An open log of what's shipping. The free OTDR tools and field guides get worked on constantly — here's what's new, and a bit of the why.
Everything here is built by a working fiber tech, in the field and after hours. New features usually come straight from a problem on a real job. If there's something you need a tool to do, tell me — that's how most of this got made.
Tool
The Trace Editor is now the File Editor & Rename Tool
It still fixes identifiers on .sor, .msor and .trc traces, and now it reads .opm power-meter files too. New this round: find and replace across every file's identifier fields and, optionally, their file names; import a whole zipped job folder at once; a filename builder that can default to Site A and Site B; and a change log (CSV) that travels inside every download so you keep a before/after record. The batch tools are now one clean step-by-step flow: set values, find and replace, rename and download. Open it →
Fiber Analysis
Rename and fix identifiers straight from a job
Loaded a whole job of OPM, OLTS or OTDR files into Fiber Analysis? There's now an Edit identifiers & rename button on the results that opens the whole set in the File Editor, so you can fix names and identifiers and drop the corrected files back into the analysis in one pass. It works the other way too: from the editor, run an analysis on the exact files you just edited.
Tool
The Splice Matrix Builder is live
New tool. Where the chart builder shows how counts land on the fibers of one cable, the Splice Matrix Builder shows how those counts flow from one cable to the next at a splice point: cables in and out, each cable's count stack, dead/XD spares, and every fiber-to-fiber connection. Collapse a big cable to its tubes to see the whole splice, then expand the one group you're working to the fiber. "Connect by count" wires matching counts across the splice for you, and you can scan a photo or PDF of a work print, drop a loop on the splice you want, and let it build the matrix. Print, PNG, SVG, and save/reload all included. Open the builder → or read the guide.
Fiber Analyzer
More accurate averaging times across more OTDRs
The .sor standard stores the averaging time in tenths of a second, but some OTDRs write it in whole seconds instead, with no flag in the file to say which. Reading real traces from the field showed a few more units that use whole seconds (AFL FS200, Dwei-Tech, T3Lab), so their averaging times now read correctly. One JDSU model was going the other way and reading far too long, so that's fixed too. Only the displayed averaging time changes; loss and reflectance were never affected.
Fiber Analysis
Fiber Analysis reads native iOLM and MPO/MMC files
Drop EXFO native iOLM files (.iolm and .iolmbdr) and multifiber power-meter files (.opm) straight into Fiber Analysis, no export step. iOLM gives one verdict per link with bidirectional loss, ORL, length, and the event table. MPO and MMC power-meter tests show one row per connector that expands to every fiber, whether it's 12, 16, or 24. For OLTS, export the .jolts file: the native .olts only stores raw meter samples, not the computed loss.
Fiber Analysis
It tells you what it couldn't read
Drop a whole job and a file it can't use no longer just disappears. A "Files not analyzed" note lists each one with the reason and what to do about it: a report PDF (drop the data file instead), a native OLTS file (export .jolts), or a format that isn't supported yet. Everything it can read still analyzes.
Fiber Analysis
Filename mapping, threshold popup, and cleaning up history
A few smaller things. If the grouping reads your filenames wrong, "Map your filenames" lets you point out which part is the site, fiber, and cable, and save that as a named convention for next time. The pass/fail thresholds now open in a popup instead of pushing the page around. And you can delete saved analyses from your history, handy for clearing out test runs.
Tool
The Trace Identifier Editor is live
The tool I built to fix my own mislabeled traces is now public. Open .sor, .msor, or EXFO .trc files in your browser, fix the identifier fields (Cable ID, Fiber ID, sites, operator, comments), and download the corrected files. The batch editor handles a whole job at once: set a field across every file, clear a field everywhere, auto-number fiber IDs, and rename the files from their own identifiers with a live preview. Files never leave your device. Open the editor →
Site
Faster, steadier pages
A performance pass across the site. Every page now lives at one clean URL, a font loading quirk that nudged text around on slower connections is fixed, and the tool pages now report real responsiveness numbers back to me so I can find and fix the slow spots.
Guide
New guide: chromatic dispersion deep dive
Part three completes the CD/PMD series. What chromatic dispersion is, why the fiber types (G.652 / G.653 / G.655) disperse differently, how it's tested with the phase-shift method, and the four layers where it gets managed — including why modern coherent links skip inline compensation and let the receiver DSP do the work. Read it →
Guide
New guide: PMD testing deep dive
Part two of the CD/PMD series. What polarization mode dispersion actually is, why the fiber gets it, how the four field test methods work, and the order you work a failing span — from a route walk and a re-dress up to a P-OTDR and a hand-off. Read it →
Guide
New guide: CD and PMD testing, explained for field techs
Two signal-distortion specs — chromatic dispersion and polarization mode dispersion — that turn up on high-speed acceptance jobs and can down a circuit even when the loss budget looks clean. The overview covers when you get asked to test them, how the tests actually work, and what you can fix on the ground versus what gets handed off. First of a three-part series, with deep dives on PMD and CD to follow. Read it →
Fiber Analyzer
PDF downloads are just free now
For a couple of months the analyzer asked a quick question before your second PDF — whether you'd pay for professional reports. Enough of you answered for me to get the message, so the question's gone. Print and download acceptance PDFs as many times as you want, no prompt, no gate. The tool's free; that's the point.
