Lucid Optical Services Ltd

If you want to get your City & Guilds 3667 Certificate before the summer holidays, then we still have places available on the following courses:

10-14 June: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Lucid Training Centre in Cumbria (North)
17-21 June: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Crawley near Gatwick (South)
8-12 July: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Lucid Training Centre (North)
15-18 July: 3667 Copper Datacoms Unit 4 at Lucid Training Centre (North)
22-25 July: 3667 Copper Datacoms Unit 4 at Crawley near Gatwick (South

All bookings of Unit 2, 3 or 4 also qualify for a free 3667 Unit 1 exam.

We only take max 6 delegates on each course, so places can book up fast. Call or email us for the latest prices, discounts and to reserve your place.

Advanced Fibre Characterisation course for fibre optics engineers running from 13 May to 17 May 2019 at Lucid Training Centre in Garsdale. We still have places available on this public course so please contact us quickly if you’re interested in filling one of those places and becoming one of the best qualified fibre engineers. If these dates don’t suit you then there will be more opportunities, but with the industry booming we are struggling to fit in as many public courses as we’d like. We’re also failing to let people know they’re happening in good time, hence the spaces still available with this May course.

We have not previously issued a Lucid “Advanced Fibre Characterisation” certificate, because our trainees get two formal qualification certificates from Open Awards, but since a trainee asked us for such a combined certificate here it is. We believe others might also appreciate a combined Lucid certificate, so if you have completed the Advanced OTDR Testing course and the PMD and Chromatic Dispersion courses with us and would like the Lucid certificate as well, then let us know. Our certificates are free of charge to our trainees, just let us know your name and contact details and once we’ve verified the awards we can send you a Lucid certificate in Advanced Fibre Characterisation.

Lucid has had a busy start to 2019 – we have already received a great collection of nice comments on our course feedback forms!

Course code	Trainer	Comments from course report forms
Umbilical	Alistair	Well presented course. I’ve gained a considerable amount of extra knowledge during the week, increasing the level of confidence when dealing with problems.
Umbilical	Alistair	Very informative and well presented course. Tutors knowledge was extensive and course was well tailored for our requirements. Thoroughly enjoyed he week and look forward to future training.
Umbilical	Alistair	Course instructor excellent at delivering the course, demonstrating equipment & answering questions. Course booklet very informative
Umbilical	Alistair	Very knowledgeable, Alistair was very professional and helpful with any part of the course I was unsure of.
Umbilical	Alistair	Alistair made the course very easy to understand also laid back which kept myself at ease and not flustered if not confident with any aspects of the course
Umbilical	Alistair	Excellent course. Alistair was excellent at presenting all the course material demonstrating all the practical element very well. Alistair is a very, very knowledgeable guy & pleasant and would highly recommend him to carry out more courses.
AOTDR	John	Excellent tutor who was very knowledgeable. Highly recommend the training centre.
C&G Fibre	Alistair	Instructor very friendly with great sense of humour. Very knowledgeable and understood very well. Very happy .
C&G Fibre	Alistair	Excellent content and balance between theory and practical. Adaptive approach to order of topics and input being accepted ensured an engaged group. Very conducive to learning .
C&G Copper	Alistair	Alistair was knowledgeable , personable and very engaging. Made for a very relaxed , detail filled course
C&G Copper	Alistair	I found the course to be very useful, informative and most of all fun. Nice mix of both theory and practical so as not to make it repetitive
C&G Copper	Alistair	A little bit far from where I live but I suppose wherever you have the course some people going to be close some going to be far .
CofK	Annette	Very informative
CofK	Annette	Thank you
AOTDR	John	Excellent tutor who was very knowledgeable. Highly recommend the training course.
Umbilical	Alistair	Excellent course
AOTDR	John	Excellent course very well delivered
AOTDR	John	Excellently presented by John. Took time to answer questions and explain them
AOTDR	John	Great course, very informative
Umbilical	Alistair	Well presented course, Alistair was very knowledgeable & informative. Maybe a print out of the daily quiz so can refer to it during revision.
Umbilical	Alistair	I was looking forward to this course and feel I now have all the information required to conduct copper and fibre testing. Very happy with instructor very knowledgeable man 🙂
Umbilical	Alistair	Well presented course that was very enjoyable. Taken back to basics which was good to review and go over fundamental basics. Good use of the equipment to give us good confidence to be able to use the equipment when required.
Umbilical	Alistair	Very knowledgeable instructor, very helpful
Umbilical	Alistair	Very good course, very interesting
Umbilical	Alistair	Good course, very informative to the content (fibre, OTDR, TDR + CR/IR testing)
C&G Fibre	Steve	Great atmosphere. Great equipment. Knowledgeable trainer. Would recommend
C&G Fibre	Steve	Excellent all round course. Exactly what was expected. Friendly and informative. Highly recommended
C&G Fibre	Steve	Great course. Keep up the good work . Tutor was clear and precise hence I was able to pass !
C&G Fibre	Steve	Steve was great at delivering course material. Felt welcomed every day . Overall I enjoyed the course and would highly recommend.

