OREANDA-NEWS. Yokogawa Meters & Instruments Corporation will add an entry-level model, the AQ1000, to its range of OTDR (Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer) test instruments. The new model will be launched for sale outside Japan on April 13th.

The new instrument complements the company’s mid-range AQ1200 Series and the high-end AQ7280 Series, and is specifically designed to increase the productivity of field personnel working on the installation and deployment of optical access networks such as Fiber To The Home (FTTH): the so-called “last mile” to consumers’ premises.

The worldwide use of these optical access networks is increasing dramatically as the FTTH network structure is more and more adopted by the telecom operators, and optical fibers replace the copper cables in each household. Consequently, more and more installers will be working on fiber-optic deployment over the last mile. These installers will not need high-end OTDRs capable of measuring over hundreds of kilometers in the core network. Instead, they will need affordable OTDRs equipped with all the features which can make their job easier and faster: instruments like the Yokogawa AQ1000.

Although the AQ1000 is positioned and priced as an entry-level model, there is no compromise on Yokogawa’s established standards of quality, accuracy and reliability. It also features a number of characteristics which are usually present in higher-level models, such as a high-quality capacitive multi-touch touchscreen and wireless connectivity.

Like any other Yokogawa field test instrument, the AQ1000 has been designed to enhance the productivity of the field personnel who work with it. It features a full auto test mode (which means that no time is wasted in set-up procedures and expert technicians are not needed to operate it), an icon-based map view of the measured network for easy interpretation of the events detected during the network test (again, no need for expert technicians to operate it), and built-in post-processing software for generating OTDR reports directly in PDF format with flexible configuration of the report template. This means that the reports will be ready to be sent directly from the field as soon as the tests are completed, doing away with the need for PC software for creating the reports in the office.

The proven stability and prompt response of the AQ1000’s proprietary operating system make it very responsive to user inputs, very reliable, very fast in the boot-up process (ready-to-measure in less than 10 seconds from the completely “off” state) and very thrifty in energy demand (with more than 10 hours of battery life under the Telcordia standard conditions).

The AQ1000 is also a complete field test tool, with a built-in power checker to detect a live fiber and a stabilized light source to measure network end-to-end attenuation in the network. Further test capabilities are available with the addition of an optional visible light source which is needed to visually identify fiber breaks or macro bends.