Full LC/APC Fiber Optic Attenuator Specifications from the Evolux Factory
Every figure below is a guaranteed value measured on each unit, not a typical value taken from a sample batch.
| Connector type | LC (Lucent Connector), small form factor, push-pull latch |
|---|---|
| Ferrule | 1.25mm zirconia ceramic |
| Polish type | APC, angled physical contact, 8° |
| Fiber mode | Singlemode 9/125µm |
| Operating wavelength | 1260–1360nm and 1460–1580nm |
| Attenuation range | 1–30dB. Standard values 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30dB |
| Attenuation tolerance | 1–5dB ±0.5dB | 6–12dB ±0.7dB | 13–20dB ±1.0dB |
| Return loss | ≥65dB |
| Insertion loss | ≤0.3dB |
| Polarization dependent loss | <0.2dB |
| Maximum optical input power | 125mW to 300mW depending on model |
| Operating temperature | -40°C to +75°C |
| Storage temperature | -40°C to +85°C |
| Durability | <0.2dB change over 1,000 matings, repeatability <0.5dB in service |
| Housing colour | Green, the industry standard for APC |
| Formats | Fixed, male to female, in-line, buildout |
| Compliance | Telcordia GR-910-CORE, RoHS |
Need this as a datasheet for your BOM?
Tell us the values and formats you are pricing and we will send the specification sheet with your part numbers already mapped onto it.
Why Network Builders Choose an 8° Angled Singlemode Optical Attenuator Over a UPC Pad
On most links, insertion loss is the number people watch. On analog video, PON upstream and coherent spans, the number that actually breaks things is reflected light coming back down the core. That is the whole reason this part exists.
The 8° angled endface tips reflected energy sideways into the cladding instead of sending it home to the transmitter. The result is return loss above 65dB, roughly 5 to 15dB better than the flat-polished pads a network defaults to. Insertion loss still sits at or below 0.3dB, so you gain reflection performance without paying for it somewhere else in the budget.
Attenuation comes from doped fiber rather than an air gap or an offset splice. Absorptive attenuation holds its value from -40°C to +75°C, which matters the moment a part goes into an outside plant cabinet instead of a climate-controlled room. It also stays flat across 1260–1360nm and 1460–1580nm, so one part number covers 1310, 1490 and 1550nm on the same drop.
The last piece is size. A 1.25mm ferrule in an LC body takes half the panel width of an SC equivalent, so you can drop an LC attenuator into a fully populated 48-port field instead of hunting for a spare position.
Four Reasons Project Buyers Order LC/APC Attenuators Wholesale from Evolux
Return loss above 65dB keeps analog video clean
In CATV and RF-over-glass, back reflection turns straight into composite second order distortion. At 65dB the reflected contribution drops under the level where subscribers start calling. A flat-polished attenuator in the same position does not, and no amount of level trimming fixes it afterwards. One truck roll usually costs more than the pads for a whole node.
Flat response across both windows cuts your SKU count
The dB value does not move between 1310, 1490 and 1550nm. A 10dB unit works upstream, downstream and on the video overlay. For an FTTx rollout that means one line item per dB value instead of one per wavelength band, which is fewer part numbers to stock, fewer to mis-pick and fewer to write off at the end of the build.
1,000 mating cycles with under 0.2dB of drift
Zirconia ferrule, controlled endface geometry, repeatability under 0.5dB across service life. Test benches and turn-up crews mate the same optical attenuator hundreds of times. This rating is what lets you leave it in the kit rather than putting it on a replacement schedule.
Green housing prevents the mistake that costs a splice
APC bodies are green and will not seat properly against a UPC endface. On a 500-port build with mixed polish types, colour keying is the only thing standing between an installer and a damaged pair of endfaces. That mistake costs a connector plus a splice plus the time, every time it happens.
