Archived — Test Equipment

While there has been some “buzz” about Optical Time Domain Reflectometer(OTDR)testing for premises cabling since the publication of TSB-140, Additional Guidelines for Field-Testing Length, Loss and Polarity of Optical Fiber Cabling Systems, many agree that the test is usually not necessary for the relatively short links found in a customer-owned network, and may merely add unnecessary expense and complexity. When testing an optical premises network, the key measurement criterion is insertion loss, or attenuation. This is effectively measured by using a power meter and light source. If the attenuation is within the limits of the allotted power budget, the system

VCSEL lasers have the economic advantage over any other diode lasers. This short explanation tells you why. A typical VCSEL consists of two oppositely-doped Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBR) with a cavity layer between. In the center of the cavity layer resides an active region, consisting of multiple quantum wells. Current is injected into the active region via a current guiding structure either provided by an oxide aperture or proton-implanted surroundings. As the entire cavity can be grown with one-step epitaxy, these lasers can be manufactured and tested on a wafer scale. This presents a significant manufacturing advantage.

There are at least a dozen of different fiber optic inspection microscope on the market. So how do you choose one that is best for your application and budget? Here are some clues. Consider your fiber inspection scope application environment Production environment Fiber optic cable installer contractors Network manager Consider your fiber optic cable and connector type Single mode. Choose a fiber inspection scope with at least 200X magnification. Or even 400X if you are in a production environment. Multimode, 100X maybe OK for field fiber optic cable termination. But best choice will still be a hand held 200X level scope. Fiber Optics For