Fair enough! Thanks to everyone for the responses.
- Sean On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Joseph Heaton <[email protected]> wrote: > One of the tools I had in my fiber toolkit was a magnifier. It's > specifically designed for fiber connectors. It has an internal light source > and will magnify the surface of the fiber well enough to see if there are > problems at the fiber ends. As far as internally, it's pretty much > plug-n-pray, with the flashlight trick letting you know if light is at least > getting through, which would rule out a total break. But to be honest, > fiber patch cables are pretty darn tough, for the most part. Just don't > crimp them in a cabinet door... > > >>> Sean Martin <[email protected]> 9/23/2009 3:32 PM >>> > Honestly, I'd never thought of that. Does it actually work? I guess my > concern is that it wouldn't identify all possible imperfections within the > strand. I'm no fiber expert, but my understanding is that light impulses > basically bounce down each strand, and that is why sharp bends in fiber can > cause problems because those light impulses can end up being reflected out > of order, depending how they strike that bend. I would imagine a constant > light source may still be able to travel the strand even if minor fractures > existed, where data transmission could be negatively affected. > > 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? > > - Sean > > On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 1:34 PM, James Kerr <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Can't you just shine a light through one end and see if theres light on > > the other end? ;-) > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Sean Martin <[email protected]> > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues <[email protected]> > > *Sent:* Wednesday, September 23, 2009 5:27 PM > > *Subject:* Re: Fiber Cable Tester > > > > We just completed a Data Center migration and I have a whole box full > of > > cables that were pulled from the old location. These are mostly LC-LC > cables > > from servers to fiber switches. Nothing over 30 meters. I was just > looking > > for a device that would tell me whether or not the cables were still good > > (no breaks, etc.). I certainly don't need anything along the lines of an > > OTDR. > > > > - Sean > > > > On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Ben Scott <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > >> On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 2:52 PM, Sean Martin <[email protected]> > >> wrote: > >> > Can anyone recommend a quality Fiber Optic cable tester? > >> > >> I don't really know much about it, but I have been told by a couple > >> installers that testing fiber isn't like testing copper. There's no > >> cross-talk or other fancy stuff like the copper testers do. All they > >> do is measure the power loss (in dB). They do that by using a simple > >> meter and a light source. The measure the source to the meter, then > >> they put the run in line, measure that, and take the difference. > >> > >> Of course, the installers could have been full of sh*t. They often > are. > >> > >> I do know that an OTDR (Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer) is an > >> expensive gadget, but all it does is tell you how long the cable is, > >> or where the break is, if it's broken. That's very useful if you're > >> looking to find a break to put in a repair splice, but it's useless > >> for quality acceptance purposes. > >> > >> -- 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/> ~ > > > ~ 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/> ~
