Technically, I am still certified as a fiber tech… But I got the cert 20 years ago with equipment setups that were easily +$50k. I am also struggling to remember all the terminology and I am extremely out-of-date with current tech. (I still remember how to polish the fiber ends for optimal connections though, so that is nice.)
Question: Is there a cheap way to do LC termination at home these days? I just want to clean up some of my fiber runs and reduce size of the “service loops” that I am stuck with for some of the 15m cables.
I am guessing there isn’t anything under $300 for fiber fusion splicing. That would be a wasted purchase for splicing a few cables every couple of years.
I like fiber for a number of reasons, mainly because it is easy to pull and throw over drop-celings. Fiber has drawbacks and 10gE is absolutely more logical for a homelab. Alas, I simply like the was fiber looks and how much easier it is to work with at times.
You really don’t need a fusion splicer to terminate fiber. You just need a scoring tool, lap discs and lap paper.
If you do need to splice fiber, you can get mechanical splices which use a fluid with the same refraction index as the fiber.
Fibre splicing kits aren’t cheap. Even FS.com kits are up there.
What about secondhand markets for splicers and cleavers?
We use to use Cleerline fibre stuff but it looks like that is for business customers only.
You can buy LC terminations that don’t need a splice. You just strip the end of the end of the fiber, cleave it to the correct length, put it into the LC thing, and lock it into place. I have no clue how good the connection actually is. A full kit with cleaver, power meter, laser illuminator, and some odds and ends was about $100 on Amazon/AliExpress, and the LC ends are a couple bucks each.
I only did this for a short run of 1Gbit, and I have no actual background in fiber.
We used the cleerline fibre click lock connectors and we never had an issue with them.
If you’re in the US or Canada, you might have some luck with govdeals. I’ve seen splicers on there occasionally.
You can find lapping paper, polishing picks, Ruby scribes, anaerobic connectors, and anaerobic glue all on Ali Express.
