Tag Archives: Fiber

Fiber Optics Test Equipment: Diagnosis Needed

February 22, 2023   Matt

Fiber Optics Test Equipment: Diagnosis Needed

Testing for continuity, checking signal loss and troubleshooting problems – these are the reasons why a fiber optics test equipment is here for. After a cable set-up, installation, connection and termination has been made, fiber optic testing is in order. One has to check whether everything – every parameter for a fully functional and operational fiber optic system is within specifications.

A fiber optics test equipment is made to test for different parameters and factors. As important as having the right tools – and fully functional at that, is the necessity of knowing how to use these. It is thus advised that before going to the field for actual work, one must check every fiber optics test equipment he will be using, making sure these are working well and properly calibrated.

Before one goes out to the field, it is important that one have the cable layouts to have a guide on what needs testing. One also needs to record results of the test data gathered. This documentation is important so that there will be records for reference and for tracing back if it would be necessary.

Some of the commonly used fiber optics test equipments are:

Fiber Optic Tracer

This fiber optics test equipment is used to check for continuity and to trace a fiber’s path from one point to another. This type of equipment has a LED source that mates to a fiber optics connector. With a cable attached for testing, one needs to look at the other end point to see if the light from LED source is transmitter through the fiber. If one finds no light, check the intermediate connections to determine the defective portion of the fiber optics cable. Also, instead of a LED, tracers that are more powerful use a laser. The breaks in fibers or the high loss connectors can easily be seen with the obvious red laser light.

Fiber Optics Microscope

This is used to check the quality of the termination process on the connectors. This allows one to do the inspection procedure from several angles. Always be careful though when checking cables with this microscope, making sure no power is present in it.

Fiber Optics Power Meter

This fiber optics test equipment measures power. The meter should be set at the appropriate range before doing the test. Check if there is enough power for the system. Having too much power overloads the receiver, while having too little will make the receiver treat the signal as noise.

Do you want all the necessary testing tools?

If you want a more complete set of tools or equipment for your fiber optics testing job, then you may like having a fiber optics test kit. One can choose from many brands out there. It is important that you get high-quality tools to help you perform your fiber optics testing efficiently, and do these the safest way.

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The Secret Of Successful Fiber Optic Cable Management

August 11, 2022   Matt

The Secret Of Successful Fiber Optic Cable Management

Why is proper fiber optic cable management so critical?

Service providers have deployed more and more fiber optic cables for their high bandwidth, low costs, greater reliability and flexibility. But just deploying is not enough; a successful fiber network also requires a solid infrastructure based on a professional fiber optic cable management system.

Fiber optic cable management affects a network’s reliability, performance, cost and maintenance. It provides the ability to reconfigure network, restore service and implement new services quickly.

Four goals to achieve with professional fiber optic cable management

1. Protect fiber optic cable from microbends and macrobends loss

Microbends are small deformities in the optical fiber and macrobends are larger bends of the fiber cable. Fiber bends beyond the specified minimum bending radius can cause signal loss or even break the fiber, causing service disruption.

As a rule of thumb, the minimum bending radius should be bigger than ten times the outer diameter of the fiber cable. Telcordia recommends a minimum 38mm bending radius for 3mm fiber optic patch cords.

Fiber optic cable management system should provide bend radius protection at all points where a fiber optic cable makes a bend. This helps ensure the network’s long-term reliability; thus reduces the network operation cost by reducing network down time.

2. Well defined fiber optic cable management routing paths

The leading cause of fiber optic cable minimum bend radius violation is improper routing of fibers by fiber installation technicians.

In a proper fiber cable management system, routing paths are clearly defined and easy to follow; such that the technician has no other option but to route the cables properly.

Well defined routing paths reduce the training time required for technicians and increase the uniformity of work done. It also makes accessing individual fibers easier, quicker and safer.

3. Easy access to installed optical fibers

Allowing easy access to installed fibers is critical in maintaining proper bend radius protection. The system should be designed to ensure that individual fibers can be installed or removed without inducing a macrobend on an adjacent fiber. Accessibility is critical during network reconfiguration.

4. Physical protection of installed optical fibers

Well defined fiber optic cable management system physically protects the fibers from accidental damage by technicians and equipment throughout the network.

