Kingfisher Business Status
November 2022

Last updated: 2 Nov 2022.

Kingfisher International continues to operate as usual, and we expect this to continue.

Most customer orders are shipping from stock, or within 1 week.

We wish you the very best for 2022. 

OTDR Calibration
October 2022

Kingfisher International is pleased to announce that our Optical Calibration Laboratory can now calibrate any typical OTDR, with calibration traceable to ISO17025. We perform a pass/fail check on the optical connector to IEC61300-3-35, then do length, loss, ORL and dynamic range performance tests in conformance with EN 61746-1:2011&AC:2014 Calibration of optical time-domain-reflectometers (OTDR) -- Part 1: OTDR for single-mode fibres.

Broadband Spectral Characterisation
September 2022

Kingfisher International can now efficiently test broadband spectral loss or responsivity of fiber optic devices, and optical detectors, from 350 - 1650 nm in 5 nm increments.

Test results we have achieved on this facility have only a vague resemblance to published data in many cases, so we think that this must be an unusual capability, and that a lot of published data is not based on real measurements.

Absolute accuracy of these tests is of the order of 1.4%, and is NATA/ILAC traceable to ISO17025.

For example, these detector responsivity graphs have 250 data points per device

In 1993, the Kingfisher Optical Calibration Laboratory, became the first commercial optical calibration laboratory in Asia to achieve accredited traceability status. 

 

 

Plastic Optical Fiber Interchangeable Connector
August 2022

Kingfisher International has recently added a plastic optical fiber version of it's G2 series interchangeable optical connector, so this panel-mount fiber optic connector is now available in POF, multimode and single mode variants. This useful device lets end-users easily swap optical connector styles, which include LC, SC, FC, ST, E2000, MU, LSA, various POF, HFBR, SMA, universal 2.5 mm ferrule and universal 1.25 ferrule. The G2 connector is of general interest to equipment manufacturers, laboratories, researchers, educators and fiber optic production service and QA facilities. The device can be locked to prevent adaptor removal, and is available with CWDM colour coding.

New Two-Way Loss, Length & ORL Testers
July 2022

Our KI27400 Series of Two-Way Loss, Length & ORL Testers are known to set a new benchmark in field test productivity, accuracy and ease of use. Testing fiber length, bi-directional loss at two or more wavelengths, and ORL at each end, now requires only one test hook-up and is completed in a few seconds, using the same test procedure for both single-mode and multimode fiber.

Since initial introduction, ORL test performance has been significantly enhanced, with a much lower level of residual ORL.

In response to customer requests, we have new models with additional wavelength options:

KI27416LV-INGAAS-APC* Length, VisiTester, 1310-1490-1550-1625 nm Laser APC, InGaAs
KI27424LV-GE* Length, 850-1300 nm, 1310-1550 nm Laser  VisiTester, Ge (EAR99 Restricted)
KI27424LV-GE-APC* Length, 850-1300 nm, 1310-1550 nm Laser  VisiTester APC, Ge (EAR99 Restricted)
KI23416OLF-INGAAS-APC* ORL Length VFL, 1310-1490-1550 nm u/s Laser APC, InGaAs

These testers eliminate a layer of administration, co-ordination, training and reporting when certifying a LAN to many standards, in addition to minimising test errors and providing high accuracy.

The full-function ORL capability can be used in both integrated Autotest mode, as well as a stand-alone ORL test mode. The user can apply a calibration offset and noise floor compensation, for enhanced rnge and accuracy. Calibration is traceable to ISO17025. 

The instruments are used as a pair, without defining any master/slave relationship. They are small and light, with an 80 hour battery life and sunlight readable display. Associated KITS software works securely with Excel, and can be used in real time to transfer readings to a report. Alternatively, the 8,000 fiber memory can be used to record pass/fail tests, for later reporting.

Versions include Quad, singlemode only, multimode only and also a convenient Visitester option, which illuminates the fiber under test.

Optical Power Leveler
July 2022

Kingfisher's novel Optical Power Leveler product is used to stabilise receiver power in an optical transmission system. Used instead of a fixed optical attenuator, it dynamically adjusts it's attenuation to keep the output power at a steady level, so it can compensate for varying laser power level and cable attenuation. Mounted on a standard DIN rail, and requiring only a 12 - 48V DC power supply, it is reliable and easy to use. It is set up locally, and doesn't need a telemetry link. It is particularly useful to resolve issues with SDN or "white box" optical networks. 

Two-Way OLTS Innovation Award
February 2022

The Lightwave Magazine Innovation Review 2022 has awarded an Honouree to Kingfisher's Two-Way Optical Loss Test Set. This is awarded to products that obviously improve the industry state-of-the-art. 

