Congratulations! You’ve learned all about the fiber-conserving benefits of a passive system, as well as its cost and operational advantages over an active system. Your new passive filters and transceivers have arrived and are ready to deploy, so now what? This quick guide will walk you through best practices for deployment to minimize the risk of mistakes, to get you up and running as quickly as possible.
Before We Start…
This guide will apply to any Champion ONE passive filters (CWDM or DWDM) with any channel count. However, for the purposes of this guide, we will use our 8 Channel CWDM Mux/Demux as an example in a simple point-to-point configuration between two locations.
Before you start plugging in, make sure you have transceivers for all required channels at each location. Also, confirm all your fiber is in optimal condition to avoid troubleshooting later on. Specifically:
- Use an OTDR to verify the continuity of the outside plant (OSP) fiber you will use to connect your locations.
- Always clean and scope your fiber jumpers before connecting.
Start Connecting
Our ZS series of passives simplifies the language of wavelength division multiplexing. Inside of having to remember which signal goes to “mux” vs “demux,” simply connect the transmit (Tx) on your transceiver to the “receive” (R) on your mux/demux, and vice versa.
The exact sequence of these connections is depicted in the diagram below, and the following steps.
- Using the COM ports on your units, connect R at the West location to T at the East location.
- Connect T West to R East.
Congratulations! Your locations are now linked. Now it’s time to light some channels.
Lighting a Channel
NOTE: Follow the steps below for each channel, one at a time. We will start with 1470nm, as depicted above.
3. Connect a clean, scoped fiber jumper to West Transceiver Tx. Verify the output level with a channel-specific power meter.
4. Connect the opposite end of your fiber jumper to West 1470 R on your mux/demux.
5. Connect a clean, scoped fiber jumper to East 1470 T on your mux/demux. Verify the output level with a channel-specific power meter.
6. Connect the opposite end of your fiber jumper to East Transceiver Rx. Verify your newly-established one-way connectivity per your equipment manufacturer’s instructions.
7. Connect a clean, scoped fiber jumper to East Transceiver Tx. Verify the output level with a channel-specific power meter.
8. Connect the opposite end of your fiber jumper to East 1470 R on your mux/demux.
9. Connect a clean, scoped fiber to West 1470 T on your mux/demux. Verify the output level with a channel-specific power meter.
10. Connect the opposite end of your fiber jumper to West Transceiver Rx.
You now have full connectivity! Confirm your channel link is showing as “Up-Up” and no “LOS” alarms are showing on any ports.
You’re ready to move onto your next channel. To do so, simply repeat steps 3 through 10 in exactly the same order.
Want to learn more about passive architectures? Discover the cascade and hub-and-spoke designs on our Solutions page.
