FO Field Fibre Optic Connector now 'even more versatile'  

R&M, the globally active Swiss developer and supplier of cabling systems for high-end network infrastructures, has refined the FO Field field-installable fibre optic connector, with FO Field version 1.1 being compatible with all cable types available on the market. It can also be used to connect rigid 900-micron (µm) buffered fibres with sheathing made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with ease.

Every installer will be able to connect the FO Field connector to a fibre on a construction site in under a minute. This innovation allows the costly and time-consuming step of fusion splicing to be skipped, while pigtails, patch cables, and installation cables can be directly connected. Users who have already put the FO Field to the test confirm that projects involving fibre optics are made considerably easier thanks to the straightforward on-site assembly. Elsewhere, application tests conducted by R&M customers in Central Europe revealed that the time needed to install a fibre optic outlet in residences is reduced by 30% compared to splice cabling and connection costs per subscriber can fall by up to 20%.

It was experience from the field that prompted R&M to further develop the FO Field, with the aim of optimizing the wire terminal to enable a wider range of cable types to be connected. It is now possible to determine the pressure on the wire sheath with greater precision. The first wiring level of the new FO Field has been designed for 900 µm rigid buffered fibres and all other types of wire can be connected to the second level – it is possible to find out which level needs to be used in just a few simple steps before wiring takes place. Then after wiring, a red laser indicates to the installer in the space of seconds whether or not the connection is working.

The FO Field is compatible with the full range of recognized cables on the market, and suitable for 125/250 µm single-mode and multi-mode fibres, buffered fibres, tight buffers and semi-tight buffers with sheathing between 600 and 900 µm, and cable jackets made from any material with a diameter in the range from 1.4–3 mm. The OM2, OM3 and OM4 categories are specified for multi-mode cabling. R&M has also optimized the external housing in order to make it easier to rewire the FO Field SC, meaning it can be removed again in no time after wiring.

Field-installable connectors can be used flexibly, without the need to plan ahead specially. All the installer needs is the cables and components. Open cables are easier to feed into the ducts and cut to the required length. The FO Field product range means installers can be less dependent on splicing and use their stocks of pigtails and patch cables more sparingly. R&M has now introduced a wiring, testing and cleaning tool to complement the FO Field it launched for the first time a year ago.

FO Field components are all manufactured in accordance with R&M's stringent standards under clean-room conditions. The parts are all individually tested in full as part of the quality assurance procedure, and mechanical and optical performance matches the level of quality offered by prefabricated, factory-checked pigtails. The FO Field LC and FO Field SC meet the requirements of performance levels Grade Cf/1 (APC) and Grade Cf/2 (PC), respectively. The insertion loss (IL) of the FO Field is typically 0.2 dB and below 0.5 dB 97% of the time. The return loss (RL) for the APC version is above 60 dB.