Paper detail

Measuring the length of stretched wires with a avalanche oscillator

We measure the length of stretched wire pairs by using them as the delay line pulse shaping element in an avalanche oscillator. The circuitry and method are extremely simple, and insensitive to oscillator supply voltage, to the particular transistor (2N3904) used and to wire tension. Rudimentary tests with simulated broken wires show that these can be detected easily. It remains to be seen whether the technique will work at scale with realistic wire planes, but it should be at least as good as reflecting short pulses.