January 17, 2003--Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., has announced the development of the S121A Optic Fiber Fusion Splicer, designed for connection installations where simplicity and low cost are a requirement. Typical applications will include LANs and fiber to the home (FTTH) implementations.
The S121A Fusion Splicer has been reduced in both size and weight to roughly one-third that of Furukawa Electric's previous model, the Model S199M4. The unit itself weighs 980 g, and a total of 1,150 g even with the removable battery included.
The adoption of an original T-shaped body enables connections using a minimum excess fiber length when the fiber head is inserted into the enclosure, and at the same time allows the user to hold the fusion splicer in one hand when conducting operations in locations with small working space. The S121A also comes with a standard soft carrying case and strap, so that it can be carried around the user's neck or attached to a belt, making it as portable as a camera.
The S121A Fusion Splicer handles only single-core optical fibers. As in the case of previous models, the fiber is set in the holder, and the unit executes all operations from pre-processing to connection. An enlarged image of the fiber is displayed using a CCD camera and a 2.5-inch color LCD monitor, to ensure stable, high-quality connections. This product offers fully automatic connections in 13 sec. The fiber-optic connection type can be switched easily between singlemode and multimode by selecting a pre-set connection program. An operation guide is displayed on the screen for even greater ease of use.
The unit offers two power supplies; a removable, rechargeable battery, and an optional DC adaptor to allow AC power input. Furthermore, by attaching an optional sleeve heater or simple reinforcement tool to the back of the unit, connections can be strengthened using popular Japanese thermal protection sleeves or the ULTRAsleeve from The Siemon Co.
Advance orders for the S121A will be accepted starting in February, and shipments are scheduled to begin in March.