When you are taking care of IT issues for your company, then you may find that one of the most useful pieces of equipment is a patch lead. When you want to connect an optical switch, your CATV system or any other piece of telecommunication equipment, then having the right cable is essential.
What makes patch leads special?
Fibre optic patch leads are created with a connector at each end that will allow the lead to connect to whichever pieces of equipment you are trying to join. Having the correct connectors is vital, but you can't afford to forget the cable itself. The interconnect-style cabling used for patch leads offers good environmental adaptability along with a high return loss and a low insertion loss. The core of the patch lead has a high refractive index while the surrounding coating is designed with a low refractive index so that the signals can be transmitted with only a minimal loss over long distances.
What type of patch lead do you need?
When you are looking for patch leads Sydney retailers will have plenty to choose from, but you must ensure that you purchase the correct cable to connect your equipment. Three main considerations will affect your choice of patch lead. You must determine:
Multimode or single-mode?
When you think about whether you need a multimode or single-mode cable, you must know how you are transmitting signals around your system. Single-mode is intended for high speed, long-distance transfer while multimode is more commonly used for shorter distances. These two modes are not compatible with each other, so you must make the right choice.
Duplex or simplex
If you will be transmitting data to both directions, you will need a duplex lead, but if you only need to send data in one direction, then a simplex cable will be fine. It is easy to identify duplex patch leads since they will have two connectors and two fibres at each end while a simplex cable will have a single fibre and connector on each end.
Which connectors?
There are a lot of different connectors which you could fit. When you need to buy patch leads, most suppliers are able to supply connectors such as MU, FC, LC, SC or LSH. You will need to look at your equipment to determine the right connectors for your situation. Before buying patch leads, most retailers will be able to advise you on which connectors will be the right solution for your equipment.