Scotland - Factory Acceptance Tests Fiber Optics

The FAT was a success. Not only did all the tests pass with distinction as the customer was very satisfied with what he saw. The optical cable tested was a glass yarn armoured cable of 36 fibers, organized in 6 tubes of 6 fibers each, according to our request. This is the main fiber optics cable in this project and it will be buried along the 2400km of the railway and the core networks will run on it.

The tests included measurement of attenuation, measurement of chromaic dispersion, temperture cycling, fiber strain, cable torsion, crush and impact resistance, watertightness among others.

FATs are normal procedures (prior to production) when it envolves off-the-shelf equipment and specially when it envolves millions like in this case. The product has been approved now and production will start.

There was also time for a very interesting tour across the factory.

Edinburgh

I arrived in Edinburgh Monday afternoon and we still had some daylight (and no rain) to see a little of the city and go to the Edinburgh Castle. This is a fantastic city, a city that breaths history and tradition. Our hotel is located in the heart of the city and within walking distance from the so-called Old Town, which has preserved much of its medieval plan and reformation-era buildings. Going up the Royal Mile (main artery of the Old Town) we went up to the Castle from where we had an amazing view over the city:

Scotland

I finally got my visa last week. That means I'm going back to Saudi soon. I'm leaving Portugal today but will go to Scotland first for a couple of days. Scotland is where our fiber optics manufacturer has its premises and they will be running the FAT (Factory Acceptance Test). The FAT consist of a series of tests, carried out according to the IEC (International Electrotechnical Comission) standards, stressing the cable and the fiber optics, testing its pysical, optical and mechanical characteristics, like chromatic dispersion, attenuation, tensile strength, watertightness, bending radius, crusch resistance, etc.

These test are carried out before they start the production. I am going as a Thales representative and there will be customer representatives as well. When all the tests pass, we sign at the end and the production of the 2400km of fiber optics will start.

Visa

This is the piece of paper missing in my passport and the reason for not having returned to Saudi yet. I need a new one since this one has expired, it was only valid for 6 months. It's a quite complex process to get a visa for Saudi and fortunately we have people at the company who handle this for us, but the letter of invitation contained inconsistent data and was rejected. The letter of invitation is written by the company in Saudi and submitted for approval to the Saudi Ministry of foreign affairs which, on its turn, forwards it (if approved) to the embassy in the respective country. The first letter cointained a mistake and the second one was sent to the wrong embassy. And each time it takes one more week. This mistakes are all because I'm with the Portuguese team but I am Dutch. But I'm OK with that, enjoying Portugal, the weather, my friends, having a great time!!! Probably staying 2 more weeks!!! And in the meantime have to go to Scotland to accompany the FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) of the fiber optics.

Gas Prices

I'm currently in Portugal and I just came from the gas station to fill my tank. I think I spent more money for gas the last week than in the 4 months I've so far been in Saudi altogether. And that's not because I drove that much, it's because gas in Saudi is so unbelievably cheap: 8 euro cents (10 $cents). In Saudi I fill my tank with 5 euros and the problem is that I get used to these prices!!! This is why American high consumption SUVs, pick-ups and jeeps sell so well in Saudi...you don't have to worry about filling the tank.

A painful reminder of the money our governments are making in taxes.