Inside the Ferrule and Endface Process Behind a Contract Grade APC Attenuator
Angle control is the entire specification. A degree of error at the apex re-couples reflected light back into the core and the 65dB figure collapses to something ordinary. So the 8° apex is polished under fixture and the geometry is checked before the unit is assembled, not after.
The ferrule itself is 1.25mm zirconia ceramic. It is the material choice that lets the same part survive a thousand matings while holding insertion loss at or under 0.3dB, because the bore does not wear open the way softer materials do.
Polarization dependent loss is held below 0.2dB. For coherent links and DWDM channel balancing that keeps the attenuator out of the polarization budget altogether, so nobody has to re-tune a channel because a unit was rotated in the panel during a tidy-up.
None of this is visible in a photograph, which is why the measured values are printed on each unit rather than left in a brochure.
Where Project Ready LC/APC Attenuators Are Deployed in PON, CATV and Data Centre Builds
Passive optical networks, B-PON, G-PON and E-PON
Short drops overdrive the ONT receiver. A fixed 5 to 10dB LC/APC attenuator at the ONT port brings the level back into range without anyone touching splitter ratios, and the angled polish keeps upstream reflections off the OLT receiver at the same time.
CATV and analog video transmission
Analog video is the least reflection-tolerant traffic on a fiber plant. This is the application that made APC the default rather than an upgrade option, and it is the reason the return loss figure is specified as a guarantee rather than a typical value.
DWDM channel equalization
Per-channel balancing ahead of the multiplexer using fixed values from the 1 to 30dB range. Because the response is flat across the band, the same attenuator value applies across the C-band grid and you do not need a per-lambda attenuation table in the design document.
Data centres, SFP and SFP+ patching
Long-reach optics on a short reach will saturate the receiver. The LC form factor drops straight into the transceiver port in a fully loaded panel, in positions where an SC-bodied attenuator physically will not go.
FTTx, long haul and the test bench
FTTH, FTTB and FTTC drops, carrier and CLEC long haul spans, receiver overload protection on high-power systems, and instrument calibration where you need a serialized, repeatable dB reference you can quote in a report.
Custom LC/APC Fiber Optic Attenuator OEM Manufacturing for Project Buyers
Custom LC/APC attenuator work starts from your bill of materials, not from a catalogue page. Send the dB values and quantities and specify any of the following:
- Attenuation value. Anything from 1 to 30dB, not just the nine standard values. Non-standard values are a production instruction here, not a special request routed to a subcontractor.
- Format. Fixed, male to female, in-line or buildout, chosen by where the pad has to sit.
- Wavelength window. 1260–1360nm, 1460–1580nm, or both.
- Marking. Your part number, the dB value and your serial format printed on unit packaging.
- Kitting. Mixed-value packs assembled per site or per build phase instead of per dB value.
The kitting option is the one sourcing managers on staged rollouts tend to use. Splitting a single order into site kits removes the sorting step at the installer's end, which is where mixed-dB shipments usually go wrong.
What to send for a firm quote
dB breakdown with quantities, the format you need, the mating interface polish, and your target ship date. That is enough for a unit price, an MOQ and a date. If your BOM has an APC attenuator heading for a UPC port, we will flag it before you release the order.
How the Evolux Factory Tests Every LC/APC Attenuator Before It Ships
Each unit is measured, not sampled. Attenuation accuracy and return loss are recorded piece by piece, and the measured dB value goes onto that unit's packaging with its own serial number.
That last detail is worth more than it sounds. When a link comes up at the wrong level, the argument is usually about whether the attenuator was the right value. With an as-built measurement on the packaging, it stops being an argument. Reliability testing follows Telcordia GR-910-CORE and construction is RoHS compliant.
| Test coverage | 100% of units, attenuation accuracy and return loss |
|---|---|
| Traceability | Individual serial number, measured dB printed on packaging |
| Reliability standard | Telcordia GR-910-CORE |
| Environmental | RoHS compliant |
| Mating endurance | 1,000 cycles, under 0.2dB change |
Packaging and Shipping on Bulk Order Attenuator Shipments
Bulk order attenuator shipments leave the factory individually bagged with dust caps fitted, because an unprotected 8° endface does not survive a carton in transit. Each bag carries the serial number and the measured value, so goods-in can check a delivery against the purchase order without opening parts and testing them.
