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March 2023

Sections

Features

Newsletter Sections

FOA Certified Techs: 

See FOA Jobs Web Page and FOA on 

The FOA Jobs Web Page has been updated and a new page added on Using your FOA Training/Certification to Find the Right Job in Fiber Optics

 

  

Fiber Optic Safety Poster to download and print

FOA Videos on

• Last Gasp For Multimode Fiber?  
• Who Lost Lucent? The Decline of America's Telecom Industry.
  
• How Many Fibers? Optimal cable Size. 
• Women Installers In Alaska. 
• FOA OJT To Cert Program. 
• Building Rural FTTH - Learning From The History Of Rural Electrification. 
• Warning For Techs Doing Restoration (Fiber Amplification). 
• Timeline Of Fiber Optics - History Of Fiber Optic Technology - See below

The Archives: Past Issues.

Use these links to read past issues or use FOA's  Custom Search to look for specific topics on our website.

Highlights from the FOA Newsletter in 2022  

New Fiber U Self Study Programs

Time To Renew Your FOA Certifications?

You can now renew with a credit card or PayPal

 

   

 

Bossier Parish Community College Class Graduates CFOTs and CPCTs At FOA Certification Course For Incarcerated At Caddo Correctional Center

KTBS said: "When the group reenters society, they'll have some valuable skills to help people gain access to internet. They learned all about fiber optic cable through Bossier Parish Community College. It comes at a time when there are thousands of jobs available in the field."

"It was beautiful just coming in here every day and just being around positive people and just getting away from the other side of the jail and just learning something new," said Derrick Clark, a graduate.

The Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office noted: "The program teaches about applications, installations, and communication systems related to fiber optics through classroom lectures and hands-on lab exercises. This will give the inmates a head start if they enter the in-demand career field."

The Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office will continue offering the program to Department of Correction inmates, making it the first ongoing fiber optics program offered in a correctional facility nationwide.

FOA offers it's congratulations to all concerned, including Bossier Parish Community College and especially instructor Alex Boone, the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office and the Caddo Correctional Center for making this important event a reality. We look forward to working with Alex and Bossier Parish CC to expand this pioneering program to other locations.

For more information and videos:  KSLA TV with good video of the class, KTBS3 TV, KTAL TV interviews the participants,  Pictures of the graduation on the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office Facebook page. 

FOA's World Map Of Approved Training Schools Updated  

FOA's School Map 

POF, The Other Fiber

Practically everyone in "fiber" optics has been asked if they follow a "high fiber diet" or work in the clothing industry, fibers much better known to most people. We've all learned to patiently explain that it's not that fiber but a highly technical fiber made of hair-thin glass.

But sometimes we forget that there is another fiber used in communications, plastic optical fiber or POF. In fact POF is about as old as glass fiber and has probably gone through as much R&D trying to compete with glass fiber. Today POF has two main uses, short, inexpensive links primarily for consumer electronics and lighting.

We were reminded about POF recently by an email from one of its developers, Dr. Franz A. Salamon, while he was at DuPont. So we thought now was a good time to do a review of POF for our readers.

POF is typically a large core fiber with a thin cladding that can be made by extruding plastics, a simpler process than the preform and pulling processes used by typical glass fibers. It is usually also a step index fiber with high NA (numerical aperture or angle of coupled light) which means it gathers light well from larger sources like LEDs and produces an output suitable for lighting.


The plastic material in the core of POF has high attenuation and the step index profile and high NA limits the bandwidth of POF. Together they limit the speed and distance possible for digital signals, making POF impractical for many data applications. But it's low cost, easy termination (use a razor blade) and inexpensive transmitters and receivers make it ideal for many consumer applications.

If you have consumer audio equipment or a modern TV, it likely has a digital optical port that uses POF. The fact that these links so widely used indicates how inexpensive a POF link can be.



POF is popular as digital links in industrial machinery like robots where distances are short and speeeds are low. Its flexibility is also good for applications like robotic arms used in assembly.

POF is also used in automotive applications. MOST is a standard widely used for high bandwidth automotive multimedia applications and Flexray is used in critical timing applications like airbag deployment.

But the majority of applications for POF are lighting. It can be used to remotely illuminate objects that are sensitive to strong light or heat from traditional light sources, making it popular for museum lighting of small delicate objects. POF is also popular for lighting in areas that are electrically dangerous like swimming pools. Another popular application is creating starfield ceilings.



