Cabling Chronicles

Expert Profile: Vangie Michenzi, Senior Fiber Optic Project Manager, Advanced Communication Technology Services Part 1 of 3

Part 1 of a three-part series

Even though their work is essential to today’s world, you don’t hear much about the professionals who build and maintain the world’s communications networks.  While their exploits may not have the wide interest of reality TV stars or politicians, I bet that you, like me, find them a lot more interesting.   Tune into the Cabling Chronicles and follow along with us as we share #CablingStories from around the world.

January 30, 2019

Importance of Cable Verification, Qualification and Certification

When it comes to testing a cabling installation, there are essentially three choices--verification, qualification and certification.

While some features overlap between test tools as you move up the hierarchical ladder from verification to certification, each type of testing answers one of the following questions to help you make the right choice.

January 23, 2019

Learn from the Experts at the BICSI Winter Conference!

Learn from the Experts at the BICSI Winter Conference!

Planning to attend the upcoming BICSI Winter Conference & Exhibition on January 20 - 24 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, FL?

Fluke Networks’ experts will be offering plenty of educational opportunities to learn all about PoE, fiber best practices and how to make sure your next singlemode fiber project is on the right path. 

January 15, 2019

Insertion Loss Should Be a Positive Number

Insertion loss, or the loss of signal that happens along the length of a fiber optic link, is expressed in dBs and should always be a positive number. But it can be a negative number (which isn’t a good thing).

Return loss, which measures the amount of light reflected back toward the source, is also expressed in dBs and is always a positive number. A high return loss is a good thing and usually results in low insertion loss.

January 8, 2019

101 Series: Know Your Fiber Connectors

Fiber optic connectors include plugs that feature a protruding ferrule that holds the fiber in place and an associated adapter for aligning and mating fibers to form a connection point. The first ferrules introduced in the 1970s were comprised of metal or a hard plastic, and then in the mid-1980s, the introduction of the ceramic ferrule improved alignment and allowed for lower insertion loss.

January 2, 2019

Beauty Isn’t Skin Deep

While neatly combed bundles of cables might look really nice in exposed overhead cable trays and in racks and cabinets, this aesthetically pleasing deployment isn’t always a thing of beauty when it comes to performance.

Sometimes this can be hard to explain to your customers who seem to care more about how the cable looks versus how well their data transmits.

December 27, 2018

Happy Holidays from All of Us at Fluke Networks!

'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the NOC,
Technicians were testing, their eyes on the clock.
The connectors terminated with the utmost care
In hopes there would be not a single bit err.

The Versiv set up, all ready to test
And give the results to put us at rest,
With the best fiber tech and her CertiFiber Pro
Prepared for Tier 2 with launch set to go.

December 18, 2018

Going the Distance

A couple of weeks ago, we published a Cabling Chronicles Blog about exceptions to the 100-meter (m) channel length rule and the fact that you can’t necessarily go the full distance due to temperature rise, gauge size and subsequent insertion loss and DC resistance.  But did you know that you can also EXCEED the 100 m length? Let’s take a look at that scenario. 

December 11, 2018

What Ever Happened to Category 7?

If you Google “What ever happened to,” all the top search results have to do with past celebrities or that creepy 1962 Joan Crawford and Bette Davis thriller about Baby Jane.

And if you finish your Google search to ask, “What ever happened to Category 7,” all you end up with is the hypothetical hurricane rating that one TV mini-series dubbed “the end of the world.” In other words, Category 7 cable was apparently not popular enough to make the Google search cut.

December 5, 2018

An Exception to Every Rule

An Exception to Every Rule

You’re watching a baseball game, the batter hits a fair infield fly ball, and the umpire calls the batter out even though the ball isn’t caught.

You might be thinking, “Hey, that’s not the rule.” But in fact, if the umpire judges that the ball “can” be caught by an infielder with runners on first and second base (or bases loaded) and there’s less than two outs, it’s considered an “infield fly” and the batter is out to prevent a double or triple play. 

November 28, 2018