Our new Two-Way tester offers many improvements for users, in terms of size, run time, flexibility, accuracy & speed of use, and reporting capability. It also has a VFL built into the optical test signal, This makes it easy to find a misplaced fiber to test, increasingly useful as fiber counts in a single cable are now likely to be in hundreds to thousands of fibers.

We have worked hard on the many novel details of this product, and our team is very pleased to receive this industry recognition for our achievement.

 

KITS supported on Office 2021
December 2021

Our popular KITS™ 4.17 software works is now supported on Office 2021. No update is required.

KITS (Kingfisher International Testing Software) is used for data acquisition and standards compliant reporting with our optical power meters, loss test sets, two way testers and ORL meters, from our oldest to newest instruments. It is also backwards compatible with older Windows and Office versions, so can be used in a wide variety of practical situations.

KITS is suited for use with Office 365, and Office 2013+.

KITS on Windows 11
July 2021

Our popular KITS™ software works on Windows 11.

KITS software is used for data acquisition and standards compliant reporting with our optical power meters and optical loss test sets.

KITS 4.17 has updated pass / fail standards and also works with our new two-way / ORL / length tester series.

Fiber Optic Cleaning & Inspection Application Note
April 2021

Kingfisher International brings you a new application note on Cleaning & Inspection of fiber optic connectors. We have written this tutorial to comply with all related international standards, including the very recently released IEC 60825-2: 2021 standard on fibre optic laser safety, so it is a useful overall best-practices guide on how develop your work practices to meet current industry requirements.

There is also an in-depth review of related laser safety issues, which are becoming increasingly important for a variety of reasons.

Kingfisher also offers a variety of basic and advanced clean, inspect and test kits with equipment that meets these requirements.

 

News Archive

March 2021 Multilingual Quick Reference Guides
March 2021 KITS™ 4.17 software for Bi-directional Loss Test Reporting
November 2020 New Two-Way Loss, Length & ORL Tester
August 2020 Calibration of Free-Space Optical Power Meters & Detectors
August 2020 New Two-Way Loss & Length Tester
May 2020 New Calibration Wavelengths for Silicon Detector Optical Power Meters
May 2020 MPO SM MM Basic Clean, Inspect & Test Kit
May 2020 Improved Power Meter Calibration Capability
March 2020 10G / XGPON Power Meter
March 2020 See you at the OFC Exhibition, San Diego, 10-12 March 2020
November 2019 Paper at BICSI Melbourne Conference: MPO Testing
November 2019 ILAC / NATA ISO17025 Accreditation
November 2019 SWDM4 Calibration Wavelengths
October 2019 High Power 1310 / 1550 Source
October 2019 Global Calibration Service Partnership
August 2019 POF Optimised Connectors
June 2019 ECOC Dublin 2019
June 2019 CS, SN & MDC Connector Adapters for Optical Power Meter
May 2019 USA Customs Duties Mostly Unchanged
May 2019 Improved Visible UV Spectral Measurement Capability
May 2019 Kingfisher to Exhibit at DCD Singapore
May 2019 UBench POF Collimator Assembly
November 2018 Improved Power Meter Linearity Testing
November 2018 Improved Attenuator Calibration Capability
January 2018 Visible Fault Locator Gets Laser Power Boost
August 2017 Innovative new MPO Visual Cable Verifier Kit
January 2017 POF Source Upgrade to Interchangeable Connectors
January 2017 470 / 520 nm POF Test Source
January 2017 KI 6512 LR4/ER4 Channel Power Meter
January 2017 POF / MPO Optical Loss Test Set
December 2016 5 Wavelength Optical Clean / Inspect / Test Kits
December 2016 Fiber Optic Transmission Test Kit
December 2016 Complete PON Service Turn-Up Kit
December 2016 MPO-16 & MPO-32 Test Equipment
June 2016 Capabilities for Australians
January 2016 KITS™ software offers improved features
February 2015 Variable Attenuator for POF fiber
January 2014 New Test Kits
August 2012 NBN Preferred Test Solutions
August 2012 Test Conformance to TIA 568.C.0 Cabling Standards
June 2012 Test Conformance to new TIA-942 Datacenter Cabling Standards
March 2012 New KI2700 / KI2400 Optical Loss Test Sets
March 2012 New KI2800 / KI2400 Optical Light Sources
October 2011 New MPO/MTP™ Optimised Test Kits
August 2011 New Hand Held Fiber Meter
August 2010 New Fiber Test Kits
January 2010 FiberSafe Microscope
For older news... Check out our historical milestones and achievements
© Kingfisher International, Australia, ABN 51 007 250 213