Another use is for signs or even animating an exhibit. The map below depicts a battlefield with fiber illustrating the movements of the troops.



The applications for POF have always been limited by its limited bandwidth and distance capability. POF developers have tried to get better bandwidth and distance capability for data applications, even developing a graded index POF like multimode graded index glass fiber, but have had limited success.

FOA likes using POF to demonstrate how optical fiber works. We provide samples and directions for K-12 STEM teachers (STEM = science, technology, electronics, mathematics) for classroom demos to teach students about optical fiber.


A VFL and POF makes a good demonstration of fiber optic communications.

We were reminded about optical fiber when a reader of the FOA Newsletter,

Dr. Franz A. Salamon contacted us about his work developing POF. He worked at Du Pont for almost 30 years, retiring in 1990. Dr. Salamon  led the team that invented PMMA (polymethyl methacryate) POF which Du Pont introduced, trademarked as CROFON, in 1965.



Dr. Salamon's lab at Du Pont. He is standing next to an extrusion machine.

Dr. Salamon's team that invented CROFON POF. Dr. Salamon is in the middle of the front row.

He told FOA: I was the head of our team in 1966 in Wilmington, DE, which invented, created the CROFON® (Du Pont’s registered trademark) Fiber Optic from acrylic and PE. When I had the first sample in my hands, which worked, our team surrounded me and asked: what do you want to do with this? I said: "I don’t have a F…g idea. Wait and see."

Dr. Salamon worked for Du Pont in Switzerland toward the end of his career and retired in 1990. Among the other inventions his group produced was something many people have used - Teflon plumbing tape.

As we corresponded recently about his work developing POF, he was emailing with FOA from his holiday skiing in Leukerbad, Switzerland. Impressive for a nonagenarian (Franz is in his 90s!.)
)

Snakes On The Plains* 

Fiber techs often face hazards in their work, from weather, working at heights, near high voltage lines, even working near traffic. But there can be other hazards when working in manholes and handholes as you can see from these photos contributed by Eric Pearson of Pearson Technologies.



In this manhole near a cornfield in Iowa, the tech found snakes living in the nice warm environment of hte manhole.




The manhole provided some nice places to curl up or hide.





Removing them before working in the manhole.



A whole family was nesting in one manhole.

Most snakes are not harmful; in fact they are good at controlling the rodents who often get into manholes and chew on the fiber optic cables. But they can be a nuisance when you are trying to get work done around them.\

*Title lifted from the movie "Snakes on A Plane"  with Samuel L. Jackson about a FBI agent on a plane full of deadly venomous snakes, deliberately released to kill a witness being flown from Honolulu to Los Angeles to testify against a mob boss.

Latest FOA Book: Fiber Broadband (Paperback and Kindle)

New Fiber U MiniCourse - Fiber Optic Project Management

Managing a fiber optic project can be the easiest part of the installation if the design and planning have been done thoroughly and properly, or, if not, it can be the the hardest. It's certainly important to understand what managing a project entails. This new Fiber U MiniCourse starts by defining a fiber optic project then explains what's involved in managing it from concept to operation.

As usual with Fiber U online learning courses, the course is free and like the Fiber U FTTH course, the

More Translations of FOA Textbooks

FOA is a very international organization and it works hard to accommodate the language needs of everyone. We have been translating our books and website into the languages most requested, and this month, we add two more textbook translations. We also want to thank Jerry Morla, FOA CFOS/I instructor and Director who has been doing the recent translations into Spanish, his native language.

FOA Newsletter Sections

News

Lots more news in Worth Reading below

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution releases rare video footage from the first submersible dives to RMS Titanic

It was 38 years ago when Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announced that it had discovered the wreck of the Titanic, the famous ship that sank in the Atlantic in April 0f 1912. On September 1, 1985, a team from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) led by Dr. Robert Ballard in partnership with Institut français de recherche pour l’exploitation de la mer (IFREMER) discovered the final resting place of the ship.

In July 1986, nine months after the discovery, a team from WHOI returned to the wreck site, this time using three-person research submersible Alvin and the newly developed remotely operated vehicle Jason Jr. The trip marked the first time that humans laid eyes on the vessel since its ill-fated voyage in 1912.

