Network Communications News (NCN) September 2016 | Page 24

F E AT U R E

fibre testing

Bi-directional testing in the field
In the field, cutting costs and
minimising test time are not the
only benefits of using SmartLoop
and OTDR for bi-directional testing.
Some installations are located in
dangerous or remote areas, and the
ability to reduce risk of injury is as
significant as reducing test time.
For example, Twistnet
Communications provides
companies in the UK and Europe
with core services, offering experts
in fusion splicing, direct fibre
termination, OTDR and powermeter testing and certification and
repair. The company was recently
hired to test and certify a fibre
installation located at an offshore
wind farm.
Offshore wind farms are
increasingly used for generating
power, especially in the stormy
North Seas off the east coast of
the United Kingdom. However,
the violent weather and high
voltage environment – average
wind turbine project capacity is
between 150 and 500MW – make
for significant risk factors that
contractors need to consider.
Twistnet Communications
was hired to provide testing
and certification services that
required a technician to test more

than 400 links bi-directionally
inside a high voltage electrical
substation. Such a high voltage
work environment mandated costly
safety certifications for any on site
technician performing the work to
reduce health and safety risks.
Twistnet used Fluke Networks
OptiFiber Pro with SmartLoop which
gave an unexpected advantage in
working on the wind farm project.
OptiFiber Pro with SmartLoop
reduces the complexity of using an
OTDR and speeds to process of bidirectional testing.
‘With SmartLoop we were able
to borrow a wind farm technician to
take the place of one our technicians
inside the substation. That allowed
us to save money by not having to
train one of our technicians and get
the job done in a timely way,’ said
John Marson, managing director of
Twistnet Communications.
Twistnet provided the wind farm
technician with quick training on
using a fibre optic loopback cable.
Communicating by walkie-talkie,
Twistnet technicians coordinated
with the wind farm technician to
work his way through moving the
loopback cable through each cable
pair while the Twistnet tech tested
each link bi-directionally.

‘Importantly, we can cut down
on testing time with SmartLoop,
which is a benefit for winning
projects,’ stated John Marson. ‘We
have probably won 20 contracts
since we started using SmartLoop
for testing and certification.’

link passes or fails the instant they
complete the bi-directional test. 

OTDR certification and
troubleshooting