case, between transmitter and rat in a cage. They look like normal pipes but inside have internal structure (ridges) designed to keep the waves propagating with minimal loss. In theory, a fiberoptic cable is a waveguide for light. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveguide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveguide
- kumarvvr 5y ago
  > In theory, a fiberoptic cable is a waveguide for light In practice too. Your statement makes it sound like its an exotic property.
  - sandworm101 5y ago
    The difference with optics is that they are solid, unlike sound/RF waveguides which are hollow. A fiberoptic cable just doesn't seem very pipe-like and isn't normally called a waveguide.
    - hansel_der 5y ago
      seems like a flaky distinction
stagger87 5y ago
A waveguide as it pertains to RF is just an enclosed hollow metal pipe that can carry RF energy. The size of the tube determines the ideal frequency it can carry (without excessive losses). I believe at 2.4GHz, a common waveguide is roughly the diameter of a tennis ball cannister, so it's probably easy to put a directly a rat inside the waveguide (I can't read the article so I'm not sure if they do this). In theory though, there is no reason a directional antenna couldn't be used to deliver the same amount of power, the waveguide might simply be more convenient.
- _moof 5y ago
  In the early days of widespread WiFi there were quite a few blog posts documenting the construction of directional antennas using Pringles cans.
emeraldd 5y ago
Directional antennas come in different forms each with slightly different characteristics sonit's very hard to say. Your also talking about a lot less mass in a mouse than in a human head. With the wave guide at close enough range, you can assume a much higher percentage of the energy is hitting the mouse than say a yagi, but the specifics depend a lot on the design of the system. To answer the other part of the question, you can think of a wave guide like a tuned pipe for rf to travel down. In alot of cases they are literally just empty tubes that are correctly tuned for the frequency fed into them.

sandworm101 5y ago

It is a pipe that moves radio/light/sound waves from one place to another, usually between where they are created and where they are being used such as between transmitter and antenna or, in this case, between transmitter and rat in a cage. They look like normal pipes but inside have internal structure (ridges) designed to keep the waves propagating with minimal loss. In theory, a fiberoptic cable is a waveguide for light. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveguide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waveguide

kumarvvr 5y ago
> In theory, a fiberoptic cable is a waveguide for light In practice too. Your statement makes it sound like its an exotic property.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  The difference with optics is that they are solid, unlike sound/RF waveguides which are hollow. A fiberoptic cable just doesn't seem very pipe-like and isn't normally called a waveguide.
  - hansel_der 5y ago
    seems like a flaky distinction

stagger87 5y ago

A waveguide as it pertains to RF is just an enclosed hollow metal pipe that can carry RF energy. The size of the tube determines the ideal frequency it can carry (without excessive losses). I believe at 2.4GHz, a common waveguide is roughly the diameter of a tennis ball cannister, so it's probably easy to put a directly a rat inside the waveguide (I can't read the article so I'm not sure if they do this). In theory though, there is no reason a directional antenna couldn't be used to deliver the same amount of power, the waveguide might simply be more convenient.

_moof 5y ago
In the early days of widespread WiFi there were quite a few blog posts documenting the construction of directional antennas using Pringles cans.

emeraldd 5y ago

Directional antennas come in different forms each with slightly different characteristics sonit's very hard to say. Your also talking about a lot less mass in a mouse than in a human head. With the wave guide at close enough range, you can assume a much higher percentage of the energy is hitting the mouse than say a yagi, but the specifics depend a lot on the design of the system. To answer the other part of the question, you can think of a wave guide like a tuned pipe for rf to travel down. In alot of cases they are literally just empty tubes that are correctly tuned for the frequency fed into them.