TIA BEAD Success Summit

Registration Open For ISE Expo 2023

Looking for a good online fiber optic course? The FiberWizards Essentials - CFOT Prep Course could be a solution

How do you get new hires up to speed quickly? Continue training current employees and prepare them for the certification your customers are requiring? OJT - On-The-Job-Training. - is the usual answer, but an OJT program like the FOA's OJT-To-Cert program - requires a commitment from experienced techs and supervisors to ensure the techs stay on course.



FOA Master Instructor and Director Jerry Morla has a solution that can work for most companies, the "FiberWizards Essentials - CFOT Prep Course."  Students will get lots of flexibility to learn on their own terms with a very tailored and personalized experience including one-on-one coaching, virtual presentations, online modules, and access to a private Slack channel for support.

Students will get a lab kit when they join, to explore behaviors of light in fiber on their own. If the students need equipment to complete the hands-on part of the course, FiberWizards  offers rentals of equipment and consumables kits for students within the Continental US.

For companies who need to train their fiber techs but lack the time commitment needed from their top techs, which is practically all of them, the FiberWizards course could be a very good - and cost effective - solution.

FiberWizards Essentials - CFOT Prep Course 

Fiber Optic Design Certification For Traffic Engineers

Technical

Fiber optic technology, standards, equipment, installation, etc.

Cross Reference To FOA Technical Reference Materials

The FOA has almost 1,000 pages of technical information on the FOA Guide, 100+ videos and two dozen online courses at Fiber U, all this can make it difficult to find the right information.

Cross Reference To FOA Tech Materials
To help this, we have created a cross reference guide to the textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U courses, all the FOA technical information. Besides the textbooks, online Guide and Fiber U, each section of the Guide also includes links to the 100+ FOA videos available.
Cross Reference Guide to Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U

Sponsored Content OptConn is a value-add re-seller of optical connectivity products, services and solutions. With over 30 years of experience in the fiber optics industry we are here to serve your requirements from fiber optic training with FOA certification to products, materials and supplies. We have partnerships with industry leading manufacturers to support your installation, splicing and testing needs. Our goal is to guide, support and recognized our client’s requirements. Learn more about OptConn

Yokogawa System Uses Fiber For Heat Detection

Yokogawa, a company fiber techs knows best for their fiber optic test instruments and as a supporter of the FOA, also makes a broad range of industrial instruments and controls. A recent newsletter announced a new fiber optic product for detecting heat in an industrial environment.  The system uses a special fiber optic cable that can be kilometers long to sense temperature and generate alarms when abnormal conditions exist.

The drawing above shows an industrial application, but Yokogawa also notes it works well for monitoring temperature of cables in cable racks or for use in tunnels.



For more information, see the Yokogawa datasheet here.

Great Idea For Fishtape - It Glows

Klein Tools (www.kleintools.com), has introduced a new 20' or 40’ Glow in the Dark Fish Tape for applications in low light jobsites. It's an optimal fish tape for installing wire or cable behind walls and ceilings, in short box-to-box runs and branch circuits or in flexible tubing
 
Klein 20' or 40’ Glow in the Dark Fish Tape (Cat. No. 50660)  

Corning Uses Hybrid hybrid Copper/Fiber Cables and Software Defined Security Network

More Bandwidth From Every Fiber - Another Option

The continual development of optical fiber is generally based on how to get more information down the fiber and send it further. We have seen lots of options, beginning with the most basic of increasing the signal bit rate, which involves developing lasers that can be modulated at higher rates or switching to multilevel protocols like PAM4. Another option is external modulation and coherent transmission, the most successful technology now in use.

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) allows sending multiple signals down the same fiber at different wavelengths, which has become very common for increasing the bandwidth of installed fiber.

Other proposals include "space division multiplexing" or sending multiple signals down a fiber in different paths. It has been done with multimode fiber by carefully launching different modes into the fiber and separating them at the other end. with some success

Another version adds more cores to an individual fiber. In a singlemode fiber, the fiber diameter is 125 microns but the core is under 10 microns, so there is space in the fiber for more cores. Some fibers like this have been made and recent test show their potential.


Fiber with 4 singlemode cores Drawings from the technical article referenced below.

The fiber uses 4 conventional step index singlemode cores in a 125 micron fiber. Crosstalk is a problem when cores are too close and crosstalk is higher at long wavelengths, limiting the wavelength capability. The fabrication of cores with an index trench is difficult, limiting the number of fibers and wavelength capability of the fiber. The "marker" noted in the diagram is used to align the cores for fusion splicing, another concern with multicore fibers.

