SC/UPC-LC/UPC Single-mode Fiber Optic Launch Cable - 350M (FLC-3501)

Ships direct from the manufacturer. Please allow up to 10 business days, though it often ships sooner.

An OTDR can't see the first connector on a link, because that connector sits inside the instrument's own dead zone, and the fix is to put a known length of fiber between the OTDR and the link so the first event lands where the trace can resolve it. The Jonard Tools FLC-3501 is that length in a middle size: 350 m (1,148 ft) of G.657.A2 single-mode fiber wound in a compact 3 in housing, with pigtails terminated SC/UPC on one end and LC/UPC on the other, so it connects to an OTDR with either port and to an SC or LC panel without an extra adapter. Three hundred fifty meters clears the dead zone at the pulse widths used on campus, metro, and access links without adding the bulk of a full kilometer, and the housing is the smallest in the range. The fiber is bend-insensitive G.657.A2, with attenuation of 0.35 dB/km or less at 1310 nm and 0.22 dB/km or less at 1550 nm, connector loss of 0.1 dB or less, and return loss of 55 dB or more at the UPC connectors. The polish type is color coded for identification, a shoulder strap carries it, and a magnet on the bottom of the housing sticks it to a fiber rack or a cabinet while you test. For the same connectors on 1,000 m, there's the FLC-1001.

Features

• 350 m of single-mode fiber. 1,148 ft of G.657.A2, sized for the pulse widths used on campus, metro, and access links, in a housing smaller than the 1,000 m reels.
• SC/UPC one end, LC/UPC the other. One connector type on each end, so the same launch cable fits an SC-port OTDR and an LC-port OTDR, or an LC panel and an SC panel.
• Low loss, high return loss. ≤0.35 dB/km at 1310 nm, ≤0.22 dB/km at 1550 nm, ≤0.1 dB per connector, and ≥55 dB return loss at the UPC connectors.
• Color-coded polish. The UPC connectors are color coded for quick identification, so a UPC pigtail never ends up in an APC port.
• Compact housing, strap, and magnet. 3 × 3 × 3 in, with a shoulder strap for carrying and a magnet on the bottom that mounts it to a fiber rack or cabinet while you test.

Where It Fits

It suits enterprise, campus, and data center teams testing UPC backbone, riser, and trunk fiber at the pulse widths those lengths call for, metro and access technicians who find 20 m too short for their pulse widths and 1,000 m more reel than they want to carry, central office work on UPC-terminated single-mode where the panels are LC and the OTDR port is SC or the reverse, contractors who have to hand over OTDR traces where the first and last connectors are measured rather than hidden, and the OTDR-1000 or any other OTDR, which needs a launch cable to do its job on a short link and a receive cable to see the far end.

Good to Know

Connect the launch cable between the OTDR and the near end of the link, so the OTDR's own dead zone falls inside the launch fiber and the link's first connector shows up as a measurable event; set the OTDR's launch-cable length to 350 m so it subtracts the launch fiber from the distances it reports. The rule of thumb is a launch cable longer than the attenuation dead zone at the pulse width you're using, and 350 m covers the short and medium pulses used up to a few tens of kilometers; for the longest pulses on long-haul links, the 1,000 m FLC-1001 is the safer choice. For the far-end connector to be measured too, put a second launch cable (a receive cable) on the far end, which is the usual reason to own two. The connectors are UPC; mate them only to UPC ports and UPC connectors, since UPC into APC damages both end faces and shows up as a huge reflection on every trace afterward, and the color coding is there to stop that. If the network is APC, which most PON and FTTH plant is, this isn't the launch cable for it; the FLC-1005, FLC-1006, and FLC-1007 are. Clean every connector before every mating, including the launch cable's own pigtails and the OTDR port, because a dirty launch cable is a bad event at the start of every trace you take until it's found. Leave the fiber on its housing and don't unwind it; the 350 m is a known reference and a kink in it becomes an event. Coil the pigtails loosely and cap them when they're not connected. For a multimode OTDR a multimode launch cable is needed; this one is single-mode.

Specifications

Documentation