 

For more comments please see our full feedback page at http://www.lucidos.co.uk/about-lucid/course-feedback-reviews/

Data Centres are often secretive about their existence and location for security reasons. On several occasions when running an on-site training course at a data centre, we have had an interesting time finding the unmarked building. Having found the right building if often takes some time to get security guard to admit that you are indeed at the data centre you are looking for.

Below is a link to an article which gives a good introduction to many of the latest developments in the data centre world, for anyone who is wondering what all the fuss is about.

https://www.cbinsights.com/research/future-of-data-centers/

The cooler scandinavian climates are attractive for data centres with Denmark seeming to be the latest hotspot, with Google, Apple and Facebook already there, and both Facebook and Apple starting their second ones. This is partly due to Denmark being more centrally located, but also due to it being the chosen landing point for several new and important submarine fibre cable systems. One direct transatlantic system from the US to Denmark (and Ireland) named Havfrue (Danish for mermaid after the famous Hans-Christian Andersen tale) and one from Iceland to Denmark named Danice which also island hops to the UK (top of Scotland) and Greenland. Another big attraction is likely to be the existing Danish system of “fjernvarme” where most houses in whole towns are heated by hot water piped through from a central powerplant. This makes it very easy for data centres to reuse their cooling water to actually make money as well as gain green credits.

Just one week into 2019 and it’s all happening at Lucid. We have had numerous enquiries for our industry leading Fibre Testing and full Fibre Characterisation Training courses and qualifications. The demand in this first week back has already outstripped what we’d normally expect in a whole month.

We believe we’re still the only training company to offer full Fibre Characterisation courses with real qualifications provided by an independent UK licensed awarding body. We’ve been delivering this training for almost 20 years now and have a reputation for excellence in this area.

For further information on our OTDR courses, Chromatic Dispersion and PMD measurement courses, OSA testing, Spectral Attenuation and Full Fibre Characterisation training please check our website and/or contact us.

To respond to the demand we’ll try to schedule an additional public course in the first quarter of 2019, but this can be difficult when other, often closed course, training demand is keeping us busy. Check our website or phone for the latest dates and availability.

Another specialty are our Advanced Fibre Optics and Advanced Fibre Networks courses, some of which focus on DWDM and photonics technologies. These are often run as closed courses for clients but seldom as public courses, but if a few of you register your interest then we can look to schedule a public course or two for 2019.

This year we are again donating to charity instead of sending out Christmas cards to our suppliers and customers. Our chosen charities this year are the North West Air Ambulance and The Garsdale Red Squirrel Group.

Earlier this year with GDPR regulations coming in we decided not to email our full database for permission to send you an annual newsletter. We got fed up of GDPR emails ouselves so thought others might also be sick of them. Consequently, if you want to know what we’re doing please visit our website, like us on Facebook, or follow our LinkedIn page.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us all at Lucid

A seasonal picture from a previous year – hopefully we’ll have less snow this winter.

 

Whilst the office is officially closed from this Friday 21st Dec to Wed 2nd Jan 2019, we will still be maintaining the technical support phone service and monitoring email.
Remember our technical support is free to all of our trainees so if you need help we’re there for you.
At times it may take us a little longer to respond to email enquiries. We trust you’ll understand and we wish all of our trainees and business contacts a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

In the last few days we have had 4 candidates pass their 18th Edition exam at Lucid after only self study at home – Congratulations!

