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Dispersion in optical fibers In an optical medium, such as fiber, there are three types of dispersion, chromatic, modal, and material. Chromatic Dispersion Chromatic dispersion results from the spectral width of the emitter. The spectral width determines the number of different wavelengths that are emitted from the LED or laser. The smaller the spectral width, the fewer the number of wavelengths that are emitted. Because longer wavelengths travel faster than shorter wavelengths (higher frequencies) these longer wavelengths will arrive at the end of the fiber ahead of the shorter ones, spreading out the signal. One way to decrease chromatic dispersion

Buy Fiber Optic Connectors Here Buy Fiber Optic Connector Cleaning Supplies Here It is hard to conceive of the size of a fiber optic connector core. Single mode fibers have cores that are only 8~9um in diameter. As a point of reference, a typical human air is 50~75um in diameter, approximately 6-9 times larger. Dust particles can be 20um or larger in diameter. Dust particles smaller than 1um can be suspended almost indefinitely in the air. A 1um dust particle landing on the core of single mode fiber can cause up to 1dB of loss. Larger dust particles, 9um or

Buy Optical Power Meters Here The fiber optic power meter is a special light meter that measures how much light is coming out of the end of the fiber optic cable. The power meter needs to be able to measure the light at the proper wavelength and over the appropriate power range. Most power meters used in datacom networks are designed to work at 850nm and 1300nn. Power levels are modest, in the range of –15 to –35dBm for multimode links, 0 to –40dBm for single mode links. Power meters generally can be adapted to a variety of connector styles

Buy Fiber Cable Management Products Here Fiber Optic Cable Routing Paths The first aspect of fiber cable management is cable routing paths. This aspect is related to fiber cable’s minimum bending radius as improper routing of fibers by technicians is one of the major causes of bend radius violations. Routing paths should be clearly defined and easy to follow. In fact, these paths should be designed so that the technician has no other option than to route the cables properly. Leaving cable routing to the technician’s imagination leads to an inconsistently routed, difficult-to-manage fiber network. Improper cable routing also causes

Reliable optical networks require clean connectors. Any time one connector is mated to another, both connectors should be properly cleaned and inspected. Dirty connectors are the biggest cause of increased back-reflection and insertion loss in connectors, including angled polish connectors. A dirty ultra polish connector with a normal return loss of >55dB can easily have >45dB reflectance if it is not cleaned properly. Similar comparisons can be made with angled polish connectors. This can greatly affect system performance, especially in CATV applications where carrier-to-noise ratios (CNR) are directly related to signal quality. In order to ensure that both connectors are