What You Need To Know; The Optical Fiber - Triax MCT 049B User Manual

18.2

What you need to know

A few notions are required before considering the use of optical fibers.

18.2.1 The optical fiber

Optical fibers are sometimes used for satellite reception. This technology enables makes it possible to
transmit a signal further with less loss and with a larger bandwidth.
The optical fiber is a waveguide, generally made of glass, that enables the transmission of the optical sig-
nal. Optical fibers are made of a core, a cladding and at least one protection. There are two kinds of optical
fibers: multimode and single-mode.
The difference is the size of the core inside the fiber: 9µm diameter for single-mode, 50µm for multimode.
Multimode is less expensive, while single-mode induces less losses.
For satellite reception, only single-mode fibers are used.
Sectional view of an optical fiber:
Warning: Optical fibers are fragile and must not be constrained, bent or folded: the core may be
damaged or even broken, which results in a partial or total loss of the signal.
125µm
PROTECTION
p.
78
9 ou 50µm
CORE
CLADDING