For more information about our flexible exam-only option just email or call us – self study can save you money and time.

For more information check out our 18th edition page

This is Lucid’s original full 5-day advanced fibre testing course, run by John Colton, our technical director who is an acknowledged world expert on the testing of fibre networks, and wrote the first OTDR, CD and PMD courses in the industry over 20 years ago.

The course carries two formal level 3 certificates from a UK licensed awarding body. The location is Lucid Training Centre in Garsdale, Cumbria LA10 5PE

The course is modular, starting with the “Advanced OTDR Testing” module, followed by the “Advanced PMD and CD Testing” – either module can be taken separately as well if preferred.

We still have a few places available, so please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested – due to Johns other commitments and demands for company courses, we only rarely have the opportunity to run this as a public course.

We now have a few more places available on our City & Guilds Unit 4 Copper Datacoms running in Crawley nr. Gatwick Airport from 1-4 October, due to a last-minute cancellation.

If you are interested and can make next week, then please call and email us as soon as possible

We are still offering a free 3667 Unit 1 exam with the Unit 4 course, to be taken on the last afternoon of the Unit 4 course.

Lucid are happy to announce that we now offer the 18th Edition – to be exact, the City & Guilds 2382 – as a time and money saving Exam Only option for those of you who are happy to do a little home study and then sit the exam.
We arrange dates and times to suit you, and currently charge £130.
For the previous 17th edition we’ve had people come to us from all over the UK. Several from London and the South coast despite the fact we’re based in the North of England. Why? Well we are flexible and don’t mess you around – once it’s booked with you, so far we have never had to cancel an exam – even when we had to dig a way in through the snow for a candidate last winter!

For more information check out our 18th edition page or just contact us

Here is the latest batch of Lucid course feedback; this is every single comment we’ve had on the feedback sheets between March and June 2018. We are really proud that so many of our trainees go beyond just ticking all the right boxes and actually write how much they liked the course.

Date	Course	Trainer	Comments from course report forms
Jun-18	Laser safety	John	Excellent course, very informative.John was superb and made the subject matter very interesting. Would definitey recommend Lucid.
Jun-18	Laser safety	John	Most interesting course I have received.
Jun-18	Laser safety	John	Very good and informative. Met requirements.
Jun-18	Laser safety	John	I found the course very informative and interesting. It had just the right amount of content without being too over complicated. Thanks .
Jun-18	Laser safety	John	John did a very good job explaining all topics. This was a very interseting course . Thanks .
Jun-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Fantastic organisation. Very helpful ,many thanks.
May-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Very informative course, well delivered
May-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Very well presented course. Happy with the pass.
May-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Enjoyable course
Apr-18	AOTDR	John	Having trained with a number of providers in the fibre industry I can say that the standard of teaching and course quality is second to none. Thank you .
Apr-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Great course
Apr-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Well run course-excellent knowledge of tutors.
Apr-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Instructor was very helpful
Apr-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	A more step-wise approach to the modules would be helpful
Apr-18	AOTDR	John	Absolutely brilliant course. I have learned a lot.
Apr-18	AOTDR	John	Great course. Very informative. John explains complicated subjects in a way that makes it easy to understand.
Mar-18	C&G Copper	Steve	The course was both fun and useful.

All course comments back to 2001 are available on our course comments page

We still have places available on the City & Guilds 3667 Unit 4 Internal Copper Datacoms course from 25-28 June at Crawley. This course covers all aspects of Ethernet, Cat 5,6, 7 and upcoming 8, voice, and the structured cabling standards

.

We are also offering a free 3667 Unit 1 Exam with each unit 4 booking, which helps qualify you for the ECS/CSCS Datacoms card. If you have already done the 3667 fibre course with Lucid – or is thinking of doing it – you would also qualify for our multi-course discount

If you already have taken the City & Guilds 3667 Fibre course with Lucid, or is considering this, we offer a discount on the second course as well.

If interested then please get in touch as soon as possible, places are limited as we only take max 6 trainees on each course.

