OTDR - Optical Time Domain Reflector Description in Laymen's Terms

You can really look at it as a computer with some special purpose. I think of it as a computer with special software to do a few special tasks. Once you understand this part then we just have to understand how to operate this computer. Most people understand how to operate a computer. You just have to learn about the software that we run on our specialized computer.

As in any computer, we have a power cable and batteries. You will also find a monitor to display the results of those tasks that the OTDR special software runs. The monitor may look a little different than most computers but you it will have a LCD display. They have memory for storage and operation. You can also find a USB port for serial communication which can be used to transfer results data or print out test results. There are larger modules which I might compare to desktop computer except not as large. You will also find more portable modules called palm or handheld modules.

To understand how it works, we need to understand its basic purpose. It is used to estimate fiber length along with the overall loss in a fiber optic cable network. The other important task it performs is to locate breaks and show what is called optical return loss. This leads into how they actually work. To easily understand how to works, I would say it works like a camera taking pictures of your fiber network. It snaps pictures but not in the normal sense. It sends light into the fiber cable you are testing and using its complex software analyzes the reflection of this light.

An OTDR might be complex in its operation but as in any computer it has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), and OS (Operating System). Some OTDR software might even run on your desktop computer. You can even save OTDR reports in excel spreadsheet format.

To understand how it works, we need to understand its basic purpose. It is used to estimate fiber length along with the overall loss in a fiber optic cable network. The other important task it performs is to locate breaks and show what is called optical return loss. This leads into how they actually work. To easily understand how to works, I would say it works like a camera taking pictures of your fiber network. It snaps pictures but not in the normal sense. It sends light into the fiber cable you are testing and using its complex software analyzes the reflection of this light.

An OTDR might be complex in its operation but as in any computer it has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), and OS (Operating System). Some OTDR software might even run on your desktop computer. You can even save OTDR reports in excel spreadsheet format.