Quote Originally Posted by Syme View Post
Sure you have heard of them, they just aren't usually called "rasers". They are usually just called "RF masers". Many masers emit on radio wavelengths.
Uh-huh. You might want to check the wavelength range of rf lasers and masers. And yeah, a true "Radio Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation" device would be called a "RASER."

Sure, masers might emit what are technically radio waves, but they are just on the border between radio waves and microwaves. They aren't the sort of radio waves we're talking about here. It's not like radio waves are as narrow a band of wavelengths as visible light.

Okay, I just saw an experimental 128 km "laser" that's been made, but if that is really a radio-aser, then it is hardly ready for practical use.

Although I have read (can't recall where) that lasers for interstellar communication might actually be visible-light.
Well that's fine. The fact is that no laser, maser, or blank-aser can stay collimated for interstellar distances. If you can find one that can, I think you'd be a candidate for a Nobel Prize.



But since you're obviously expert on all this, I'll just leave this thread.