Elite Kick bands AFL Telecommunications is a Fujikura company. They produce many fiber optical test equipment and tools. FAST Connector is one of their product lines, targeting fiber optical cable termination in the field by fiber optic installers and contractors.
FAST is one type of quick termination connectors. The difference between quick termination connectors and traditional epoxy and polish connectors is shorter termination time needed. It takes up to 1 minute terminating a FAST connector compared to 2~3 minutes for epoxy types.
FAST optical connector is available in LC, ST, SC types. They are factory pre-polished which eliminates the need for hand polishing in the field. It utilizes mechanical splice technology inside the ferrule ensuring precision fiber alignment. A factory pre-cleaved fiber stub sits inside the ferrule with index matching gel to offer an immediate termination to single mode and multimode fibers.
A factory-installed wedge clip is removed and discarded upon completion of the termination. A common visual fault locator (VFL) can be used to provide a pass or fail signal once physical contact is made.
2) Other Types of Quick Termination Connectors on the Market
AFL FAST connectors is not the only one of quick termination on the market. Other major brands include 3M Hot Melt, 3M Crimplok, 3M No-Polish connectors, Corning Unicam, Tyco/AMP LightCrimp Plus. Leviton Thread-Lock connectors, Sumitomo Lynx Splice-On and Fitel Fusion Splice-On connectors.
3) Applications
AFL Fast Optical Connectors can be used in premise environments, fiber optic patch panels, direct equipment termination, FTTX (Fiber to the Subscriber) applications, emergency repair, equipment test leads, and many other applications.