To show the potential of the multicore fiber concept, a microcable with 288 fibers - 1152 cores - with  800m metro network was installed in underground conduit as shown below. To connect the multicore fiber to conventional transceivers requires splicing breakouts on to each end of the cable.



The experiment was successful, demonstrating the potential of multicore fibers. One should read the entire article carefully however, as there are still challenges to using multicore fiber in routine network installations.

Read the technical article here.

Managing Fiber Optic Projects - The Gantt Chart

(With An Excel File To Make Your Own)

The most common way to track projects is the Gantt Chart, a chart of activities that tracks the progress of projects along a timeline. each activity is represented by a bar and the position and length of the bar represents the starting date and duration of the activity. This allows you to see what activities are needed for the project, when the activities start and end so it can be used to track the progress of the project visually. Here is what a Gantt Chart for a fiber project might look like:

More Help On Color Codes (Now Copper Cabling And Fiber Optics)

The FOA has created a pocket guide to fiber optic color codes that we are sending to new and renewed CFOTs. It has color codes for fibers and buffer tubes, connectors and premises cables inside and on the back, QR codes to take you directly to the FOA Guide and Fiber U.

The FOA Guide page on Fiber Optic Color Codes is one of the most read pages on the FOA website and the Fiber Optic Color Codes minicourse on Fiber U very popular also.

Here's a do-it-yourself FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Color Codes card. Just download the PDF file, print it on a color printer and fold it up as shown. Then you have your own pocket guide to color codes. Make a bunch for your co-workers too.

Then we realized that many of your also do structured cabling work, so it was a natural to add a Color Code Guide for UTP copper cabling in printable (below) and electronic (above) versions.

Warning For Techs Doing OSP Restoration

Try The FOA's Online Loss Budget Calculator

Worth Reading

Each month we read hundreds of newsletters and online articles. These are the ones we think you will find "worth reading."

FOA  has a web page with resources on fiber broadband networks and the IIJA/BEAD funding programs.

Cross Reference Guide to FOA Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U

FOA Timeline of Fiber Optic History  and the new FOA video "The History Of Fiber Optics"

Worth Reading (And Watching):

The State of the Network in 2023  (eBook) Telegeography

(Read the complete Nov/Dec issue of ISE Magazine here.



It's Science Time At Linden -

Going the distance: What you need to know about breaking the 100-meter distance limitation Cheating on the standards for UTP cable - CI&M Magazine

FCC Requires Broadband Providers to Display Broadband Nutrition Labels  not nutrition labels on the product's "high fiber content" but  key information consumers want−prices, speeds, fees, data allowances, and other critical information.- Broadband Communities

I can’t hear you now: How to fix the bad audio on cellphones Washington Post

Fiber optics take the pulse of the planet It’s like radar, but with light. Distributed acoustic sensing — DAS — picks up tremors from volcanoes, quaking ice and deep-sea faults, as well as traffic rumbles and whale calls. Knowable Magazine.

Fiber Optics Installed By The Lowest Bidder  - ISE Magazine - by Jim Hayes, FOA President.

Building Broadband During Component and Worker Shortages - Broadband Communities - Completing broadband builds requires competent fiber optic techs, but training them requires understanding how they learn - by Jim Hayes, FOA President.

Worth Reading - Magazines, Websites and Newsletters

 

New Fiber Optic Magazine In Spanish

Todo Fibra Optic magazine has many years experience in the fiber optic industry so he knows the industry well. FOA will be working with him to share our extensive technical materials in Spanish.

Read their newsletter here. It is now available online in English and Spanish.



 

1995-2020 - FOA's 25th Anniversary!

Worth Reading - News Summary - Past Links Worth Repeating

If you are interested in restoration - aren't we all? - you should also read this article in dpPro magazine by FOA President Jim Hayes: Damage Protection Requies Looking Overheas As Well As Underground - dpPRO Magazine - about the problems with aerial cables. His previous article for the magazine was New Techniques for Fiber Optic Installation.

How much fiber optic cable is manufactured each year? CRU Reports - unsurprisingly China is by far the largest market today

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance weekly newsletter has lots of interesting articles and links.