Fiber Analyzer
Plain-English message when a trace file is damaged
Drop a trace whose header never wrote — a failed OTDR save, a flaky SD card, a copy that didn't finish — and the analyzer now tells you the file itself is corrupt and to re-pull it from the OTDR, instead of a cryptic “Map block not found.” The tell is a file that's all blank bytes where the trace header should be; now it says so in plain terms.
Fiber Count Chart Builder
Chart PDF ordering, tidied up
A few cleanups on the chart PDF order flow: the button just reads “PDF” now, the price shows struck through next to “Free” when your first chart or a pack credit is on us, and a long chart title no longer wraps to a second line and crowds the grid on the printout.
Site
One page for all the free tools
There's now a single place to land: the tools page. Every free tool — the trace analyzer, trace editor, chart builder, and loss calculator — on one page with a card each and a line on when to reach for it, so you can pick what you need instead of hunting through the menu.
Fiber Analyzer
EXFO iOLM .trcx files now open
The analyzer now reads EXFO iOLM .trcx files from the AXS and MAX platforms — the link map, the results, and the full waveform. iOLM reports a processed link (connectors, splices, splitters) rather than a raw trace, so the view is built from that, with the launch reel included and 0 km set at the start of the fiber under test.
Fiber Analyzer
Big traces don't freeze the page anymore
Trace parsing now happens off the main thread, so dropping a large or multi-wavelength file no longer locks things up while it loads. Scrolling and the controls stay responsive the whole time, even on a phone.
Fiber Count Chart Builder
Your free chart arrives by email
The first-chart-free flow now sends your PDF as an emailed download link — drop your email and the chart lands in your inbox, saved and ready. Same free chart, just easier to hang onto than a browser download you might lose.
Link Loss Calculator
Rebuilt the loss budget calculator
The loss calculator got a rebuild and its own home at /loss: a plain distance box, separate boxes per test wavelength (1310 / 1490 / 1550 / 1625 nm, defaulting to 1550), and a DWDM option that uses the C-band 0.25 dB/km figure. Enter source level, distance, splices, connectors, and splitters, and get the expected test-point level.
Fiber Analyzer
Plain-language messages for non-trace files
Drop a file that isn't an OTDR trace — like a Viavi loss-test result that shares the same file type — and the analyzer now tells you in plain English what the file actually is and what to open instead, rather than a cryptic error.
Fiber Count Chart Builder
First chart is free for new customers
New here? Your first custom chart PDF is on us — the discount applies automatically at checkout, no code to remember.
Fiber Count Chart Builder
Land on your chart straight from a count search
Look up a specific cable size — say an 864-fiber chart — and the builder now opens with that chart already built, so you're one step from your download instead of starting from scratch.
Fiber Count Chart Builder
Jump right to your chart after scanning counts
Scan a count sheet with your phone and the page now scrolls straight to your finished chart. A few folks were scanning, scrolling the wrong way, and never seeing the chart they'd built — fixed.
Trace Editor
Bulk editing for a whole batch of traces
Fix a folder of OTDR files at once: set the cable ID and site names one time and apply them to every file, auto-increment fiber numbers across the batch, rename the files to match their identifiers, and download the lot as a single ZIP. What used to be a one-file-at-a-time slog is now a couple of minutes.
Guide
New guide: editing trace identifiers without the native software
The story behind the trace editor — a real day lost to traces that came back with no cable ID or site names — and how to fix that in your browser instead of retesting. Read it →
Trace Editor
EXFO .trc and Viavi T-BERD / MTS support
The trace editor now edits Cable ID, Fiber ID, and site names in EXFO .trc (AppReg) files and Viavi ONA-800 / T-BERD traces, on top of .sor and .msor. Each format was validated against the real manufacturer software so the edited files open clean.
Fiber Analyzer
Mobile and privacy polish
A cleaner mobile layout for the analyzer and viewer, and every script and library is now served from our own domain — nothing loads from a third-party CDN, so your files and your browsing stay on your device.
Guide
New article: a data center is just a building full of fiber
What's actually inside a hyperscale data center, and why the splicing and testing work is moving from rural FTTH builds to the data center floor. Read it →
