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Introduction
UNIT 1
Precautions
Safety.
Extreme caution must be exercised when operating the VOLT. It produces an intense beam of visible
light that can cause permanent damage to the eye with prolonged exposure.
Operational.
In order to insure accurate and reliable readings, it is vitally important to clean the ports on the
tester, as well as the ferrules on the patch cords, before each use. If dirt, dust, or oil are allowed to build up
inside the connector, the surface of the laser diode may become scratched, producing erroneous results.
Replace the dust caps on the tester ports and patch cords when not in use.
NEVER LOOK INTO A LIGHT SOURCE OR THE END OF A FIBER THAT MAY BE ENERGIZED BY A
SOURCE!
Required Accessories
Cleaning Supplies.
Fiber ferrules, connector ports and bulkheads should be cleaned with 99% or better
isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. A can of compressed air should be available to dry off the ferrules, and
to blow dust from the connector ports and bulkheads.
Patch Cords.
Two identical patch cords are required to connect the VOLT to the system under test, and a third
patch cord is required to loop back the two fibers being used for the test. The connector styles on the patch
cords must match the type on the VOLT and the type of the bulkheads in the system under test.
Applications
Fiber Length Measurement.
The VOLT uses a “round robin” method of length measurement. This method
requires two fibers from the same fiber cable to be looped back at one end with a patch cord. Light is injected
into one of the fibers by the transmitter and is received by the detector connected to the other fiber. The round
trip travel time is converted into length in kilometers and divided by two to arrive at the length of the fiber cable.
It is not necessary to test each fiber for length; the length measurement applies to all fibers in the cable.
Visual Fiber Identification.
The VOLT provides a flashing mode for easy visual fiber identification. Fibers are
identified by locating the fiber end with the flashing red light on the opposite end of the fiber cable. This is
useful for locating fibers that are marked incorrectly or not marked at all.
Visual Fault Location.
In Continuous Wave Mode, a steady beam of ultra-bright red laser light is injected into
the fiber. If this light encounters a break or microbend in the fiber, the light will be redirected into the buffer.
This light will be visible through the fiber jacket, informing the user of a break or microbend in the fiber.
