Guide to short-haul test procedures

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The Fibreoptic Industry Association has published a new Technical Support Guide, 2000-4-2-1, covering the correct methods, equipment and cords to be used during testing of both single-mode and multimode cables when measuring link and channel attenuation in installed cabling systems using light source and power meter equipment.
When the original standards such as BS7718, IEC61280-4-2 and, in the USA, ANSI/TIA/EIA-526-7-A, were originally published, it was implicitly assumed that the links under test would be long haul interconnects.
Since then, link lengths have reduced as multimode optical fibre cable is increasingly used in LANs; consequently, the inevitable measurement uncertainty can now be of sufficient magnitude to introduce spurious fail results in short links of less than 300m.
While there is considerable agreement between the various published International, European and British test procedure standards, these are all relevant for testing in one direction only; this document extends the application of these standards to small form factor connectors, some of which are asymmetrical in construction.
The new FIA guide is easy to use, with comprehensive diagrams showing the relevant type of test equipment, test cords and the cabling configuration, together with the appropriate test regimes for component acceptance, legacy cabling acceptance, partial completion tests, installed cable acceptance and fault diagnosis.
The guide is available by download from the FIA website, on CD or as hard copy.
It is free of charge to FIA members and costs GBP 150 to nonmembers.
 

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