Pigtail

If the fiber connectors are attached to only one end of a cable, it is known as a fiber pigtail.

A fiber pigtail is a single, short, usually tight-buffered, Unlike fiber optic patch cords composed of a fiber optic cable terminated with fiber connectors on both ends, an optical fiber that has an optical connector pre-installed on one end and a length of exposed fiber at the other end. Fiber Optic Armoured Pigtail is with stainless steel tube inside the outer jacket to protect the central unit of the cable.

For a high optical quality fiber ends, or further need of coating on surfaces, or of accurate mounting for precision alignment for collimating applications, a practical solution is to glue the bare fiber to the core of a glass capillary. This provides a method of easy handling, resulting in a better finish.

Sur-link's Fiber Optic Pigtails are manufactured with either multimode or single-mode fiber and terminated with a range of connectors including SC, SC/APC, LC, LC/APC, FC, FC/APC, ST, and MTRJ. Other connector types are also available upon request.

The end of the pigtail is stripped and fusion spliced to a single fiber of a multi-fiber trunk. Splicing of pigtails to each fiber in the trunk "breaks out" the multi-fiber cable into its component fibers for connection to the end equipment.

Pigtails can have female or male connectors. Female connectors could be mounted in a patch panel, often in pairs, although single-fiber solutions exist, to allow them to be connected to endpoints or other fiber runs with patch fibers. Alternatively, they can have male connectors and plug directly into an optical transceiver.