If you want to get your City & Guilds 3667 Certificate before the holidays, then we still have places available on the following courses:

11-15 June: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Lucid Training Centre (North)
18-22 June: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Crawley near Gatwick (South)
25-28 June: 3667 Copper Datacoms Unit 4 at Crawley near Gatwick (South)
9-13 July: 3667 Combined Fibre Unit 2 & 3 at Lucid Training Centre (North)

All bookings of Unit 2, 3 or 4 also qualify for a free 3667 Unit 1 exam.

We only take max 6 delegates on each course, so places can book up fast. Call or email us for the latest prices, discounts and to reserve your place.

Due to a late cancellation we now have a few places available on our next City & Guilds 3667 Combined Unit 2 & 3 Fibre course, on 11-15 June 2018 at Lucid Training Centre; This is the industry standard qualification in the UK, covering all areas of fibre installation. We only take max 6 trainees per course so call or email now for the latest price and discounts.

Lucid’s 5-day advanced fibre testing/characterisation course, run by John Colton, our technical director who is an acknowledged expert on the testing of fibre networks, and wrote the first Advanced OTDR and PMD courses in the industry over 20 years ago.

The course carries two formal level 3 certificates/awards, starting with the “Advanced OTDR Testing” module followed by the “Advanced PMD and CD Testing” module.

Please call or email ASAP to reserve a place – just 2 left at time of writing.

It is always nice when trainees show their appreciation on LinkedIn and other media:

Here is another batch of Lucid course feedback; this is every single comment we’ve had on the feedback sheets since July 2017. We are really proud that so many of our trainees go beyond just ticking all the right boxes and actually write how much they liked the course.

Date	Course	Trainer	Comments from course report forms
Jan-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	OTDR-more time to practice
Jan-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Very happy with the course and all the staff involved. Very satisfied.
Jan-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Thank you for a great week and for the knowledge and skills I have gained.
Jan-18	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Excellent Venue.Really helpful staff.
Dec-17	Laser Safety	John	More in depth than expected. Very informative and appreciated.
Dec-17	Laser Safety	John	Very good course , well presented.
Dec-17	AOTDR	John	John was knowledgeable friendly and patient and I feel that I can put into practice what I have learned with confidence. I would recommend Lucid to anyone interested in learning about fibre optics.
Dec-17	AOTDR	John	Amazing course , full of useful content which I will use in the future.
Nov-17	C&G Fibre	Alistair	Course was very good and explained well for myself to understand. Would recommend course to anyone.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Very comprehensive. Very well pitched. A wealth of real world examples. Great instruction.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Fantastic course which covered everything. Delivered by the most knowledeable instructor I have come across.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Excellent course !
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Excellent course. Very well delivered.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Excellent course material and presentation. Thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the course and my understanding of the content has been greatly improved.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Excellent course. Tutor was very knowledgeable. Would recommend the course to other colleagues.
Nov-17	Adv Fibre Charac.	John	Really enjoyable course. Instructor is very knowledgeable and has a very relaxed approach to teaching.
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	Everything was perfect. Thank you very much for everything.
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	The material was very clearly presented. Very understandable.
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	All was clearly represented.
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	Thank you very much Alistair. Everything was perfect.
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	Course tutor was so friendly and explaining everything very detailed. Such a nice guy !
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	With more than 10 years experience I am still learning things. Our tutor was brilliant. Thank you !
Sep-17	C&G Copper	Alistair	Tutor is a great professional .
Sep-17	C&G Fibre	Steve	Very informative, very useful
Sep-17	C&G Fibre	Steve	Everything was very well explained throughout the course
Sep-17	C&G Fibre	Steve	Was a very enjoyable week. Course was run in an excellent way. All staff are helpful and friendly. Would highly recommend.
Sep-17	Umbilical	Alistair	Suggest a test at end of each module. Too much information.
Sep-17	Umbilical	Alistair	Good Course but would prefer test at end of each module.
Jul-17	C&G Copper	Steve	Really enjoyed this course.Made to feel very welcome. Standard of tuition was excellent.
Jun-17	AOTDR	John	Very helpful course. Gained a lot of info I can take back to my working day . Many thanks .

All course comments back to 2001 are available on our course comments page