TOSLINK's advantage is that it's dependable, nevertheless it will not work over a distance of more than 10m. In fact, you'd be arduous pressed to find a decently priced cable longer than 5m. Unfortunately you can't send energy over the TOSLINK cable, so one other idea is required. Passive PoE would work as a quick answer with minimal components, but the prices are not interesting and the ability is just too limited. Here we'll discuss passive PoE (Power-over-Ethernet). The disadvantage is passive PoE parts are quite expensive, and we're still restricted to the utmost present rating for the RJ-45 wire (1 of eight wires within the cable). Overall, this isn't a bad resolution, but it surely requires many more hardware components and does not assist for powering bigger loads (at least not without a fireplace hazard). I could sooner or later write some software program articles round this board -- a 6809 Forth is sure -- but this wraps up the hardware description. I can advocate Sparkfun's Fiber Duplex Board for absolute learners, however you will seemingly save extra money buying LEDs and photodiodes straight from Industrial Fiber Optics, or just making your own using 3D printed housings.
