Month: April 2013

Fluke Networks is the recognized leader in network testing industry. Fluke Networks provides innovative solutions, the so called Fluke network tester equipments for the testing, monitoring and analysis of enterprise networks and telecommunications networks, as well as the composition of the network infrastructure installation and certification of the fiber and copper.

As we can see, troubleshooting network connectivity problems can be a daunting and time-consuming task without the right tool, we need to spend hours of unnecessary time with trial and error guesswork trying to isolate the problem. Fluke Networks has put an end to the guessing game with the NetTool Series II Inline Network Tester.

The Fluke NetTool combines powerful NetProve diagnostics, inline Gigabit vision, VoIP Phone PC configuration testing in one palm-sized tool, so you’ll have everything you need to quickly resolve even the toughest connectivity problem. Plus, with the NetSecure option, you’ll have the power to identify port-based security threats and maintain user connectivity in802.1xenvironments. The Fluke Networks NetTool Series II includes NTS2-PRO, NTS2-VOIP, NTS2-NSKIT.

Fluke Fluke the NetTool II Overview
NetProve diagnosis – quickly locate the device and application connectivity problems
Inline Gigabit – online insight into the 10/100/Gig link between the switches, PC, IP phone and other devices to quickly resolve network problems with
Monitoring and verification – port monitoring to identify spyware, malware and viruses; 802.1X log solve the verification problem
VoIP troubleshooting – online connection, in-depth insight into VoIP calls to quickly diagnose IP phone boot, and call control problems and to measure key call quality metrics
PoE Measurements – verify readiness of PoE systems and troubleshoot PoE device problems
Discover available network resources – View active servers, routers and printers to provide the MAC address and IP address, subnet and related services
IntelliTone digital signal generator – quickly and securely positioned in the run network cable

Highlights
Monitoring and Authentication
NetProve Diagnostics
Inline Functionality
VoIP Test and Troubleshoot
PoE Measurements
IntelliTone Digital Signaling
Reports
Ease of Use
Screen Shots

FiberStore is one of the reputable online fiber optic test equipment sellers that have many speed and accurate Fluke testing instruments. Since no two networks are identical, FiberStore’s Fluke test equipment series offers several Fluke NetTool models and options to match your individual requirements and to maximize the value of your NetTool investment. From our top-of-the-line NetTool Series II Network Service Kit to the entry-level NetTool 10/100, you will find a Net Tool model that fits your network troubleshooting needs and your budget.

Cables are frequently used for the distribution of the electrical energy. Although the cables are highly developed, there are sometimes malfunctions in the cable system. Electric utilities often face the problem of finding the exact location of a failure in a distribution cable. These failures often occur at the worst possible time and cause the maximum amount of inconvenience to utility customers. The utility must quickly find and isolate the failure to restore electric service. Available fault locating methods use cable fault locator, “thumper,” radar, acoustic detector or combinations of these.

Fault locators are used to pinpoint faults occurring in communication / control cables to facilitate quick repair. In order to reduce down-time and facilitate easy maintenance, cable fault locators are indispensable. They use the principle of pulse reflection technique to quickly locate the point of occurrence of a fault, and are thus very flexible and time saving in nature. The demand for the product is bound to increase considering the growth of the telecom sector and cable operators in the entertainment sector in cities, metros and urban areas.

Cable faults are damage to cables which effect a resistance in the cable. If allowed to persist, this can lead to a voltage breakdown. The equipment user must use a quickest most efficient method of pin pointing an underground cable fault with minimal training required for use of the cable fault locator equipment. The manufacturer must design the equipment with easy operating features for quick precise pinpointing of a cable fault that minimizes any additional damage to the cable under test.

There are different types of cable faults, which must first be classified before they can be located. To locate a fault in the cable, the cable must first be tested for faults. Cable testing is therefore usually performed first in cable fault location. During the cable test, flash-overs are generated at the weak points in the cable, which can then be localised.

The measures necessary for determining fault locations can be subdivided into individual steps.

Fault classification

Insulation and resistance measurement provides information on the fault characteristics. An insulation test measures the insulation resistance between conductor and screen; from the periodic measurement of resistance you can derive the absorption properties of the insulating material.

Cable identification

In cable identification, the faulty cables are identified from the fault-free cables at the already determined site.

After the cable fault is identified and located, it is then possible to “burn it in” using burner devices, in other words to convert it from a low-resistive to a high-impedance fault.

To answer the need for gentler fault locating methods, the industry has developed more sophisticated methods that reduce the stress on aged insulation systems. The general approach is to reduce the amount of thumping necessary to locate a fault while simultaneously reducing the voltages required to perform the task.

Fiberstore offers a full range of fiber testers to choose from with the most efficient up to date TDR method coupled with our high voltage capacitive discharge units. Our line of cable fault locator and fiber visual fault locator is designed and manufactured based upon our hands on fault locating field expertise.

Optical Time-domain Reflectometer is the full name of OTDR. In fiber tester fields, it is a very important and common optoelectronic instrument used for certifying and characterizing the optical fibers. During its working process, the optical time domain reflectmeter send a series of fiber optic pulses into the fiber cable, the fiber signal light will be scattered back and reflected back from points along the fibers. because of the fiberglass attribute, fiber joint point or fiber break. The strength of the return pulses is measured and integrated as a function of time, and is plotted as a function of fiber length. By this way, the OTDR can detect the fiber optic cable length, fiber optic cable overall attenuation and locate the break point. In the following text, we will introduce the two major function of the optical time domain reflectmeter.

