Pigtail LC/APC SM G657A1 SX 0.9mm OFNR Yellow, semitight

Pigtail LC/APC SM G657A1 SX 0.9 mm OFNR Yellow, Semitight from Red Cable Technology (RCT) is a simplex LC/APC pigtail on bend-insensitive G.657A1 single-mode fiber, made for terminating fiber optic cables through fusion or mechanical splicing. The 0.9 mm OFNR yellow-jacketed fiber terminates in an LC/APC connector — pair a quality pigtail with correct fusion splicing and you get the best termination performance possible. It’s built for the usual landing spots: ODFs, fiber terminal boxes, and distribution boxes.

Features & Specs:

• Simplex (SX) LC/APC pigtail, yellow OFNR jacket, 0.9 mm buffered fiber, semitight buffer
• LC connector: highly popular in single-mode networks, known for good performance and small size; the 1.25 mm ferrule is roughly half the size of an SC — it’s often called the little connector; a small form factor (SFF) connector designed to join LC fibers wherever connection or disconnection is needed
• Bend-insensitive single-mode fiber, ITU-T G.657A1 — the de facto standard for bend-insensitive non-dispersion-shifted (NDSF) SMF in premises cabling, chosen for its optimized balance of performance and cost
• ITU-T G.657A1 and A2 are fully compliant with G.652D, delivering enhanced, low-loss fiber; minimum bending radii can be optimized, though that trades off fiber attenuation and cost. Bend-insensitive NDSF is defined in ITU-T G.657 with different minimum bending radii characteristics: G.657A1 (10 µm)
• Single-mode fiber delivers a greater transmission rate plus nearly 50 times longer distance than multi-mode fiber — but it costs more than multi-mode; the most basic difference is core size, along with the associated loss or attenuation and fiber bandwidth
• Terminate via fusion or mechanical splicing; high-quality pigtails with correct fusion splicing practice give the best performance possible for fiber optic cable terminations

## Why APC connectors

Some applications are more sensitive to return loss and call for APC. In higher optical wavelength ranges (above 1500 nanometers) — the bands used for RF video signals — reflected light can hurt the signal, which is why most cable companies and FTTX providers use APC connectors in outside plant applications. APC is also the go-to in passive optical applications (GPONs and passive optical LANs), because many of those systems also use RF signals to deliver video. Future higher-speed passive optical networks and other WDM applications running higher wavelengths over singlemode fiber will likely need APC’s reduced return loss as well. For identification: UPC connectors are blue while APC connectors are green.

## On the upgrade path

Weighing on-premises versus access-network fiber replacement or new installation: we recommend replacing legacy OS1 with a new bend-insensitive OS2 (ITU-T G.657A1) SMF cabling system to support longer reach with enhanced link performance.