1. TEST REPORT Fiber Optic Meter
DEVISER
AE 120
Optical
Power Meter
• so simple to use
• gives very accurate readings
• comes with adapters for all popular
connector types
• shows levels in very small steps
• if needed, it can be calibrated
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2. TEST REPORT Fiber Optic Meter
Small Size
But Excellent Performance
Fiber optic cables are find- dealing with modern optical ble junctions, i.e. the ones rubber holder you get access
ing their way into digital TV networks. And because here introducing excessive light to its rear panel. There is a
installations more and more we are dealing with light attenuation, or locate faulty slide door there securing the
often. They are superior to rather than electric voltage components - like optical battery compartment. Two
coax cables due to very low and current, another type of splitters. AA batteries (or AA accumu-
attenuation and immunity meter is needed. The AE120 is enclosed in lators) can be used. In the
to electromagnetic interfer- The AE 120 Optical Power a gray plastic case which is set we got for testing, there
ence. Their advantages are Meter made by Deviser is a surrounded with a protective was also an AC/DC charger
especially striking in larger tiny and lightweight meter holder made of blue rubber. included.
networks - dedicated for a that you can use not only to Below a classical LCD dis- The user manual that came
multistory building or even confirm that the optical sig- play, 6 buttons are located. along with the AE120 was in
larger. However, like with nal is reaching a given node The input connector can be the form of a small booklet.
the classical coaxial cable of a network but also to ac- found on the top side of the And because operating the
networks, the installer must curately measure its power case. Thanks to the two ad- meter is so simple and intui-
have a suitable tool to meas- level. Using the AE120, you ditional adapters included in tive, we are sure that except
ure signal power, even when can find bad fiber optic ca- the set, you can connect the for maybe the first time, you
AE120 to any type of optical will hardly need it. But any-
connector you are likely to way, the manual is well writ-
find in an optical networks: ten and provides all the infor-
FC, SC or ST. After taking mation you might need. The
the meter out of the blue display of the meter shows
two values: optical level ex-
pressed either in dBm or in
Watts, and the wavelength
in nanometers the meter is
■ TELE-satellite Test Editor Jacek
Pawlowski checking the AES120
Optical Meter by Deviser. A DVB-T
signal is converted into an optical
signal and the results measured
with the AES120
1
1-12/2012
DEVISER AE 120
Optical Power Meter
Extremely simle to use but
at same time very accurate
www.TELE-satellite.com/12/11/deviser
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3. result as the reference level
to which you will be able to
compare the next measure-
ment – most likely - in the
other nodes of the network.
To store the reference level
you press and hold a but-
ton for a longer while. An-
other short press - and you
are back in the normal mode
when you measure the pre-
sent value.
Having stored a result as
the reference, you can press
the dB button to express the
current measurement with
respect to the stored value in
decibels. For example, if you
had measured in one node
a value of +3.66 dBm and
stored it as a reference and
then moved to another node
of the network and meas-
ured -3.38 dBm, pressing
the REF button would show
you -7.04 dB. The meaning
of this would be that at the
second node the signal was
7.04 dB weaker than in our
reference point. In this way,
we can conveniently check if
the optical splitters located
between the two nodes do
not introduce too much at-
tenuation.
The function of the two
remaining button is self-ex-
planatory: one turns on and
off the back-light of the dis-
play and the other is just the
power on/off switch. As you
can see, once you get famil-
iar with this meter, you will
never forget how to use it -
it is so straightforward and
logical.
In order to test the AE120
meter, we used an optical
transmitter converting a
DVB-T signal into an optical
one. We compared the me-
ter to another similar tool
tuned to. It could not be sim- Our test unit had four addi- the correct wavelength in or- dedicated for the installers.
pler! tional bands: 850 nm, 980 der to get the correct result. (graph 1.)
The AE120 has selectable nm, 1300 nm and 1610 nm – You can easily guess the As you can see in the at-
wavelengths. As you could so seven in total. The λ but- function of the other but- tached graph, the results
expect, there are the com- ton is used to cycle through tons. The dBm/W button is of both meters were quite
mon 1310 nm, 1490 nm and different wavelengths. On used to cycle the units of similar. However, when we
1550 nm bands. But not only. power up, the smallest one the measured power. The attenuated the signal, AE120
One can order additional, is selected (850 nm in our REF button is used to store was still able to measure it
user defined wavelengths. case). You should switch to the current measurement (-19.97 dBm) while its com-
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4. petitor displayed just “LOW” Expert Opinion TECHNICAL
message. Very handy: small and lightweight DATA
That’s because the AE120 Extremely simple to operate Manufacturer Tianjin Deviser Electronics Instrument Co., Ltd.
Switchable wavelengths
has an impressive dynamic
range of 68 dB. It can meas-
+ Available reference level measurement mode
Fax +86-22-27645002
E-mail overseasbiz@deviser.com.cn
Wide dynamic range and high accuracy
ure optical power from -43 Web page www.devisertek.com
All popular fiber cable connectors supported
dBm through to +25 dBm. Jacek Pawlowski Model AE120
Moreover, the Deviser – The display back-light is rather weak TELE-satellite
Test Center Function Optical Power Meter
AE120 was able to measure Poland
Basic Accuracy ±0.17 dB (±3%)
power with 0.01 dBm reso- Input Range -43 dBm ~ +25 dBm
lution while its competitor Measurements with the Resolution 0.01 dBm, mW
was not able to discriminate Calibrated Wavelengths 1310 nm, 1490 nm, 1550 nm plus user defined
changes smaller than 0.5 DEVISER AE 120 Optical Power Meter Connectors FC/SC/ST
dBm. Ambient Temperature/Humidity
1 7
-10 ~ +60 °C / < 80%
The AE120 measurement Operation Time (backlight off) 50 hours with two AA bateries
uncertainty is merely ±0.17 Dimensions 119 x 70 x 29 mm
dB (±3%) which is an impres- Weight 200 g without bateries
sive figure. Deviser made it
possible to re-calibrate the
meter if the user has access More about this company
www.TELE-satellite.com/TELE-satellite-1107/eng/deviser.pdf
to laboratory grade equip-
ment. It is possible to switch
the meter to the calibration
2 8
mode and enter the correc-
tion if needed. The range
of the possible correction is
from -1 dB to + 1dB. It is de-
scribed in the manual how to
do that. Also this operation
is quite simple to perform.
To sum it up: the AE120
3 9
is extremely simple to use
but at the same time very
accurate and stable. It is a
perfect companion for every
installer who deals with to-
day’s modern fiber optic net-
works.
4 10
5 1-6. Do you know the wave-
length of your fibre optic
system? No problem, measure
the same signal for different
lambda and the highest read-
ing indicates the wavelength;
in our case this is evidently
1490 nm because the maxi-
mum reading is just for this
setting
7. After pressing the REF
6 button for 2 seconds, the
current level (-0.57 dBm)
becomes the reference level
8. Now we have switched to
reference measurement mode
by pressing the dB button
9. Measurement results are
reffered now to -0.57 dBm
10. If you prefer, you may use
mW rather than dBm units
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