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After the cables are installed and terminated, it's time for testing. For every fiber optic cable
plant, you will need to test for continuity, end-to-end loss and then troubleshoot the problems.
If it's a long outside plant cable with intermediate splices, you will probably want to verify the
individual splices with an OTDR also, since that's the only way to make sure that each one is
good. If you are the network user, you will also be interested in testing power, as power is the
measurement that tells you whether the system is operating properly.

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1. Source and power meter, optical loss test set or test kit with proper equipment adapters for
the cable plant you are testing.
2. Reference test cables that match the cables to be tested and mating adapters, including
hybrids if needed.
3. Fiber Tracer or Visual Fault Locator.
4. Cleaning materials - lint free cleaning wipes and pure alcohol.
5. OTDR and launch cable for outside plant jobs.

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Before you start, get together all your tools and make sure they are all working properly. Try
all your equipment in the office before you take it into the field. Use it to test every one of
your reference test jumper cables in both directions using the single-ended loss test to make
sure they are all good. If your power meter has internal memory to record data be sure this has
enough memory for your new test. You can often customize these reports to your specific
needs.

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Make sure you have cable layouts for every fiber you have to test. Prepare a spreadsheet of all
the cables and fibers before you go in the field and print a copy for recording your test data.
You may record all your test data either by hand or if your meter has a memory feature, it will
keep test results in on-board memory that can be printed or transferred to a computer when
you return to the office.
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Fiber optic sources, including test equipment, are generally too low in power to cause any eye
damage, but it's still a good idea to check connectors with a power meter before looking into
it. Some Telco DWDM and CATV systems have very high power and they could be harmful,
so take the safety action.

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Continuity checking makes certain the fibers are not broken and to trace a path of a fiber from
one end to another through many connections. Use a visible light "fiber optic tracer" or
"pocket visual fault locator". It looks like a flashlight or a pen-like instrument with a light
bulb or LED source that mate to a fiber optic connector. Attach a cable to test to the visual
tracer and look at the other end to see the light transmitted through the core of the fiber. If
there is no light at the end, go back to intermediate connections to find the bad section of the
cable.

Test the fiber on a reel before you install it to make sure it hasn't been damaged during
shipment. Look for visible signs of damage (like cracked or broken reels, kinks in the cable,
etc.). When connecting cables at patch panels, use the visual tracer to make sure each
connection is the right two fibers! And to make certain the proper fibers are connected to the
transmitter and receiver, use the visual tracer in place of the transmitter and your eye instead
of the receiver with the safety precautions.

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A higher power version of the tracer uses a laser that can also find faults. The red laser light is
powerful enough to show breaks in fibers or high loss connectors. You can actually see red
light even through many yellow or orange simplex cable jackets except black or gray jackets.
You can also use this gadget to optimize mechanical splices or prepolished-splice type fiber
optic connectors.

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Practically every measurement in fiber optics refers to optical power. The power output of a
transmitter or the input to receiver is "absolute" optical power measurements, that is, you
measure the actual value of the power. Loss is a "relative" power measurement, the difference
between the power coupled into a component like a cable or a connector and the power that is
transmitted through it. This difference is what we call optical loss and defines the performance
of a cable, connector, splice, etc.

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Power in a fiber optic system is like voltage in an electrical circuit - it's what makes things
happen! It's important to have enough power, but not too much. Too little power and the
receiver may not be able to distinguish the signal from noise; too much power overloads the
receiver and causes errors too.

Measuring power requires only a power meter (most come with a screw-on adapter that
matches the connector being tested) and a little help from the network electronics to turn on
the transmitter. When you measure power, the meter must be set to the proper range (usually
dBm, sometimes microwatts, but never "dB" that's a relative power range used only for
testing loss!) and the proper wavelengths matching the source being used. Refer to the
instructions that come with the test equipment for setup and measurement instructions.

