Fiber Patch Cords and Pigtails

Often people are confused about the difference between fiber patch cords and pigtails, let alone what types of pigtails there are. How to distinguish between fiber jumpers and pigtails?

What are the types of pigtails

Pigtails are divided into single-mode pigtails and multi-mode pigtails, which can be distinguished by color, wavelength, and transmission distance. The color of the outer sheath of the multimode pigtail is orange, the wavelength is 850nm, and the transmission distance is 500m, which is used for short distance connections, while the color of the outer sheath of the single mode pigtail is yellow, the wavelength is 1310m or 1550m, and its transmission The distance is longer, up to 10km or 40km.

In the notices of many pigtail connectors, you can see the words "FC/PC", SC/PC", etc. The letters in front of "/" represent the pigtail connector model, and the letters behind represent the pigtail connector. The grinding method. Pigtails are divided into multi-mode pigtails and single-mode pigtails. The multi-mode pigtails are orange, the wavelength is 850nm, and the transmission distance is 5Km, which is used for short-distance interconnection.

The single-mode pigtail is yellow and has two wavelengths, 1310nm and 1550nm, with transmission distances of 10km and 40km, respectively. The ITU-T International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T for ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector) regulates three kinds of commonly used optical fibers: optical fibers conforming to G.652 specifications, optical fibers conforming to G.653 specifications, and optical fibers conforming to G.655 specifications.

How to distinguish between fiber jumpers and pigtails

Optical fiber jumpers refer to optical fibers that are directly connected to desktop computers or equipment to facilitate the connection and management of equipment. Used to make patch cords from equipment to fiber optic cabling links. There is a thicker protective layer, which is generally used for the connection between the optical transceiver and the terminal box.

Fiber jumper structure

Fiber patch cords are similar to coaxial cables, but without the mesh shield. At the center is the glass core where light travels. In a multimode fiber, the diameter of the core is 15 μm to 50 μm, which is roughly the thickness of a human hair. The diameter of the single-mode fiber core is 8μm~10μm. The core is surrounded by a glass envelope with a lower refractive index than the core to keep the fiber in the core. On the outside is a thin plastic jacket that protects the envelope.

Fiber Patch Cord Classification

Optical fiber jumpers can be divided into common silicon-based optical fiber single-mode and multi-mode jumpers according to different transmission media, and other optical fiber jumpers such as plastic as the transmission medium; according to the structure of the connector, it can be divided into: FC Jumper, SC jumper, ST jumper, LC jumper, MTRJ jumper, MPO jumper, MU jumper, SMA jumper, FDDI jumper, E2000 jumper, DIN4 jumper, D4 jumper, etc. form. The more common fiber jumpers can also be divided into FC-FC, FC-SC, FC-LC, FC-ST, SC-SC, SC-ST, etc.

Single-mode fiber (Single-mode Fiber): Generally, the fiber jumper is shown in yellow, and the connector and protective sleeve are in blue; the transmission distance is longer.

Multi-mode Fiber (Multi-mode Fiber): Generally, the fiber patch cord is represented by orange, and some are represented by gray, and the connector and protective sleeve are represented by beige or black;

The above is all about the types of pigtails and how to distinguish between fiber jumpers and pigtails. Of course, pigtails should avoid looping as much as possible during use, which can reduce the attenuation of optical signals during transmission.