Say goodbye to lengthy COAX cables requiring line amplification, and say hello to Fibre Optic LNB technology that boasts up to 10km distribution lines with Fibre Optic cables, and with virtually no signal loss.
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The first Optical LNB to arrive on the market is from UK manufacturer Global Invacom, the FibreMDU Optical Output LNB (pictured above). This LNB distributes all 4 universal satellite bands (Low vertical/horizontal, High vertical/horizontal) to 32 distribution units, 'Virtual Converters ', which then output up to 4 independent universal satellite signals to 4 receivers' standard Coaxial LNB inputs.\
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▲ Diagram of distribution from Optical LNB
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There are 2 ways to connect a Fibre Optic LNB to the receiver, 1 via the Virtual Converter, or 2 via a Passive Optical Splitter (PON) to the Virtual Converter. The Passive Optical Splitter allows you to distribute the signal to further
Virtual Converters.
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The Fibre Optical Cables required have come down in price, due to the widespread use of Fibre Optics in telecommunications. Pre-terminated cabling (connectors at each end) is very much recommended for the lengths you need to achieve, although there are plans for manufacturers to release interconnecting cabling for extensions.
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The amount of users able to connect to a Fibre Optic LNB is very much dependent on the Optical power output, which on the Global Invacom LNB is input via a PSU power supply on the LNB. The amount of users able to connect to future models could be much higher.
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Further advantages of Fibre Optic technology is that the cable lines are resistant to any kind of interference, and can be dropped through tight wall ducts as they are around 5 times slimmer than traditional Coaxial cables.
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To achieve optimal reception the Optical Cable end needs to be cleaned. Tools can be purchased for this.
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Future models of LNBs are likely to include DVB-T lines.