Universal access to broadband is a cornerstone to a strong economy, Achieving universal access will require community partnerships. by Alfreda B. Norman, Sr. VP,  Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

FIBER TO THE FARM: The co-ops that electrified Depression-era farms are now building rural internet. Be sure to check out the high-tech equine installation equipment.

Next Century Cities Newsletter - News from cities around the US including Detroit and New York plus small

Infrastructure Get Some Respect, NY TImes "On Tech"   "The magic of the internet requires a lot of very boring stuff behind the scenes. "

The job market is hot. So why are half of U.S. grads missing out?  

VIAVI Books On Fiber Optic Testing (2 volumes) - They're back!

Q&A

When readers ask us questions, we genrally refer them to FOA resources where they can find the answer to their question and many more. We first send them to the FOA Guide which is the table of contents for the FOA technical resources. There they can find pages indexed by topic and a search engine for the FOA website. It also links them to FOA videos and courses on our free online learning site Fiber U.

The FOA Fiber FAQs Page (FAQs = frequently asked questions) gathers up questions readers have asked us (which first ran in this newsletter) and adds tech topics of general interest.

Good Question!

Tech Questions/Comments From FOA Newsletter Readers 

More Q&A in the FOA FAQs Page  

• For GIS based mapping: Esri
• For fiber network management systems (FNMS [design/planning and operations]): OSPinsight or Vetro
• For automated HL design: OSPInsight as well as Biarri
• For Tier 1 type telecom operator FNMS with BSS/OSS integration: Ericsson NE (Networks) which was based on old Tirks. Another is NetCracker.
• For GIS enabled construction / project Management: Vitruvi

September 2022

Splicing Pigtails On A Cable
Q: I seem to be having an issue finding fiber protection sleeves that can slide over the 3mm patch cable.  I bought a sleeve that said it with made for “single fiber fusion” but the thru hole which I would side the cable thru prior to fusion is too small for the patch cable.  When I try and look on-line for specifications for the thru-hole size, prior to fusion final melting of the glue in the sleeve, all I find are post-melting diameters, none which are even close to being able to handle the 3mm patch cable.
A: Splicing pigtails involves splicing the fibers only and the cables are secured separately. The usual method of splicing on pigtails is to splice the fibers and use the heat shrink tube to seal the splice and the fibers from the outside air and protect it from stress. The splice is placed in a splice tray. On either side, there is 2-3 feet of fiber exposed from the cables being spliced. The splice tray has clamps for all of the cables being spliced on the edges of the tray and the fiber to the splice is coiled neatly on the splice tray. The jacket of the pigtail is clamped at the edge of the splice tray but  ends there, so only fiber is coiled in the tray. If you try to coil fiber, the bulk of the cable can get to be a problem where it’s coiled with the bare fiber. You can get heat shrink protectors for fibers of 250 to 900 micron diameter buffers, but not for jacketed cables.

Important Questions From The Past

More Q&A in the FOA FAQs Page  

ANSI/NECA/FOA-301 is available free from FOA.



Download your free copy of

FOA School News

 FOA's roster of approved schools is growing as more organizations recognize our expertise in workforce development and our comprehensive support for getting new schools started. FOA has over 25 years experience and nearly 90,000 certified fiber techs (with ~120,000 certifications). As a non-profit organization founded by the industry specifically to develop a competent workforce, FOA provides the consultation, curriculum and contacts to get schools started as a free service to new schools.

Welcome #5 in Ohio
This month FOA welcomes Washington County Career Center as our 5th school in Ohio. Last year, the Governor's office held a formal ceremony to announce the opening of a FOA school at Tri-County Career Center (FOA Newsletter September 2021.) Washington County Career Center is the latest addition to the network and two more are coming shortly. Soon Ohio will catch up with Kentucky with 9 KCTCS schools in the FOA network.

Telecom Fiji
Andy Edwards of CommsLearning Limited emailed us as he was preparing to head home to New Zealand that he had just spent time training personnel at Telecom Fiji - 55 CFOT’s trained, 6 Designers and 4 instructors who can deliver CFOT internally with certifications going via CommsLearning. Details above.

FOA Network Of Approved Schools Continues To Grow

Need A Fiber Optic Course Onsite? Invite an FOA School To Come To You

FOA/Fiber U On-The-Job Training (OJT) Program

Like other FOA programs, the OJT-To-Cert program is free. If you and/or your company is interested in the FOA OJT-To-Cert program, contact FOA.

