How the fibre communications revolution began

The Optical Pipeline

Optical Pipe schematic

The Optical Pipeline relied on shallow angle reflections from the Silvered inner surface

Optical Pipe waveguide - Reflective tube

In this experiment, the one inch diameter optical pipeline was supported on a large pipe for mechanical support. The light was reflected back along a second pipeline, and it was anticipated that experiments would be possible in which multiple transits would be possible, but the loss proved too high.

Reflective optical pipe with screen

The performance varied extremely with temperature. This temporary screen was an unsuccessful solution.