SC/UPC-SC/APC Single-mode Fiber Optic Launch Cable - 350M (FLC-3505)

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-3505 is that length in a middle size for the common case where the OTDR and the network don't match: 350 m (1,148 ft) of G.657.A2 single-mode fiber wound in a compact housing, with pigtails terminated SC/UPC on one end and SC/APC on the other, so a UPC-port OTDR can launch into an APC network, or the reverse, with no hybrid jumper in the path. Steel interlocked armor under the fiber jacket protects the pigtails, and the polish types are color coded, which on a mixed cable is what keeps the UPC end out of the APC port. Three hundred fifty meters clears the dead zone at the pulse widths used on access, campus, and metro links without the bulk of a full kilometer. 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 at the APC end and 55 dB or more at the UPC end. 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-1005.

Features

• 350 m of single-mode fiber. 1,148 ft of G.657.A2, sized for the pulse widths used on access, campus, and metro links, in a housing smaller than the 1,000 m reels.
• SC/UPC one end, SC/APC the other. Bridges a UPC-port OTDR to an APC network, or an APC OTDR to a UPC panel, without a hybrid jumper.
• 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 return loss of ≥65 dB (APC) and ≥55 dB (UPC).
• Color-coded polish. The APC and UPC ends are color coded for quick identification, so each goes into the port it was made for.
• Compact housing, strap, and magnet. 3.8 × 3.8 × 3.5 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 FTTH and PON technicians whose OTDR has a UPC port but whose network is SC/APC end to end, which is most of them, and whose links are drops and distribution legs rather than long haul, enterprise and campus teams with an APC-port OTDR testing UPC fiber, contractors who test both kinds of network with one instrument and would rather carry one launch cable than two plus a hybrid jumper, anyone who finds 20 m too short for their pulse widths and 1,000 m more reel than they want to carry, 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

This cable has two different connectors, and which end goes where is the whole point: the UPC end goes to the UPC port and the APC end to the APC port, never the other way, since APC into UPC damages both end faces and shows up as a huge reflection on every trace afterward. The color coding is there to make that automatic; check it every time, because the two SC bodies look alike at a glance. 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-1005 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, with the right polish for that end. Expect the UPC end to show a small reflection on the trace that the APC end doesn't; that's the 55 dB versus 65 dB return loss, and it's normal. 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. 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