To explain how OJT works and FOA's OJT-To-Cert program, FOA created a short video: Lecture 62: On The Job Training For Fiber Optics Using Fiber U     

FOA Direct Certification Program For Experienced Fiber Optic Techs

Experience Plus Online Study At Fiber U = FOA Certification

Fiber U "Basic Fiber Optics" Online Self-Study Course Now In Spanish

El curso de autoaprendizaje en línea "Fibra óptica básica" de Fiber U ahora en español

El sitio de aprendizaje en línea de FOA, Fiber U, tiene más de dos docenas de cursos de autoaprendizaje gratuitos sobre fibra óptica y cableado de instalaciones. Como era de esperar, el tema más popular es el curso "Fibra óptica básica", que se utiliza para iniciarse en la fibra óptica y como curso de preparación para realizar el examen de certificación FOA CFOT.

Ahora el curso básico de fibra óptica está disponible en español, utilizando el libro de texto FOA en español, la sección de la Guía en línea en español y la capacidad de YouTube para traducir subtítulos de video al español. El curso funciona exactamente como la versión en inglés con 10 lecciones, cada una con cuestionarios y una opción para tomar un examen de Certificado de finalización.

Para presentar el nuevo curso de español Fiber U, el examen Certificate of Completion es gratuito, así que dígaselo a sus contactos.

Curso Básico de Fibra Óptica de Fibra U en español.

New Fiber U Course: Fiber Characterization 
FOA has added a new course at Fiber U on Fiber Characterization. Fiber characterization is the process for testing long fiber cable plants for its ability for carrying high speed communications. With so many networks now operating at 100, 200, 400 or even 800 Gb/s, fiber characterization is important, especially on older fiber optic cable plants.The free Fiber U Fiber Characterization course is available in two forms, as a standalone Fiber U fiber Characterization Course with its own Fiber U Certificate of Completion and as a separate Lesson in the Fiber U Fiber Optic Testing course. This course is recommended for those studying for the FOA CFOS/FC Fiber Characterization certification.

Fiber U MiniCourses: Got An Hour Or Less? Learn Something New About Fiber Optics.

What Fiber Techs Don't Know -

What We Learn From FOA Certification Tests

FOA Guide "Basics Of Fiber Optics" Now Available Online in Portuguese (6/2020)

Here is the FOA Guide in Portuguese, Spanish and French translations.

Time To Learn - Online

And Fiber U has the new Fiber U DIY Basic Skills Lab lesson with directions on how to purchase inexpensive tools online and use them to learn basic fiber optic skills. Videoconferencing allows the instructor to remotely monitor their work and provide help as needed. Contact the FOA for more information.


FOA Zoom Exam Proctoring

FOA offers free online self-study programs at Fiber U. Many users are preparing for FOA certification programs - taking courses at our schools or using the "Work-to-Cert" program. Some of our schools are requiring Fiber U programs as prerequisites for their classroom courses so they can spend more time on hands-on activities.

FOA School Offers Toolkit With Online Training

Slayton Solutions (FOA Approved School #156) is offering a simple fiber optic tool kit that includes a 29-piece set of fiber optic tools and a power meter along with training videos and online instruction for only $499. 29 Piece Kit includes all tools and devices a technician needs to install fiber optic connectors and test optical power. You can contact them for more information at  slaytonsolutions@sbcglobal.net or https://www.fiberopticsinstitute.com

Cross Reference To FOA Tech Materials
FOA has so much technical reference material, we created a cross reference guide to the textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U courses, all the FOA technical information. Besides the textbooks, online Guide and Fiber U, each section of the Guide also includes links to the 100+ FOA videos available.

Cross Reference Guide to Textbooks, Online Guide and Fiber U

FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Workforce Development

To help those new to fiber optic workforce development, FOA has created a web page we call  "Fiber Optic Workforce Development."  In this page, we share what we have learned about the fiber optic workforce, who they are and how they learn their trade. We discuss what defines a fiber optic tech and how they should be certified.

Read the FOA Guide To Fiber Optic Workforce Development online.

Latest FOA Book: Fiber Broadband (Paperback and Kindle)

More Translations of FOA Textbooks

FOA is a very international organization and it works hard to accommodate the language needs of everyone. We have been translating our books and website into the languages most requested, and this month, we add two more textbook translations. We also want to thank Jerry Morla, FOA CFOS/I instructor and Director who has been doing the recent translations into Spanish, his native language.

