By James A Chiddix, Oceanic Cablevision, Inc
A review of a specific application for video interconnection on single-mode optical fiber over a 13.9 mile path, covering system design, aerial and underground plant construction, terminal equipment selection, and operating results. Both digital and analog circuits are used in the system, and the economics and performance of the two approaches are compared. The digital equipment installed transports 4 video channels on a single-mode fiber using both 1300nm and 1550nm lasers, and the analog system is tested transporting both 8 and 12 channels per fiber. To explore the potential of the system, tests are run on a fiber path 27.8 miles ( 44. 7km) in length. Using actual costs, an updated economic comparison between fiber optic systems and FM video coaxial systems is made.
The conclusion is drawn that analog fiber video transmission systems have been developed to the point where they offer economics and performance generally superior to, and reliability substantially better than, rM video coaxial systems. Both analog and digital fiber systems are shown to be capable of excellent quality video transmission through a path loss of over 2SdB.