Shooting long fiber spans with high loss fiber

A method of tracing a complete span of a fiber, the method comprising:

• determining a reference point along an end-to-end length of the fiber, wherein the reference point is specified at a location between the ends of the fiber along the end-to-end length of the fiber;
• setting a pulse width and the measurement range of the master unit and the slave unit, the master unit and the slave unit respectively connected to the opposing ends of the fiber, wherein the master unit is configured to collect trace data from the one end of the fiber to a first point beyond the reference point in a first direction along the end-to-end length of the fiber, and wherein the slave unit is configured to collect trace data from the opposite end of the fiber to second point beyond the reference point in a second opposite direction along the end-to-end length of the fiber;
• shooting a fiber from the master unit to collect trace past the reference point;
• shooting the fiber from the slave unit to collect trace past the reference point;
• cropping the trace data collected by the master unit;
• cropping the trace data collected by the slave unit;
• inverting a slope of the trace data collected by the slave unit;
• and
• combining the trace data collected by the master unit and the trace data collected by the slave unit.