Maintaining Your Fiber Optic Fusion Splicer

Effective fiber splicing is a direct result of a well-maintained and clean fusion splicer. While you may think that they are one in the same, they each have their own methodology to ensure the best performance over the lifespan of the splicer. A splicer that is well-maintained AND clean will help ensure proper connections and prolong the life of your fusion splicer.  The fact is 80% of the maintenance issues we see at UCL Swift are the direct result of improper cleaning.  To maintain your splicer and ensure that it is splicing properly and accurately

How far can a VFL go?

There is much lively debate about what useful distance range to expect when using a visual fault locator (VFL) for testing single mode fiber installations. In this article I will provide my perspective and with it, a methodical analysis.

How to Perform Bi-Direction Testing with an OTDR

Installers and administrators of today’s fiber optic networks have access to different fiber infrastructure testers that provide the ability to measure optical loss as well as OTDR analysis. Debates continue to take place as to what testers do this better than others and what features are ‘must haves’. Whether short dead zones, fast signal analysis, ease of use, claimed accuracies or any other measurement parameter … if you are looking to make the best purchasing decision, it can be a difficult decision. A bad decision can mean much more than just losing out on the investment in the tester. It could mean downtime (or loss) of the corporate (or customers) network and possibly thousands of dollars of lost  revenue, productivity or legal costs.