In my last full time gig, I had an OmniScanner II for Ethernet. It had an option to add a Fiber tester to the device. The OmniScanner retailed for about $8500 & I bought it new in 2000 for $5000 and the Fiber option was about $1500 and I didn't get one. It had TDR for copper and I am assuming that it would work for the fiber as well. Great device but a bit pricy if you don't need one often. Wish they would have let me take it with me when I left. I'm sure no one left there knows how to use it. I could use it more often now than when I was there. Many small clients with wiring issues. Omni was bought by Fluke some time in 2004 to 2006 and the Omni technology was incorporated into the current Fluke network testers. The last piece of fiber I pulled we did test with a flashlight. Mostly to see if we broke it during the 600 foot pull and to get the polarity right on the connectors. The flashlight worked great although we didn't get any other data telling just how good the fiber was going to work but typically fiber either works or it doesn't. Not a lot of grey area.
Len Hammond CSI:Hartland lenhamm...@gmail.com On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 9:33 PM, Ben Scott <mailvor...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 6:32 PM, Sean Martin <seanmarti...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> Can't you just shine a light through one end and see if theres light on > >> the other end? ;-) > > > > Does it actually work? > > That will tell you if the cable has been completely snapped, e.g., > kinked hard, pinched in a door, etc. > > It won't tell you the condition of the tip. The tips can get > scratched, especially if they're put in a pile without a cable condoms > on the end. A scratched tip could still pass visible light but not be > good for data. > > The tools I've seen used for this are a power meter (already > described) and a handheld microscope. The scope is basically just a > flashlight and a special fitting to hold the fiber. You peak in the > end and examine the tip. A clean tip looks like a solid white circle. > A scratched or damaged tip has lines or other black/gray marks. > > > ... sharp bends in fiber can > > cause problems because those light impulses can end up being reflected > out > > of order ... > > I can't confirm or deny that. The two cautions on bends I've heard > are: (1) Fiber is glass. A sharp enough bend will snap the fiber in > half. After that it's dead. (2) The more you bend it without > breaking, the more of the light energy will be absorbed by the wall > instead of propagating down the fiber. Eventually the loss (either in > one spot, or cumulatively) goes too high and the receiver can't "see" > the signal. This can at least be fixed by straightening the line. > > > Are my concerns valid? Is there a reasonably priced device to verify the > > integrity of a fiber cable, or am I just going to have to try the flash > > light trick and then plug n pray? > > Google suggests power meters can be had for under $300. I have no > idea what a good one costs. :) > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
