Industrial Fiber Optics IF-FOM, Руководство оператора

Страница: 7 / 26

– 1 –
BACKGROUND
As human society, the role of information in our daily lives grows in importance. It has
been said that we are entering the “information age”. In the past century, electronic means
of communications such as radio, telephone and television have become dominant because
of their ability to send information quickly over large distances. The next step of this
revolution is communications using fi ber optic technology.
Using fi ber optic technology, information is passed between two points with light energy
instead of electrical currents on wire or radio waves. Electronic circuits are used to impart
information on a light beam, and fi ber optic cables are the medium used to carry the light
energy to its destination. Compared to traditional technology, fi ber optic communications
can carry more information with less loss over larger distances.
As more fi ber optic communications systems are put into use, the need for tools to evaluate
and maintain them also grows. Test equipment is important for any practical application of
technology, and fi ber optic communications is no exception. While the principles used to
test communication systems are similar, the actual equipment varies with the technology.
The Fiber Optic Test Set described in this manual is a practical piece of test equipment
designed to be used by instructors, students, and technicians. It contains a light source for
launching energy into a fi ber optic cable, and an instrument for measuring the energy of
visible or infrared light coming out of a cable. Applications of this test set include:
• Measuring optical power and attenuation in fi ber optic cables
• Testing detectors and light sources used in fi ber optic links
• Experiments demonstrating fi ber optic technology
• Troubleshooting fi ber optic links
For more details about the specifi cations and use of this test set, continue to the
next section.
Table 1. Common abbreviations used in this manual
Abbreviation Long Version Scienti fi c Notation
mW milliwatts 1 x 10 -3 watts
μ
W microwatts 1 x 10 -6 watts
nW nanowatts 1 x 10 -9 watts
mm millimeters 1 x 10 -3 meters
μ
m micrometers 1 x 10 -6 meters
nm nanometers 1 x 10 -9 meters