To measure power, attach the meter to the cable that has the output you want to measure. That
can be at the receiver to measure receiver power, or to a reference test cable (tested and
known to be good) that is attached to the transmitter, acting as the "source", to measure
transmitter power. Turn on the transmitter/source and note the power the meter measures.
Compare it to the specified power for the system and make sure it's enough power but not too
much.

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Loss testing is the difference between the power coupled into the cable at the transmitter end
and what comes out at the receiver end. Testing for loss requires measuring the optical power
lost in a cable (including connectors, splices, etc.) with a fiber optic source and power meter

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by mating the cable being tested to known good reference cable.

In addition to our power meter, we will need a test source. The test source should match the
type of source (LED or laser) and wavelength (850, 1300, 1550 nm).

We also need one or two reference cables, depending on the test we wish to perform. The
accuracy of the measurement we make will depend on the quality of your reference cables.
Always test your reference cables by the single ended method shown below to make sure
they're good before you start testing other cables!

Next we need to set our reference power for loss our "0 dB" value. Correct setting of the
launch power is critical to making good loss measurements!

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Turn on the source and select the wavelength you want for the loss test. Turn on the meter,
select the "dBm" or "dB" range and select the wavelength you want for the loss test. Measure
the power at the meter. This is your reference power level for all loss measurements. If your
meter has a "zero" function, set this as your "0" reference.

Some reference books and manuals show setting the reference power for loss using both a
launch and receive cable mated with a mating adapter. This method is acceptable for some
tests, but will reduce the loss you measure by the amount of loss between your reference
cables when you set your "0dB loss" reference. Also, if either the launch or receive cable is
bad, setting the reference with both cables hides the fact. Then you could begin testing with
bad launch cables making all your loss measurements wrong. EIA/TIA 568 calls for a single
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There are two methods that are used to measure loss, which we call "single-ended loss" and
"double-ended loss". Single-ended loss uses only the launch cable, while double-ended loss
uses a receive cable attached to the meter also. Single-ended loss is measured by mating the
cable you want to test to the reference launch cable and measuring the power out the far end
with the meter. When you do this you measure 1. The loss of the connector mated to the
launch cable and 2. The loss of any fiber splices or other connectors in the cable you are
testing. This method is described in FOTP-171 and is shown in the drawing. Reverse the cable
to test the connector on the other end.

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In a double-ended loss test, you attach the cable to test between two reference cables, one
attached to the source and one to the meter. This way, you measure two connectors' loses, one
on each end, plus the loss of all the cable or cables in between. This is the method specified in
OFSTP-14, the test for loss in an installed cable plant.

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While it is difficult to generalize, here are some guidelines:

- For each connector, figure 0.5 dB loss (0.7 max)

- For each splice, figure 0.2 dB
- For multimode fiber, the loss is about 3 dB per km for 850 nm sources, 1 dB per km for
1300 nm. This roughly translates into a loss of 0.1 dB per 100 feet for 850 nm, 0.1 dB
per 300 feet for 1300 nm.
- For single mode fiber, the loss is about 0.38 dB per km for 1310 nm sources, 0.25 dB per km
for 1550 nm and 0.22 dB per km for 1625.

So for the loss of a cable plant, calculate the approximate loss as:

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If you have high loss in a cable, make sure to reverse it and test in the opposite direction using
the single-ended method. Since the single ended test only tests the connector on one end, you
can isolate a bad connector - it's the one at the launch cable end (mated to the launch cable) on
the test when you measure high loss.

High loss in the double ended test should be isolated by retesting single-ended and reversing
the direction of test to see if the end connector is bad. If the loss is the same, you need to
either test each segment separately to isolate the bad segment or, if it is long enough, use an
OTDR.

If you see no light through the cable very high loss - only darkness when tested with your
visual tracer), it's probably one of the connectors, and you have few options. The best one is to
isolate the problem cable, cut the connector of one end and replace.

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OTDRs are always used on OSP cables to verify the loss of each splice. But they are also used
as troubleshooting tools.

