Using existing fiber in my facility and cannot get my single-mode equipment to work properly. whats wrong?
Be certain that the fiber optic cable is indeed single-mode fiber. You will have to look at the fiber cable jacket to determine this or contact the installer if it is not clear. Single-mode fiber can look the same as multimode and even the connectors can look the same (especially if they are STs) but the operation is completely different. The light carrying core of single-mode fiber is only 8 to 10 microns in diameter while multimode fiber has a core diameter of 62.5 microns. This means that a single-mode transmitter will “launch” too much light power into a multimode fiber with the result that the received signal will be distorted or not recovered at all due to overloading. If the fiber turns out to be multimode, you will have to use an optical attenuator somewhere along the fiber optic cable path between the transmitter output and the receiver input.
Related Questions
- What is the difference between multimode and single-mode fiber? Which fiber and equipment type should I choose for particular applications?
- Using existing fiber in my facility and cannot get my multimode 850 or 1300 nm transmission system to work. Whats wrong?
- What if I am installing equipment that uses a different connector than the existing fiber infrastructure?
