Abstract: A stable optical reference oscillator (SORO) consisting of conventional low power CW source of coherent optical radiation having a relatively narrow bandwidth is mixed, i.e., beat against a sample of an incoherent laser transmit signal and the phase of the resultant signal is recorded. This is then compared to the phase of an ideal pulse of a perfect laser transmitter which was previously generated and recorded. The result is a phase correction term which is used in the subsequent signal processing of the received signals to realign the received laser pulses so that they are phase coherent.