AN137

The Photonics Pioneer

Preventing Damage to Optical Connectors
Effects of Damaged Front Panels
Maintaining your equipment’s interface& connectors is absolutely critical toachieving quality results. Damaged

instrumentation interfaces and reference
cables can add loss and reflections

as well as reduce stability, making it

difficult to take accurate measurements.
In addition to adhering to strict policies
regarding cleaning and inspection,

one way to maintain instrumentationinterfaces and reference cords is touse SAVer cables and extension leads.
Rather than needing to repolish orreconnectorize the interfaces of test

equipment or expensive reference cables,
those repairs can be performed on theSAVer cables and extension leads tosignificantly reduce downtime and cost.

Dirt and damage can greatly affect not only the visual qualification of a cable,
but also its insertion loss and return loss.

Using SAVer Cables
Units that do not have removable front panels do not allow for damaged connectors to be easily repaired. Fortunately, SAVer cables
are designed to ‘save’ the instrument front panel from dirt, scratches and potentially expensive repairs and downtime. If the SAVer
cable gets dirty or damaged, it is much easier to clean, repolish, or even replace than it is to clean or repair the front panel of theunit. SAVer cables should be attached to the instrument permanently until the interface becomes damaged, at which point, it should
be repolished or replaced with another SAVer cable.

Source1310nm1550nm1mm InGaAs

SAVer Cable

HPR Cable

DUT

1310nm1550nm

OP940-SM

By leaving a SAVer cable attached to the front panel of a unit, interface damage can be avoided,
preventing downtime and minimizing repairs costs.

SANTEC CORPORATION
5823 Ohkusa-Nenjozaka, Komaki,
4750 Calle Quetzal
Aichi 485-0802,
Camarillo,
CA Japan
93012

OptoTest Corp.

Rev. A 8 /1/16+81-568-79-3536

Doc: AN-137

www.santec.com
The Photonics Pioneer

SANTEC USA CORPORATION
1.8 05.987.170 0
USA Toll Free
+1-800-726-8321
sales@ optotest.com
engineering @ optotest.com
SANTEC EUROPE LIMITED
Tel. +44-20-3176-1550

AN137

The Photonics Pioneer

Preventing Damage to Optical Connectors
Damaged MPO/MTP Reference Cables
While SAVer cables are used to protect

the front panel connector of instruments,
extension leads are cables used toprotect the endfaces of reference cables

as well as for gender changing purposes.
The inclusion of extension leads in an

MPO testing line can make testing mucheasier and extend the life of expensive

reference grade fanout cables. If propercare isn’t taken, though, clogged guidepin holes or dirty guide pins can prevent
MTP connectors from mating properly,
yielding large reflections. Regular

Similar to simplex cables, MTP reference cables must be free of dirt and damage to avoid
creating excess insertion loss and return loss. Extension leads can prevent suchdamage from occurring to expensive MTP reference cables.

cleaning of these guide pins and guidepin holes can prevent such interference.
It is important to make sure that any extension lead that will be introduced to a test setup is of a high quality, having reference grade

return loss and insertion loss, as well as interferometry results. For example, OptoTest’s High Performance Reference Cable (HPR)

meet these requirements of low insertion and return loss. Another consideration that needs to be made is for the length of theextension leads. It is necessary that the leads be long enough (approximately 3m for APC and 5m or longer for PC (MM) MPOs) tomake sure the return loss of the intermediate connection does not interfere with the connection to be tested.

Each time an extension lead is connected to a launch lead, it is suggested that the IL and RL at that position be tested to ensure its
quality. For MM cables the return loss should be >40dB and for SM cables it should be >72dB across all fibers and the insertion loss
should be below 0.25dB.

MTP

PULL

MTP

PULL

TO REMOVE

MTP

SAVer Quality
Extension LeadPULL

TO REMOVE

MTP

PULL

TO REMOVE

HPR Cable

TO REMOVE

IL/RL Test System

MTP

OP940-MM-SW24-8513-R

TO REMOVE

REMOTE HEAD PORT

PULL

Extension leads can prevent damage from occurring to expensive
MTP reference cables. Inserting a SAVer quality extension leadbetween the launch lead and the DUT will maintain highly accurate
results and protect the reference cable interfaces.

DUT

When using SAVer cables, extension leads, or any additional connections between the front panel and the connection under test,

consider the launch condition of the source. Each additional connection in the test setup can slightly modify the existing launch

condition. To maintain EF compliance through connectors it is recommended that low loss connections be used due to their tighteralignment. Additionally, misalignments on the connectors/fibers increase the chance that the launch condition is out of specification.
SANTEC CORPORATION
5823 Ohkusa-Nenjozaka, Komaki,
4750 Calle Quetzal
Aichi 485-0802,Camarillo,
CA Japan93012

OptoTest Corp.

Rev. A 8 /1/16+81-568-79-3536

Doc: AN-137

www.santec.com
The Photonics Pioneer

SANTEC USA CORPORATION
1.8 05.987.170 0
USA Toll Free
+1-800-726-8321
sales@ optotest.com
engineering @ optotest.com
SANTEC EUROPE LIMITED
Tel. +44-20-3176-1550