Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Fiber Optic test equipment for beginner - budget of $2000-2500?

I'm just getting into fiber optics for a small deployment, and however, I figured I should get some test equipment to make sure things are actually working.

(On the CAT6 side - I have a LRAT-2000 - and that device has been an absolute timesaver - so looking for something similar in the fiber optics world if possible).

I did read the awesome thread, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around VFL (Visual Fault Locators), Power Meter and Light Source, Fault Locator, Certifier, OTDR etc.

However, assuming I have $2000-2500 to spend - these are some options I've seen:

  • Fluke Simplifiber Pro + Fluke OneShot Pro - I've seen these floating around for USD 1000-1500 used.
  • OWL 7 - I spoke to OWL, and they recommended OWL7 test kit #9 - RRP is USD 2305 new.
  • Noyes OFL280 - I saw this mentioned elsewhere on r/networking - I can get second-hand versions of this for around USD 2500-3000. I'm not sure if it's this specific model I should get - so open to correction here.

For now, it will simply be testing short fiber optic patch cables (from the store starting with fs we're not meant to name), but later it maybe longer lengths run throughout a building.



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