HMA is the most popular connector used in military applications worldwide.
For over 25 years, OPTOKON has been offering special HMA optical connectors based on Expanded Beam Technology. This technology ensures that our HMA connectors provide excellent data transmission performance over many connection cycles. The outstanding optical characteristics remain consistent even under mechanical stress, environmental exposure, and harsh conditions. Since there is no direct contact between the contact surfaces, Expanded Beam connections are relatively insensitive to contamination. Under normal conditions, there is almost no need for cleaning every 5000 connection cycles. This ensures reliable and secure data transmission. The OPTOKON HMA Expanded Beam connector series, compliant with MIL-DTL-83526 specifications, is designed for use in harsh environments such as military tactical communications, aviation, marine systems, outdoor broadcasting, mining, heavy industry communications, petrochemical industry, and plants. The innovative design allows deployment in the most challenging conditions where high performance and maximum reliability are required. Using Expanded Beam technology, the precise optical alignment system provides protection against water (IP 68), dirt, dust, grease, and other contaminants. The hermaphroditic HMA coupling eliminates the need for adapters and mating elements. Hermaphroditic housings ensure quick installation, allowing the creation of single-mode and multi-mode communication lines with low losses across a wide range of systems—from simplex fiber to eight fibers, and with the new design, up to 16 fibers.
OPTOKON HMA is ideal for connections in harsh environmental conditions where minimal maintenance and quick repair are required. HMA connectors are available in three main types:
HMA “Expanded Beam” connectors are designed for connecting tactical network nodes using fiber optic cables. The expanded beam technology used ensures signal transmission over optical lines in field conditions under harsh environmental conditions.
Features and Technical Specifications:
- Advanced Expanded Beam Technology
- MIL-DTL-83526 Specification
- Hermaphroditic Connection
- From 1 to 4 (8) fiber channels, Single-mode or Multi-mode
- Rugged field-repairable connector design
- Keyed connection for “blind mating”
Advantages:
- Excellent optical characteristics
- No need for adapters
- Low-cost field repair with minimal downtime
- Easy to clean, no special tools required
Materials/Colors:
- Black anodized aluminum housing
- HMA-M connector with black cap
Applications:
- Broadcasting
- Military communications
- Industry
- Petrochemicals
In addition to military optical networks, HMA is suitable for a wide range of applications such as connections in heavy industry, petrochemicals, temporary optical signal transmission lines. The innovative design allows use in the most challenging conditions where high performance and maximum reliability are required. The expanded beam technology ensures precise optical alignment, providing protection against water, dirt, dust, grease, and other contaminants.
Hermaphroditic housings ensure quick installation, allowing the creation of single-mode and multi-mode communication lines with low loss in various formats, from single-mode fiber to four-mode fiber. OPTOKON HMA is ideal for use in extreme conditions where minimal maintenance and quick repairability are required.
| HMA-J | HMA-M, HMA-S | |
|---|---|---|
| Insertion Loss | 50/125 at 850/1300 nm 0.7 dB typ., 1.0 dB max. 9/125 at 1310/1550 nm 1.0 dB typ., 1.5 dB max. | Typically 0.8-1.8 dB at 1310, 1550 nm Single-mode Typically 0.5-1.0 dB at 850, 1300 nm Multi-mode |
| Return Loss | 9/125 at 1310/1550 nm >32 dB | |
| Durability | Minimum 3000 mating cycles | |
| Operating Temperature | -55 to +85 °C | -40 to +85 °C |
| Storage Temperature | -55 to +85 °C | |
| Water Immersion | Immersion to a depth of 2m for 24 hours | Immersion to a depth of 15m |
| Sinusoidal Vibration | 10-500 Hz, 3 directions, amplitude 0.75 mm at 10 g acceleration | 10-500 Hz, 3 directions, amplitude 0.75 mm at 10g acceleration |
| Drop Resistance | 500 drops on concrete from a height of 1.2 m | |
| Shock Resistance | 4000 shocks at 40 g acceleration | |
| Tensile Strength | Tensile up to 1500 N, depending on the cable | |
| Crush Resistance | 6.7 kN | |
| Cable Variations | Compatible with tactical cable: plug: 5.0 - 5.5 mm, jumper: 2.8-5.5 mm o/d | Compatible with tactical cable: plug < 6 mm o/d, jumper < 3 mm o/d |
