One of the most challenging aspects of working with communication equipment is not determining how the technology works, nor is it deciding what to buy. Often, the greatest challenge that you will face is making the new piece of equipment communicate with your existing technology. If you have been able to buy everything from the same manufacturer, you may not have too much of a problem, but if you have had to source your kit from multiple suppliers, you may struggle to make everything work.

Fitting it all together

To connect your communication equipment, you must have leads. You must be able to physically connect the different items. While this sounds simple, it rarely is. Perhaps, you bought the equipment to fulfil one role, and now want to use it for something different. Maybe, two manufacturers don't use similar connectors. In most cases, the solution to your connection woes is to employ patch leads. Patch leads have been designed to connect optical switches, CATV systems and other fibre optic gear.

Which patch leads do you need?

All patch leads are constructed to have a high return loss combined with a low insertion loss. The core of the patch lead, as well as the coating, possess a refractive index intended to keep signal loss to a minimum, even over long journeys. Patch leads can be either duplex or simplex leads. The difference between simplex and duplex leads is whether the cables will be carrying the signals in one direction or both directions at once. To decide which patch leads you should buy, you must consider carefully how your communication equipment operates. Sometimes one-way communication is entirely sufficient. Perhaps, you have a piece of kit that sends a regular status report down the lead. One-way communication is ideal in that situation. If you have equipment that needs regular two-way data transfer, duplex patch leads will be the better choice.

If you aren't certain which patch leads you should buy to support your existing equipment, your manufacturer should be able to help you make the right choice. If you are looking at the different types of leads in the shop, you can easily tell the difference between simplex and duplex leads. Duplex leads will have twice as many connectors as simplex ones. The extra connectors are needed for duplex patch leads, as each direction of data transfer will require a separate cable for transmission.