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Unlike sources and power meters which measure the loss of the fiber optic cable plant
directly, the OTDR works indirectly. The source and meter duplicate the transmitter and
receiver of the fiber optic transmission link, so the measurement correlates well with actual
system loss.

The OTDR, however, uses backscattered light of the fiber to imply loss. The OTDR works
like RADAR, sending a high power laser light pulse down the fiber and looking for return
signals from backscattered light in the fiber itself or reflected light from connector or splice
interfaces.

At any point in time, the light the OTDR sees is the light scattered from the pulse passing
through a region of the fiber. Only a small amount of light is scattered back toward the
OTDR, but with sensitive receivers and signal averaging, it is possible to make measurements
over relatively long distances. Since it is possible to calibrate the speed of the pulse as it
passes down the fiber, the OTDR can measure time, calculate the pulse position in the fiber
and correlate what it sees in backscattered light with an actual location in the fiber. Thus it can
create a display of the amount of backscattered light at any point in the fiber.

Since the pulse is attenuated in the fiber as it passes along the fiber and suffers loss in
connectors and splices, the amount of power in the test pulse decreases as it passes along the
fiber in the cable plant under test. Thus the portion of the light being backscattered will be
reduced accordingly, producing a picture of the actual loss occurring in the fiber. Some
calculations are necessary to convert this information into a display, since the process
occurstwice, once going out from the OTDR and once on the return path from the scattering at
the test pulse.

There is a lot of information in an OTDR display. The slope of the fiber trace shows the
attenuation coefficient of the fiber and is calibrated in dB/km by the OTDR. In order to
measure fiber attenuation, you need a fairly long length of fiber with no distortions on either
end from the OTDR resolution or overloading due to large reflections. If the fiber looks

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nonlinear at either end, especially near a reflective event like a connector, avoid that section
when measuring loss. Connectors and splices are called "events" in OTDR terminology. Both
should show a loss, but connectors and mechanical splices will also show a reflective peak so
you can distinguish them from fusion splices. Also, the height of that peak will indicate the
amount of reflection at the event, unless it is so large that it saturates the OTDR receiver.
Then peak will have a flat top and tail on the far end, indicating the receiver was overloaded.
The width of the peak shows the distance resolution of the OTDR, or how close it can detect
events.

OTDRs can also detect problems in the cable caused during installation. If a fiber is broken, it
will show up as the end of the fiber much shorter than the cable or a high loss splice at the
wrong place. If excessive stress is placed on the cable due to kinking or too tight a bend
radius, it will look like a splice at the wrong location.
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The limited distance resolution of the OTDR makes it very hard to use in a LAN or building
environment where cables are usually only a few hundred meters long. The OTDR has a great
deal of difficulty resolving features in the short cables of a LAN and is likely to show "ghosts"
from reflections at connectors, more often than not simply confusing the user.

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When using an OTDR, there are a few cautions that will make testing easier and more
understandable. First always start with the OTDR set for the shortest pulse width for best
resolution and a range at least 2 times the length of the cable you are testing. Make an initial
trace and see how you need to change the parameters to get better results.

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The time may come when you have to troubleshoot and fix the cable plant. If you have a
critical application or lots of network cable, you should be ready to do it yourself. You need to
have equipment ready, extra cables, mechanical splices, quick termination connectors plus test
equipment. We cannot emphasize more strongly the need to have good documentation on the
cable plant. If you don't know where the cables go, how long they are or what they tested for
loss, you will be spinning you wheels from the get-go. And you need tools to diagnose
problems and fix them, and spares including a fusion splicer or some mechanical splices and
spare cables. In fact, when you install cable, save the leftovers for restoration! And the first
thing you must decide is if the problem is with the cables or the equipment using it. A simple
power meter can test sources for output and receivers for input and a visual tracer will check
for fiber continuity. If the problem is in the cable plant, the OTDR is the next tool needed to
locate the fault.

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