The PSDS system consists of two major parts; a Control Unit and the Spherical Dipole radiating antenna. All interfaces between these two system components is by a duplex fiber optic cable. There are two Spherical Dipole radiating antennas available, SD-50 and SD-2500.

The main subsystem of the PSDS is the RF subsystem. In this subsystem, the RF input is fed to a high performance laser and modulates the laser signal. The laser's output is fed to the spherical dipole through one of the fibers in the duplex fiber optic cable. Once inside the spherical dipole, the laser signal is demodulated. The restored RF signal is amplified and fed to the spherical dipole hemispheres and radiated into the local environment.

The second major subsystem is the spherical dipole gap voltage sensor downlink. This subsystem senses the level of the RF signal just before it is applied to the spherical dipole hemispheres. This is proportional to the RF voltage that exists at the gap between the dipole hemispheres. The gap voltage is converted to an optical signal, transmitted via a fiber in the duplex fiber optic cable down to the control unit.

Once in the control unit, the original gap voltage is recovered from the optical signal and displayed on the front panel of the control unit. The gap voltage indication is also available at the BNC connector on the front panel for use with a remote volt meter.

System Assembly Diagram
PSDS Block Diagram