Electical Contractor

Every fiber in an installed fiber optic cable needs testing for loss. The insertion loss test is the standard test required by every network and cabling standard around the world. Superficially, loss testing is easy.

Since the beginning of fiber optics, groups such as the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have worked to create standards. Standards are mandatory for technologies to move from R&D to large-scale commercial applications.

Contractors and installers generally are concerned with cabling, not networks. Installing and testing cabling to standards such as TIA-568 is the heart of their voice/data/video work. Cabling standards writers are primarily concerned with performance and interoperability.

Every year, fiber optics gains more converts and more market share. And each year, many of its proponents predict the demise of copper wiring. Don't believe it-not yet.

Moving your network into the future takes time, initiative and planning. But most of all, it takes knowledge. Both the installer and the end-user need to understand what is available and what is feasible.

Use the Web to keep up with the latest information Most fiber optic installers get started by taking a short class or seminar that covers the basics. That usually means a half-hour lecture each on fiber optic technology, how it is used for networks and the various components.

Signs, sensors and nondestructive testing Most contractors, as installers of building cabling systems and those involved with telephone companies, CATV or utility outside plant installations, are familiar with fiber optics.

Where did these terms come from? Rarely do I present a fiber optic seminar without getting some questions on what some connectors terminology means, and often I’m questioned on how such a term originated.

Careful documentation can help Gone are the days when all fiber optic cables were the same. Most building cables had 62.5/125 micron multimode fibers for LANs or security systems, while outside plant cables were all single-mode fiber.