Certifying Fiber Optics
A good quality of fiber optic networks is very important for the healthy of the critical networks especially for business use. For a network administrator, it is very necessary to known how well the invested fiber cabling network performed and how to solve problems at the first time they occur. Fiber optics certification has experienced a development from Tier 1, the Fiber Optics Certification Basic to Tier 2 fiber certification, that extended Tier 1 with an Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR).

The Tier 1 tests are attenuation (insertion loss), length and polarit, the complete Tier 1 fiber certification is required in all fiber optic cabling links. During the Tier 1 testing, each fiber
link is measured for attenuation and results are documented. This test ensures that the fiber link exhibits less loss than the maximum allowable loss budget for the immediate application. This CertiFiber is one handheld tester that quickly and easily certifies multimode networks. One button measures fiber length and optical loss on two fibers at two wavelengths, computes the optical loss budget, compares the results to the selected industry standard and provides an instant PASS or FAIL indication. By Tier 1 testing, the invisible events are hardly to locate.
Tier2 is the extended Tier 1 with the application of an additional tool, OTDR, which is used to trace each fiber link. An OTDR trace is a graphical signature of a fiber’s attenuation along its
length. You can gain insight into the performance of the link components such as fiber optic cable, connectors and splices and the quality of the installation by examining non-uniformities in the trace. This fiber test certifies that the workmanship and quality of the installation meets the design and warrantee specifications for current and future applications. An obvious advantage of using OTDR is that is helps detect the invisible events that may happened when conducting only loss/length (tier 1) testing, which is regarded as a complete fiber certification.

Maintaining Fiber Infrastructure Performance
Besides fiber optics certification, OTDR is also used for repairing problem fiber plant. Because the OTDR makes you detect any details on the cabling installation, termination quality and offers advanced diagnostics to isolate a point of failure that may hinder network performance.

OTDR tester characterize features such as attenuation uniformity and attenuation rate, segment length, location and insertion loss of connectors and splices, and other events such as sharp bends that may have been incurred during cable installation. The right OTDR must has certain functionality, such as loss-length certification, channel/map view, power meter capabilities, an easy-to-use interface, and smart-remote options.
Fiber optic testing tools manufacturers such as FiberStore, provides the ultimate optical time domain reflectometer series for your testing and troubleshooting solution of fiber optic networks, which includes EXFO AXS-100, EXFO AXS-110-12CD, DVP-321 OTDR, EXFO FTB-200 OTDR and more. They are all perfect for perform inspection, verification, certification, troubleshooting.

As fiber optic system becomes more and more common and has increasingly sophisticated, optical power measuring, the most basic actions for the fiber optic testing process, will also grow more and more complex. To make reliable measurements, people must consider the characteristics and interactions of optical power meter, fiber optic light source, detector types, attenuation, back
reflection, interference, and beam divergence.

Optical Power Meter Measurement

An optical power meter is used to measure the absolute optical power or the relative length of optical fiber optical power loss. Through the measurement of the absolute power of the transmitting end optical network, a power meter to be able to evaluate the performance of the light end equipment. The basic assumption for optical power measurement is the at the meter output reading is
directly proportional to the optical input power. This proportionality property is defined as linearity, and the departure from this direct proportionality is defined as nonlinearity.

Optical Light Source
Optical measurements can be made with a wide variety of light sources. Fiber optic light sources are designed to cover a variety of wavelength ranges to suit all optical testing needs, Light sources are offered in a variety of types including LED, halogen and laser. With the combination of a power meter and stabilized light source, it is possible to measure the connection loss, test continuity and help evaluate the transmission quality of fiber link. Optical Multimeter jor fiber optic multi meter integrates both an optical power meter module and an optical light source module and can perform closed-loop tests by using both modules, and can also work individually.

Optical metering system
Typical optical power measurement system consists of a detector and a display unit that calculates the optical power or energy represented by the electrical signal. The measurements are displayed or stored in convenient formats, such as analog or digital output, or entries in a data-collection file.
The optical detector, which converts an optical signal into an electrical signal, The most common types of optical-signal detectors are photodiodes, thermopiles, and pyroelectric detectors.
Photodiodes use the photon’s energy to create an electron-hole pair, Thermopile detectors are used for high-power laser sources, up to tens of kilowatts of optical power. Pyroelectric sensors are popular for pulsed laser sources. Among these detector types, photodiode sensors are the most widely used.

Light source back inflection
Accurately measuring a modulated or a pulsed light is very difficult as well as the CW (Light source back inflection) light source. When making peak-to-peak measurements, since waveforms can be greatly distorted. Rather tan reading directly from the detector. It is better to record the raw data, and than process it with digital filtering or statistical averaging with the fact of the limitations of the detector’s response time, and the speed of the meter’s circuitry.

To sum up, optical power measurement involved in the application of optical power meter, a stable fiber optic light source as well as the good understanding of the optical setup, the choice of detector types, detector saturation and noise, attenuation.