Mixed-value orders are packed and labelled by dB value and can be grouped into per-site cartons on request. Carton marking, export documents and freight mode are set against your forwarder's requirements at order confirmation rather than assumed.
MOQ and Lead Times on Wholesale LC/APC Attenuator Orders
MOQ and lead time on a wholesale LC/APC fiber optic attenuator order both move with the dB mix and the format, so they are quoted per order rather than posted as a headline number. The nine standard values build faster than non-standard values inside the 1 to 30dB range, and buildout or in-line bodies add an assembly step.
Send the breakdown and you get a firm MOQ, unit price and ship date in the quote itself, not a range that gets revised after you commit. Phased rollouts can draw staged deliveries against one order rather than raising a purchase order per site.
Evolux Is Your Factory Direct Fiber Optic Attenuator Manufacturer and Supplier
Evolux is a dedicated fiber optic attenuator manufacturer and OEM supplier, building passive components for PON, CATV, DWDM, FTTx and data centre networks on our own connector and adapter lines.
Polishing, assembly and optical test all sit under one roof. That is why a non-standard dB value keeps the same lead time as a standard one, and why the test data you receive comes from the people who made the parts rather than from a trading company forwarding a supplier's file.
It also means one purchase order can cover a whole port build. The LC adapters, hybrid adapters and patch panel hardware these pads terminate into come off the same site, so you are not coordinating three vendors and three ship dates to finish one frame.
Get an Evolux attenuator quote
Procurement FAQs About Buying LC/APC Attenuators
Can an LC/APC attenuator be used in an LC/UPC port?
No. An 8° angled endface cannot make physical contact against a flat UPC endface, and forcing the mate damages both. The green housing is the visual key that prevents it. Specify APC only where the mating interface is also APC, and check the panel before the order goes out.
When is APC worth the extra cost over UPC?
Whenever reflected light degrades the signal: analog CATV, RF over glass, PON upstream, coherent systems. APC gives return loss above 65dB against 50 to 60dB typical for flat-polished parts. On links where reflection is not critical, UPC is the cheaper correct answer and we will tell you so.
Which attenuation values can I order?
Any value from 1 to 30dB. The nine standard values are 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30dB. Tolerance is ±0.5dB from 1 to 5dB, ±0.7dB from 6 to 12dB and ±1.0dB from 13 to 20dB.
Does the dB value shift with wavelength or temperature?
No. Response is flat across 1260–1360nm and 1460–1580nm, so one unit holds its value at 1310, 1490 and 1550nm. Evolux, as an optical attenuator manufacturer using doped fiber rather than gap-based attenuation, holds that stability across the full -40°C to +75°C operating range.
How much optical power can these handle?
Maximum optical input power runs from 125mW to 300mW depending on model. Tell us the launch power of your source when you enquire. High-power EDFA outputs need the upper-rated model, and we match the model to the stated power in the quote rather than leaving you to work it out.
Is every unit tested, and can I get the data?
Yes to both. Evolux, as an LC/APC attenuator supplier with in-house optical test, measures 100% of units for attenuation accuracy and return loss, prints the measured value and a serial number on each unit's packaging, and can supply the test record with the shipment.
Which format should I order?
Pick by position. Male to female for transceiver and adapter ports, in-line for mid-span insertion, buildout for panel-mounted positions, fixed where the attenuator stays put. If you are unsure, send a photo of the port and we will tell you which one fits.
Can I order samples before committing to volume?
Yes. Sample units carry the same serialized test data as production, so what you measure on the bench is what you can hold the production order to.
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