Stratos Optical Technologies Holds Fibre Workshop

Stratos Optical Technologies has held a Fibre Workshop for its growing number of broadcast customers.
This was attended by key engineering staff from a number of companies planning to be, or already involved with fibre optic connectivity.
Peter Munday, Product Manager, Broadcast for Stratos Optical Technologies explained the changing broadcast needs: “Fibre has been used for years for special requirements such as longer range camera links, but HD, with its much bigger bandwidth, greatly increases the need for its deployment. People working in studios and OBs are very familiar with copper but not so with fibre. We think it’s time to demystify fibre.”
Held at Stratos Optical Technologies plant at Haverhill, the workshop was designed to give engineering people a grounding in fibre optics and its capabilities. The basics of fibre optic technology were explained and illustrated.
The Stratos presentations covered the various types of fibre and the many types of connectors available to work in all types of environment – including studios and OBs. There were also presentations from leading cable manufacturers Furukawa Electric Europe and Opticable, a Nexans company.
The messages of the theory were illustrated and reinforced with a series of demonstrations and hands-on work with fibre optic cables and connectors. The practical sessions included fitting connectors onto cables, fusion splicing fibre and optical testing. One of many practical demonstrations, showed the remarkable degree of contamination that can be caused by merely touching a fibre end.
Peter Watson from BBC Studios said: “Feedback here is very positive about the workshop; well presented and clear information. The practical sessions were very useful and dispelled a lot of fibre myths.”
Peter Munday, concluded: “It’s been a great success. The messages of minute size and robustness are important to get over. Saying ‘this is one tenth the width of a human hair’ doesn’t mean too much until you see the fibre and how it compares in size to usually invisible dust particles. It’s another world. Also, I think handling the fibre and seeing how tough it is another important message. How optical connectors are terminated onto cable was again, a revelation to many people.”
Due to the positive response received after the Fibre Workshop, other sessions are now planned to be held at regular intervals during 2007.
(DS)