Fiber optic cable management system procurement

When making the decision on purchasing your fiber optic cable management systems, the goal is getting the most cost-effective system that provides the best cable management, flexibility, and growth capabilities.

Going with the cheapest approaches for fiber optic cable management can cost more money in the long run. A strong fiber cable management system will enable you to extract the maximum value from your installed optical fiber networks.

Specifying Fiber Cable Management Systems: Cost and Value

As a means of keeping operational costs down, service providers around the world are increasingly turning to systems integrators to install their networks.

This practice allows the service provider’s technicians to focus on operations and maintenance, rather than network installation. There is, however, an inherent risk in this practice.

As the purchasing decision for the fiber cable management system moves from the service provider’s engineering group to the systems integration prime contractor, the cable management features of the distribution system are generally not specified.

What can happen, then, is the equipment installed may lack key features and functionalities. In light of the importance of proper cable management within the ODF, the service provider needs to specify the basic requirements for the cable management system.

There are several industry-standard specifications that can assist service providers in writing specifications for their cable management systems. Two of these specifications are:

• Telcordia Generic Requirements for Fiber Distribution Frames GR-449-CORE, Issue 2, July 2003

• Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) Generic Equipment Requirements, TR-NWT-000063

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Fiber Optics Technician Jobs

August 01, 2022   Matt

Fiber Optics Technician Jobs

Knowledge in fiber optics practical applications can be a huge ticket to any rewarding profession. It should be obvious, with the number of optical fiber pipes being laid underground, the innumerable requests for materials concerning fiber optics, and the ever innovating practical uses of fiber optics. That makes fiber optics technician jobs the most coveted and highly rewarding entries in the job market as of today.

Here’s a compilation of fiber optics technician jobs available in the job market.

Optical Fiber Cable Manufacturing

The work of the Optical Fiber Cable Manufacturing involves the production of: optical fiber, fiber optic amplifiers, attenuators and filters, fiber optic receiver, transmitter, transceivers, fiber optic terminals and terminators, optical fiber polishing machines and all sorts of products that is used directly in optical fiber installation and optical fiber systems.

The fiber optics technician jobs are the fiber optics cable design engineer, fiber optics production engineer, fiber optics test engineer, fiber optics cable technician, fiber optics test and measurement technician, fiber optics marketing specialist, fiber optics sales engineer, and the fiber optics installation technician. Most requirements for these fields aside from 1 to 2 years relevant work experience would be a college degree, preferably engineering, electrical, or relevant technical majors. You can also enhance your chances by entering the Fiber Optic Training Program at Corning Cable Systems (at: www.corningcablesystems.com). This training program gets you acquainted with practical fiber optics, installation, maintenance and design, as well as testing and troubleshooting.

Optical Fiber Sources and Detectors

Since fiber optics has extensive usage as sensors and detectors on a number of sensor equipment including SONAR, fiber optics technician jobs on optical fiber sources and detectors are becoming a job market regular.

The fiber optics technician jobs are the fiber optic source researcher, fiber optic source engineer, fiber optics source technician, fiber optics source application engineer, fiber optics sales engineer and fiber optics marketing specialist. Like the optical fiber cable manufacturers, the fiber optics technician jobs for optical fiber sources and detectors requires 1 to 2 years relevant work experience and a college degree, preferably from engineering, electrical, or relevant technical majors. Though any college degree may be acceptable, technical know-how gain from these courses would help practical job applications. Of course you can alos opt to delve into fiber optic training such as those listed on the online FOA Board (at www.thefoa.org/instructors/class-reqs.htm).

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Fiber Optics Jobs Available

April 23, 2022   Matt

Fiber Optics Jobs Available

Telecommunications is fast shedding its reliance to copper telephone wires and even those heavy duty coaxial cables, as fast as likewise laying down miles upon miles of optical fiber for use in broadband application: radio, internet and video.

And that is fiber optics in telecommunications only. Medicine has begun exploring the recently unknown zones of the biological anatomy with the means of precision image enhancing quality of fiber optics. Industry has shown a lot of promise with fiber optics as its uses in sonar and sensor equipment is superior to the old radio technology. And yet, scientist and physicist are relatively convinced that there are still many to uncover about fiber optics.

