THORLABS EVOA1550F User Manual page 12

Electronic Variable Optical Attenuators
Chapter 3 Quick Start Guide
The components inside these products are sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD). Take all
appropriate precautions, including grounding personnel and equipment, before making any
connections to the unit.
In the box, you should find the EVOA and its power supply with a 2.1 mm coaxial plug that matches the power
input jack on the side of the unit.
Follow these simple instructions to get started as quickly as possible:
1. Make sure the unit is sufficiently charged. It is shipped about 50% charged. Using the included power
supply, it typically takes 5 hours to reach a full charge (starting from the "Low Battery" indicator) that lasts
for hundreds of hours.
2. Connect input and output fiber patch cables (single mode only) to the bulkheads. Make sure they are
clean. We recommend the FCC-7020 Fiber Connector Cleaner and the FBC250 Bulkhead Cleaner for fiber
tips and bulkheads, respectively.
3. Select the desired wavelength with the selector knob. The unit is factory calibrated for both 1310 nm
and 1550 nm. Other wavelengths in the 1250 to 1625 nm range can be user calibrated.
4. Turn the rocker power switch ON.
5. Adjust the attenuation to get the desired output power on the digital display.
6. Press the Lock button to hold the power setting (optional). A green LED will blink to indicate a successful
lock. A red LED will blink if the unit cannot find a lock.
7. Release the Lock button to make any further adjustments.
NOTE:
The insertion loss when coupling these types of smaller core, single mode fibers can be well over 1 dB at each
connection. This is in addition to the intrinsic insertion loss of the VOA and tap components inside the
instrument. See Section 1.4.1 for full specifications.
Chapter 4 Operating Instructions and Details
4.1 Overview
This chapter provides deeper details about the EVOA and its operation. To get started with using the EVOA, refer
instead the Quick Start Guide (Chapter 3).
The block diagram below (Figure 5) depicts the unit's basic architecture. The EVOA is controlled by analog
electronics. The front panel provides a power adjustment knob, a digital output power display, and Power Lock
capability.
Rev. C, December 31, 2024
Chapter 3: Quick Start Guide
Page 9