ISE Magazine, August 2018
AU G U S T 2 0 1 8 WWW ISEMAG COM 1 0 7 FIBER After all these years of fiber deployment all the internal and external training classes all the articles webinars and trade show seminars there are still a fair number of people who lack a real understanding of how fiber optic links work We find that some students come to class with limited experience or time in the field Yet they consider themselves quite knowledgeable because they have been doing something for more than a year Sure there are many great fiber splicers installers and engineers out there who know a lot There are also many who do not Here are a few thoughts on why these common problems stick around If training is done only on the job bad habits and short cuts can be passed along People can develop a feeling of expertise because no one has corrected them Their errors have been small enough to go unnoticed in a lower speed network Generally doing things the way it has always been done is easier than change and many people simply dont speak up Companies provide their staff with limited training that is often only product specific rather than general knowledge process and or technology training Training is not always followed by practice so much of the knowledge is lost before it can be applied and ingrained Given this how can you avoid some of the most common field problems The first step is to identify what they are what to do and what NOT to do Top Problems and Remedies 1 Using dirty or damaged connectors As someone who has been singing this tune for ages I continue to be astonished that people do not properly clean their connectors before plugging them in I dont mean rubbing it on a shirt and dont get me started about people who think they can rub the end with their finger Todays high speed networks will no longer tolerate any dirt oils or residue on connectors The added loss and especially the added reflections will start impacting network performance The first step to remedy this is to require your staff to properly clean and inspect connectors before mating and before plugging into their test equipment ports You have no idea how many people bring their equipment to a class to ask for help because it is not working right and we find the connector at the source to be a complete mess Always 59 Most of time 22 Sometimes 8 Not Applicable 5 Rarely 5 Never 1 Do you clean your fiber optic connectors before plugging them in Figure 1 Results from surveys on connector cleaning and inspection What type of scope do you use for fiber optic connector inspection in the field Digital scope connected to phone tablet or equipment for viewing I dont inspect my connectors I dont install or test connectors in the field Hand held view only scope Digital scope with auto pass fail analysis 26 20 27 6 21
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