Chapter 5 _________________________________________________________ Theory of Operation 
 
VAISALA _______________________________________________________________________ 103 
Hardware Description 
Measurement Unit FSM102 
The Measurement Unit consists of three electronics parts: the transmitter 
and receiver units and the controller board. These parts are described in 
detail in the next sections. 
Transmitter Unit FST102 
The transmitter unit consists of an infrared LED, control and triggering 
circuits, a LED intensity stabilizer, a backscatter receiver, and a window 
contamination measurement circuitry. 
The transmitter unit electronics cause the infrared LED to pulse at a 
frequency of 2.2 kHz. A PIN photodiode monitors the transmitted light 
intensity and automatically adjusts the light level of the LED to the preset 
value. This compensates for the temperature and aging effects of the light 
emitting diode.