F3X Filter, 1550 nm

Just point and shoot to detect leaks, breaks, and bends in fiber cable.

Identify fibers up to 300 kilometers away.

Find fractures indoors and outdoors, even in bright daylight.

Use in premise and outdoor applications.

Pinpoint faults to within inches.

Identify aerial breaks and leaks from the ground.

Uncover bad splices and connector loss.

Locate signals through bulkheads, patch panels, even dust caps.

See faults even in dark blue-, green-, and black-coated fibers.

Find breaks in dark fiber.

Works where VFLs don’t, even in OTDR dead zones.

Gives an audio/visual fault indication.

Suspect your fiber network is compromised? Do some fiber espionage with the F3X Fiber Fault Finder Gun. Use this infrared light detection probe to gather the intelligence you need to ID leaks, breaks, bends, and faults in your fiber network.

You’ll save hours of time in troubleshooting and hours in network downtime, saving your organization tens of thousands of dollars in lost productivity. With this new patent-pending technology, you’ll be able to pinpoint faults in your network to within inches.

Point and shoot.
To find leaks, just point your F3X Gun at your fiber cable run and squeeze the trigger. Then sweep it over the fiber. Get ready to be amazed. You’ll actually see light emanating from any faults, breaks, and bends in the cable. It works in bright daylight, too, eliminating the need to turn off the lights or wait until nightfall to work on outdoor cable.

In the closet, you’ll be able to uncover hard-to-find light loss points in connectors mated in bulkhead adapters, patch panels, caps, boots, fanouts, even some dust covers.

With the F3X Fiber Fault Finder gun, you’ll find problems that you previously were unable to diagnose with traditional methods. It offers far more functionality than a visible laser light source. Plus you can use it in OTDR dead zones and in splice enclosures where it’s critical to pinpoint the exact location of faults. Once the gun detects a light loss point, it gives you an audio/visual fault indication.

The F3X is great for troubleshooting all fiber networks. But it’s particularly beneficial for mission-critical and secure fiber networks, such as in government, military, education, healthcare, finance, etc.

Highly sensitive to signals.
The F3X is so sensitive, it will pick up light signals other fault finders can’t—saving you a bundle of time. Use it to pinpoint faults through most jacket types and buffer colors. It will even uncover leaks in fibers with dark blue, green, and black coats.

The F3X Gun is also sensitive enough to detect tracer signals from good-quality fusion splices and capped ports. And it can pick up signals from bends several times more gentle than those induced by many fiber identifiers.

The F3X can also help you locate inefficient and poorly mated connectors, bad splices, and much, much more.

High-level leaks.
Think you have a leak or fault in an overhead fiber line? Before you pull out the ladder, pull out the F3X.

For aerial operations inside and out, choose the optional F3X Aerial Filter and Scope. Attach them to your F3X Gun, and you have everything you need to quickly find leaks in overhead lines. What was once impossible is now possible. All you need to do is point and shoot.

The Filter, Scope, and Gun can detect cable damage from excessive bends, rodents, and even shotgun pellets from more than 100 feet away. Best of all, the F3X System works in sunshine and bright indoor light, including industrial bays with high ceilings. There’s no need to wait until dark or to turn the lights out. The F3X will find the leak.

Surveillance operations.
The F3X is so versatile, you can use it to do the following:

Raw fiber identification.(End and side access. Short and long distances.)
Find fiber in a bundle when you have access to the fiber ends. No clamps are needed. In emergencies, you can ID the fiber from the side.

Connector panel port identification. (Short and long distances.)
Find a port in a patch panel by scanning the face of the box. You don’t need internal access, clamping devices, or bare fiber adapters.


Bent and broken fiber leak detection.
Locate bends and fractures in bright indoor and outdoor light without the need to block ambient light. Because of its infrared operation, the gun works with many blue, green, and black buffer coatings that can block visible red laser light.

Connector end-face splatter detection.
Probe connectors from the side and ID damaged end-faces by the light that is splattered—without using a microscope.

Ceramic ferrule fiber fractures or misalignments.
Probe connectors from the side to detect subsurface fractures inside the ferrule. This is particularly useful with anaerobic adhesive connectors.

Epoxyless connector leak detection.
Identify inefficient internal splices by sensing light leaking through the ferrule or the connector.

Mechanical or fusion splice leak detection.
Scan splices from the side to identify damaged splices, leaks, and light scatters. Because of its infared operation, the F3X Gun, can outperform visible laser sources.

Bulkhead adapter alignment.
Scan bulkhead adapters in patch panels to locate light scatters from worn or fractured alignment ferrules.

Patch panel adapter failures and raw fiber ID. (Side access.)
Scan the secondary side of connectorized bulkhead adapters to locate light scatters from worn or fractured alignment ferrules.

Splitter troubleshooting.
Identify where visible lasers do not function by scanning the secondary side of splitters.

Three MOs.
Use the F3X in three modes of operation:

1. Raw infrared light detection.
Detect infrared light including traffic, tracer signals, and CW light. This enables you to locate severe bends and breaks in lightly colored fibers.

2. 2-kHz remote tracer souce light detection.
Examine ports, fibers, splices, or connectors for the presence of a 2-kHz modulated signal. Any light between 1000–1700 nm will be detected. This method also enables you to ID light at uncovered ports up to 300 kilometers away or to locate severe bends and breaks in most 250- or 900-µm buffered fibers.

3. Local tracer source detection.
In this mode, the F3X Gun senses light from its own internal source at the rear of the unit. This is the most sensitive mode of operation. Use it to detect breaks in nearly all 250- and 900-µm fibers, usually at the ends of a cable at the ports, splices, and connectors.

Customize your F3X Gun.
The F3X system consists of the Fiber Fault Finder Gun and multiple light sources and filters that are sold separately. This way you can build the gun you want based on your fiber network. Choose from the following:

Light sources
Use the medium-powered Light Source 1 for local operations. Choose the high-powered Light Source 2 for long-distance applications up to 300 kilometers (186.4 mi.).

Both light sources feature 1550-nm operation and a standard 2-kHz modulation used by the gun and most fiber identifiers. (The sources do not operate in continuous wave [CW] mode.) They’re powered by either four AA alkaline batteries or an AC wall pack with four AA NiMH cells. Both the wall pack and four NiMH cells are included.

For durability, the sources have aluminum cases with high-impact rubber bumpers.

Filters
The filters come in specifc wavelengths, so you can choose the one that’s right for your cabling. The Standard Filter works with all fiber wavelengths from 1280 nm–1680 nm. Or you can choose filters specifically for 1310 nm, 1490 nm, or 1550 nm wavelengths.

For aerial operations, choose the Aerial Filter and Scope.

Accessories
For easy field use, order the optional Holster.

The F3X includes:

(1) F3X fiber optic leak detector pistol probe

(1) AC power pack

(1) user’s manual

(1) Hard carrying case

The included Hard Carrying Case holds the F3X gun, light source, and accessories. It is waterproof and includes pre-cut foam inserts.