Trend Networks recently expanded its fiber testing range with seven new products in the FiberMaster series that have been designed, engineered, and manufactured in the United States. Trend describes the product set—which includes a handheld OTDR, PON OTDR, power meter/light source, and inspection probe—as affordable, and adds they “will enable cable installers to get the dependable test results needed, while saving time on training, and thousands of dollars.”
The new products have been developed at Trend Networks’ research-and-development excellence center for fiber products in Oriskany, NY, USA, which has more than 30 years’ experience developing OTDRs and other fiber-testing equipment.
“The new testers uniquely feature industry-leading dynamic range, enabling users to test longer fibers, PON systems and to maintain accuracy on high-loss fibers,” the company said when introducing the product set.
“Demand for fiber cable is growing as high data volumes and bandwidth requirements are increasing,” said Tim Widdershoven, marketing director for Trend Networks. “At the same time, skilled technicians are hard to find and technicians coming into the industry often have minimal training. The new range is designed so that even those with limited experience or training can quickly be up and running, carrying out accurate tests while saving more than 50% compared to other premium brands.”
The company pointed out the FiberMaster OTDR, designed for Tier 2 cable certification, which it says “is among the smallest touchscreen OTDRs in the world. It features simple setup to ensure test accuracy to ISO/TIA/IEEE standards. Available in quad, multimode and singlemode models, the OTDR includes easy-to-understand visual event maps to help even novice users to interpret test data correctly.
“Installers can quickly access a wide range of key troubleshooting data with the convenient, handheld OTDR, such as distance-to-fault, length measurement, and distance to connectors or splices via the tester’s intuitive user interface,” Trend Networks continued. “For dependable accuracy, distance is independently verified by German test laboratory GHMT AG in accordance with the Telcordia GR-196 specifications. Professional PDF reports can also be generated at the end of a job. A PON OTDR model for telecoms applications is also available.”
The FiberMaster portfolio also includes a power meter and light source kit “to get reliable, instant results to identify how much loss there is on cable, to support reporting of multimode and singlemode cabling,” the company added. “Fiber-optic connectors are tested to industry standards to provide a pass/fail result, and test records and reports can be saved and generated.”
The FiberMaster OTDR, PON OTDR and power meter/light source all work with the compact new FiberMaster video inspection probe to capture images of the connector on each end of the cabling, so users can check for dirt or damage. The handheld tester provides automatic pass/fail results to the standard for connector endfaces.
“A video inspection probe is truly an essential for any kind of fiber-optic measurements or troubleshooting,” Widdershoven added. “When fiber optics have problems it’s usually due to contamination on connectors that you can’t see with the naked eye. You should always check a connector is clean before you test it, as dirt will affect the accuracy of your results. Similarly, you can avoid wasting time on repairs if it is only cleaning that is needed.
“Testers are renowned for being a significant investment, so our new product range is affordably priced so that cable installation companies can ensure that all technicians have the quality testers they need, whenever they need them, and don’t have to share equipment. As a global brand, our efficiencies in production, vast experience, and economies of scale in engineering and development enable us to keep costs competitive, while still maintaining all the product benefits.”
The FiberMaster series is available for pre-order from Trend Networks distributors or directly from Trend Networks’ online shop.