SC/APC-SC/APC Single-mode Fiber Optic Launch Cable - 20M (FLC-202)

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-202 is that length for short-link work: 20 m (65.6 ft) of G.657.A2 single-mode fiber wound in a compact housing, with SC/APC connectors on both ends and steel interlocked armor under the fiber jacket so the pigtails survive a van floor and a vault. Twenty meters clears the event dead zone of a short-pulse trace on in-building, data center, and drop testing, where a 1,000 m launch cable is more fiber than the link under test. 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 65 dB or more. 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 longer links and longer pulse widths, the FLC-1006 has the same connectors on 1,000 m.

Features

• 20 m of single-mode fiber. 65.6 ft of G.657.A2, sized for short-pulse OTDR testing on short links where a kilometer of launch fiber is more than the link itself.
• SC/APC on both ends. For OTDRs and panels with SC/APC ports, with no adapter in the path.
• Armored pigtails. Steel interlocked armor under the fiber jacket protects the fiber from accidental damage.
• 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 ≥65 dB return loss, so the launch section reads as fiber and not as a fault.
• Color-coded polish. The APC connectors are color coded for quick identification, so an APC pigtail never ends up in a UPC port.
• Compact housing, strap, and magnet. 3.75 × 3.75 × 3.46 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 data center and enterprise teams testing trunks and patch links between cabinets and halls, where links are tens or hundreds of meters and short pulse widths are the rule, in-building FTTH and MDU work on riser and drop fiber, FTTH technicians testing a drop from the terminal to the ONT with an SC/APC OTDR, anyone whose OTDR work never leaves the building and who wants a launch cable the size of a coffee mug, and crews who carry a 1,000 m launch cable for outside plant and want a short one for the short jobs so the long trace isn't mostly launch fiber.

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 20 m so it subtracts the launch fiber from the distances it reports. Twenty meters is enough for the event dead zone at short pulse widths, which is what a short link gets tested with, but at the long pulse widths used to reach tens of kilometers the attenuation dead zone can run past 20 m and swallow the first connector; for that work use a longer launch cable such as the 1,000 m FLC-1006. 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 APC; mate them only to APC ports and APC connectors, since APC into UPC damages both end faces and shows up as a huge reflection on every trace afterward, and the color coding is there to stop that. 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 20 m is a known reference and a kink in it becomes an event. The armor protects the pigtails from being crushed or stepped on, not from being bent tight at the connector; coil them 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