Planning A Fiber Optic Project?

More New FOA Video Lectures On YouTube

Did you know YouTube will close caption videos in many languages? Here are directions.

Did you know YouTube will close caption videos in many languages?


Sign in with Google to get translations for closed captioning. Click on the settings icon (red arrow.) Choose "Subtitles".  English is the default language. Click on the arrow after "English (auto-generated) >". In the new window click on "Auto-translate" and choose the language you want. 

FOA Loss Budget Calculator On A Web Page 5/2020

FOA has written many articles about loss budgets, something everyone involved in fiber optics needs to know and needs to know how to calculate. We recently discovered how to get a spreadsheet ported to a Web page, so we created this web page that calculates loss budgets. We have an iOS loss budget app, but with this web page, you can calculate loss budgets from any device, smart phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer that has web browsing capability.

 

Bookmark this page (especially on your smartphone): FOA Loss Budget Calculator Online

We are continually updating the Online Reference Guide to keep up with changes in the industry and adding lots of new pages of technical information. When you go to the FOA Guide Table of Contents to see the latest updates - look for .

Recent updates:

FOA's FTTH Handbook: We've gathered all our information on FTTH from the FOA Guide and past issues of the FOA Newsletter and edited it into a 112 page "FTTH Handbook." We even added a section on planning and managing FTTH Projects.
The Fiber Optic Association Fiber To The Home Handbook is available from Amazon in print and Kindle editions.

Sitio web y manual de FTTH ahora en español

Sitio web y manual de FTTH ahora en español - FTTH Website And Handbook Now In Spanish

     

 
Fiber Optics (4 languages), Premises Cabling, OSP fiber and construction, Network Design, Testing and FTTH

   The FOA has it's own reference books for everyone working in fiber optics - contractors, installers and end users as well as for use as textbooks in classes at educational institutions. They are available as printed books or Kindle at much lower prices than most textbooks since we self-publish and sell online, cutting out the middlemen. Click on the book images for more information. The Reference Guide To Fiber Optics is also available in Spanish, French and Portuguese. The Design book is available in English and Spanish.

Click on any book for more information about it.

  

Fiber Optic Safety Poster to download and print

On Safety

There is a toll-free "call before you dig" number in the USA: Dial 811. See www.call811.com for more information in the US. Here is their map of resources by states.

In Canada, it's "Click Before You Dig.com" They also have a page of resources by US states and Canadian provinces.

The Common Ground Alliance has an excellent "Best Practices Guide" online

The US Department of Transportation has a website called "National Pipeline Mapping System" that allows one to search for buried pipelines.   

Why We Warn You To Be Careful About Fiber Shards

Photo courtesy  Brian Brandstetter,  Mississauga Training Consultantcy

Global Excavation Safety Conference

GlobalExcavationSafetyConference.com:

 


The magazine, dp-Pro, sponsor of the conference, has also published it's latest issue with an article by FOA on "New Construction Techniques in Fiber Optics" and a overview of the FOA. You can read the magazine here.

When You Bury Marker Tape, Bury One That Will Work (July 2021)

Contact Us:  http://www.foa.org or email <info@foa.org>

Contact Us
The Fiber Optic Association Inc.
       

 FOA Logo Merchandise

New FOA Swag! Shirts, Caps, Stickers, Cups, etc.

Your Name, CFOT® - It pays to advertise!

The FOA encourages CFOTs to use the logo on their business cards, letterhead, truck or van, etc. and provides logo files for that purpose. But we are also asked about how to use the CFOT or CFOS certifications. Easy, you can refer to yourself as "Your Name, CFOT" or "Your Name, CFOS/T" for example.

Feel free to use the logo and designations to promote your achievements and professionalism!

Privacy Policy (for the EU GDPR): The FOA does not use cookies or any other web tricks to gather information on visitors to our website, nor do we allow commercial advertising. Our website hosts may gather traffic statistics for the visitors to our website and our online testing service, ClassMarker, maintains statistics of test results. We do not release or misuse any information on any of our members except we will confirm FOA certifications and Fiber U certificates of completion when requested by appropriate persons such as employers or personnel services.
Read the complete FOA Privacy Policy here.