# Controlling Servo over Fiber optic cable

**URL:** <https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [16 August 2016 05:47 UTC](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291 "2016-08-16T05:47:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Andrew16243](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@Andrew16243](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/u/Andrew16243)\
**Post date:** [16 August 2016 05:47 UTC](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291/1 "2016-08-16T05:47:51Z")

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Hi i am looking to control a pan and tilt servo kit remotely over single mode fiber. I have RS232/485 or IP ethernet available on the MUX unit I have. Any idea what I would need? I have an arduino board working with 2 servos already and want to use thumb potentiometers to control them.

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**Author:** ![Graham](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/forum.core-electronics.com.au/graham/32/54_2.png) [@Graham](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/u/Graham)\
**Post date:** [16 August 2016 05:56 UTC](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291/2 "2016-08-16T05:56:25Z")

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Hi Andrew,

How far did you need to run the fiber?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Andrew16243](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@Andrew16243](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/u/Andrew16243)\
**Post date:** [16 August 2016 06:17 UTC](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291/3 "2016-08-16T06:17:17Z")

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Graham,

Under 1km. Generally will be used from 150-300m though.

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**Author:** ![Graham](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex028/user_avatar/forum.core-electronics.com.au/graham/32/54_2.png) [@Graham](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/u/Graham)\
**Post date:** [16 August 2016 07:22 UTC](https://forum.core-electronics.com.au/t/controlling-servo-over-fiber-optic-cable/291/4 "2016-08-16T07:22:00Z")

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Thanks for that. I don’t have much experience with optic fiber, but I do wonder if a high power Zigber/Xbee module would do the same job with half the hardware complexity?

Failing that, perhaps checkout some existing projects on Google with the search term “arduino fiber optic” - I’m really interested to hear how you get on!