Do you know what I’m talking about? I am talking about job security. And job opportunity. Knowledge in fiber optics practical applications can be a huge ticket to any rewarding profession. It should be obvious, the demands over these materials are mounting; way more than existing factories can produce in quality. That makes fiber optics jobs available the highest rewarding entries in the job market as of today.

Here’s a compilation of fiber optics jobs available in the job market.

Fiber Optics Cable Manufacturing

These work demand involves the production of optical fiber, fiber optic amplifiers, attenuators and filters, fiber optic receiver, transmitter, transceivers, fiber optic terminals and terminators, and optical fiber polishing machines. Practically all sorts of products used in optical fiber installation and optical fiber systems. And ever since the decrease of production costs of glass threads, the ever increasing trend of fiber fed media, and the revolutionizing movement of telecommunication companies (Hello, Verizon?), Fiber Optics Cable Manufacturing have their hands and mouths full at the moment. The only cure is a variable influx of engineers and technicians that can contribute to the fiber optics cable manufacturing scene.

Check this out:
www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/ExpiredJob.aspx?job_did=J8G68Z6QKV06MCTLLSZ

Fiber Optics Sensors Engineer

Since fiber optics has extensive usage as sensors and detectors on a number of sensor equipment such as SONAR, fiber optics technician jobs are more then ever regularly popping out on short notices that is as fast being gobbled up by watching and waiting opportunity grabbers.

Most requirements for fiber optics jobs available aside from 1 to 2 years relevant work experience would be a college degree, preferably engineering, electrical, or relevant technical majors. Career enhancing opportunities like Fiber Optic Training Program at Corning Cable Systems (at: www.corningcablesystems.com) allows familiarization with practical fiber optics, installation, maintenance and design, as well as testing and troubleshooting.

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Fiber Optically Smooth – The OTDR

November 14, 2021   Matt

Fiber Optically Smooth – The OTDR

The use of modern fiber optic test equipment can be used to help phone companies keep their networks operating without interference. When a long distance telephone line goes down, it’s not the type of publicity phone companies revel in. Fiber optical technology continues to grow to ensure the dependability of phone companies to all their customers. In addition to the underlying stability and dependability of these networks, fiber optical measurement tools play a large role in keeping these networks operating smoothly.

During installation, commissioning and maintenance, fiber optic cables, connectors and splices are routinely tested for flaws. These tests are done by using specialized test equipment such as fiber optic power meters, optical time domain reflectometers (OTDR), optical sources and optical attenuator’s. These same instruments can be used to determine the basic system operating parameters such as signal levels, signal attenuation and bit error rate (BER) measurements.

During installation and maintenance, it is important to view the continuity of the fiber optic link. This procedure can only be done by using the OTDR. An OTDR consists of a pulsed optical transmitter, an optical coupler and a photo diode-based receiver, signal-processing circuitry and display screen. By using the connectors and the adapters, the OTDR is connected to one end of an fiber optic cable. Its transmitter sends short-duration pulses along the cable that are back scattered by imperfections of the fiber optic itself (Raleigh scattering), or reflected from splices, connectors, breaks and fiber end (Fresnel reflections).

The returned pulses are oriented through the fiber optic coupler to the receiver, where it measures the levels and the traveling time of the returned pulses. Loss and reflection values are shown on a display versus the location of these events, calculated with the traveling time and speed of light inside the fiber core. Locations of the loss and reflection value’s can be given with a 1-meter resolution. For the exact fault location, the values must be corrected, since they show the physical location along the fiber, while the fiber optic is actually twisted within the cable.

Depending on the power level of the transmitter and the pulse width, OTDR’s can reach distances of 50 km to 200km. Longer pulses, due to their higher energy level, are used to cover long-haul applications. Higher resolution, as necessary in short-haul applications, can only be achieved by shorter pulse widths. The measurement resolution describes how far apart two faults can occur and still be accurately measured.

An OTDR is often used by phone companies to isolate breaks or faults within their operation, such as in areas of extreme signal loss within a cable. Resolving a break to within a meter or less narrows down the section of cable that must be replaced, saving expense and time for the service crew. As the OTDR also enables the measurement of the overall length of the fiber optic link, it’s results are often used as a base for the expense calculation of the installation company.

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