Tom,
With regards to your requirement for an Ethernet to Fiber converter, here is a link to the MCW-211 from Westermo.
http://www.eternity-sales.com/Westermo/fiberchannel.htm
It is near the bottom of the page for all the fiber channel devices that Westermo offers.
This product is quite rugged. As mentioned by the vendor during our meeting this week..."These products are over designed."
They offer what is called galvanic isolation. We provide a brief description of what it is.
http://www.eternity-sales.com/Westermo/Westermo.htm
Basically, if you have a five port switch and you get a surge on one of the ports...without galvanic isolation, all ports will fry, not to mention the devices attached to those ports.
With galvanic isolation, the surge goes no further then the port it came in to. Think of it like a fuse.
This product offers configurations for multimode and communications upto 2km and single mode operations for up to 40km.
What distance will you need to transmit?
If you have any questions, feel free to post or email.
Hope this helps.
God Bless,