At ISE Expo in Denver (Aug. 24-25), fiber-optic products designer, manufacturer, and supplier OFS announced its introduction of Go!Foton's Midspan Clamshell Hardened Terminal (MCHT) as an integrated connectivity solution for network projects supporting OFS customers worldwide.
Go!Foton says its Midspan Clamshell Hardened Terminal offers hardened connectivity without the need for hardened connectors. The terminal's clamshell design provides IP68 protection for each individual connection while enabling fast, easy, and secure optical drop cable deployment.
The MCHT's IP68-rated water-sealed mid-span enclosure, including splice tray, optical splitter, or other passive components, is designed to enable effortless add-drops, including fiber cable splicing as well as post-splicing drops with pre-terminated MCHT pigtails.
The unit's F2 drops port can be accessed without opening the main splicing chamber, supporting faster and thereby potentially safer customer additions than traditional closures.
OFS in a statement noted that "the MCHT deployment also translates into significant cost savings opportunities for network operators through the simplicity of ordering, inventory, and installation, as the MCHT terminal can be deployed below-grade, pole-mounted, or for messenger applications and uses the common SCA connector."
"The Midspan Clamshell Hardened Terminal helps to simplify and expedite network installations for our global solutions customers," said Dan Hendrickson, director, NAR Network Systems PLM & R&D for OFS. "Fundamentally most of our customers prefer traditional industry connectors. The CHT mid-span enclosure allows installers to add and drop cables with traditional connectors in the field while securing connections without opening an enclosure. This simplified approach to building out the network is what OFS strives to deliver in each element of our solution."
Go!Foton CTO Dr. David Z. Chen added, "The MCHT represents a major advance in optical connectivity management and a completely fresh approach to managing the proliferation of fiber drops in confined spaces for both inside and outside plant networks. By hardening the individual drop connection chamber rather than the actual connectors themselves, the MCHT can offer hardened fiber terminal functionality using widely available, standard fiber drop cables and connectors. We are excited that OFS has chosen to employ the mid-span element of Go!Foton's innovative mid-span terminal platform in its global network architecture."
As reckoned by both companies in a press release:
With its ability to effect secure connections regardless of connector type, [the] MCHT unshackles network managers and technicians from the hardware restrictions imposed by today's proprietary connector-centric approaches to field terminations. Instead, this innovative enclosure is a more efficient and potentially lower-cost alternative to existing multiport service terminal (MST) solutions.
The highly compact clamshell terminal design provides an isolated, IP68-rated chamber-and-latch for each individual connection while affording fast, and easy access. With MCHT's isolated ports, new subscribers can be added without disturbing other active users. With its compact footprint, MCHT fits easily into the small spaces that characterize OSP environments and thereby allow quick and effective build-out of fiber networks.
Available in 4-port and 8-port versions with both external and concealed mounting options, and a variety of cable stub lengths, the companies added that MCHT's versatility makes it an ideal choice for a wide variety of telecommunications and data communications implementations, including 5G, small cell, rural, and DAS networks.