MAY 21, 2008 -- SENKO Advanced Components (search for SENKO) has added three cleaning and inspection kits that are improving the way people detect and manage contamination issues in fiber-optic systems, say company representatives. New products include the Telecom Fiber KIT, the FTTX Fiber KIT, and the Digital Fiber KIT. Today, the telecom sector is driven by growth in the FTTX network and is under pressure to provide ever increasing speed, bandwidth, and quality-of-service for a new generation of digital products. Consumers are connecting to an exciting new world that offers them VoIP, full video websites, high-definition TV, advanced video conferencing, social networking sites, and two-way patient/healthcare provider communications to name a few. And it's not just telecom service providers that face this ever growing problem, say SENKO representatives. The loss of a network connection today can have high financial implications on the service providers. Keeping a system in top operational condition has become the number one priority for all users of fiber technology

Against this critical backdrop, SENKO says it has introduced a range of products that are designed to deal with one of the major causes of network downtime: contamination. Designed with ease of use and portability in mind, all of SENKO's KITS include a range of ferrule and adapter cleaning tools and come in a rugged, lightweight carrying case for easy travel. The field inspection kits are ideal for Central Office and transmission environments and can be used with most fiber-optic networks, says the company.

TELECOM Fiber KIT
Designed for the most demanding maintenance routine, this cleaning and inspection kit contains the TELECOM FIBERVIEW probe, which has an optical resolution down to 0.5 micron and connects to a battery powered 3.5" TFT screen with a display magnification x200, says the company.

FTTX Fiber KIT
Packed with an ultra-light analogue probe and ultra-rugged and compact 2.5" TFT handheld monitor with a display magnification x200, the FTTX Fiber field inspection kit can be used with one or two probes. It also includes a memory card to capture up to 23,000 images, which can be transferred to a PC or laptop.

DIGITAL Fiber KIT
SENKO says the DIGITAL FIBER VIEW can be used for Production Test or System Commissioning and Certification. A variable magnification probe with an optical resolution to 0.5 um, it connects via a USB link directly to a PC or laptop where the company's analytical software can automatically check the ferrule end-face for contamination and scratches against user-definable accept/reject criteria.

Link to the press release on Lightwave.