Best Practices for Field Testing Fiber Optic Cables（最佳实践实地测试光纤电缆）.pdf

Best Practices for Field Testing Fiber Optic Cables By Michelle Collier, RCDD Fiber optic cable provides a low loss medium for high-speed communications. While the continuous fiber cable itself is low loss, terminations at each access point provide a potential Achilles heel. The biggest cause of signal loss across fiber optic connectors is contamination. Poor installation practices in pathways and enclosures can also affect the signal loss of the fiber. The growing prevalence of fiber requires network technicians have a general understanding of fiber optic cable testing to enable them to troubleshoot or qualify cables. A majority of issues can be identified with two steps – cleaning/inspection of connector end-faces and loss testing. The TIA/TSB 140 standard requires testing each fiber link with an Optical Loss Test Set (OLTS) kit for Attenuation. This standard considers an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) optional. An OLTS tester, using the appropriate reference method, will yield the most accurate loss reading. However, the OLTS tester can not characterize the fiber to show the good or bad quality of the fiber spans, connections, and splices. Clean Inspect all Connectors Fiber Size: A quick note regarding size helps to visualize the impact of dust and dirt. An average human hair is around 85 microns in diameter. The core, or signal carrying portion, of the most widely used optical fibers is either 62.5 microns or 9 microns. It does not take many dust particles to block a 9 micron “window”. A blocked window means light is blocked and the network experiences signal loss. Inspection: A fiber optic microscope with proper magnification is necessary to view fiber connector ends for cleanliness. Typical magnifications used are 200x and 400x. When selecting a fiber optic microscope, keep safety in mind. Some microscopes are all optical and can direct laser light into a user’s ey