Manufacturers, laboratories, and end users rely on these reference cables for final connector testing. The exact position of the fiber within the ferrule is crucial. In R&M's solution, the fiber core, which carries the signal, has a maximum eccentricity of 0.15 microns, or in other words, a concentricity of 0.3 microns with respect to the ferrule. These tight tolerances are necessary to repeatedly test a series of connectors, enabling comparisons. R&M uses these reference cables for measurement, focusing on worst-case scenarios, demonstrating its unparalleled quality control.

Until now, these cables were only available with an eccentricity of 0.3 microns (tolerances twice their size). In each test, users had to account for this factor to assess inaccuracy.

In addition to eccentricity values, R&M also defines the exact position of the fiber axes within the tolerance range for these cables, making the comparison test results even more reliable.

Connector alignment must be absolutely secure; in each connector, the fibers must be stored in a defined and documented sector to guarantee both signal transfer between the fiber ends and the lowest possible loss. Otherwise, attenuation values ​​in each specific application can increase rapidly, even if the connector's reference measurement appears correct at first glance.

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Measurement comparison: The tolerance range of an R&M reference cable is 233 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. The red dot shows the tolerance range of the fiber position.


(Source: R&M)

Blue area = permissible area for fiber compensation; orange dots = typical distribution of connector measurements (fiber axis); the center striped area = the permissible area of ​​the fiber axis of the reference cable. Most connectors show less offset from each other than from the reference connector. This means that the one-to-one values ​​are the same as or lower than those compared to the reference connector.