Cable Test Vademecum
While it may look and feel like a fiber patch cord, Test Reference Cords, or TRCs for short, are not patch cords. There’s a little something different about these cords that are used for certifying fiber cabling systems to ANSI/TIA, ISO/IEC and IEEE standards.
Tips to Identify Copper Clad Aluminium (CCA) Cables
So you came across some Category 6 cable available online for practically half what you've been paying for that brand name. It claims it includes the UL listing mark and even has a ETL verification legend printed right on the cable. Before you get too excited, you might want to make sure that cable isn't made with copper clad aluminum (CCA).
Multimode vs. Singlemode
Singlemode fiber is however growing in popularity in shorter-reach applications due to its inherently higher bandwidth capabilities, and more technicians are faced with installing both singlemode and multimode fiber plants. It occurred to us that not everyone understands the technical differences between the two fiber types. Let’s take a closer look.
The lastest on MPO Testing - Whats New?
With the wide variety of standards relating to fiber optic cabling, the absence of published standards for testing fiber optic cabling terminated with MPO connectors might come as a surprise. A technical report (TR), that provides such testing guidance - it is TR/IEC 61282-15. Here is a sneak preview of the introduction from TR/IEC 61282-15 MPO testing technical report, paraphrased:
Interference coming from outside sources are a minor problem for cable performance, but the interference between the cables in a run has become a significant issue. This is the reason why the requirements for testing for Alien Crosstalk (AXT) were implemented. Since shielded cabling greatly reduces AXT, the value of a shielded cable is apparent. And that’s how the systems are designed. But as experienced installers know, just because something is designed a certain way, doesn’t mean that’s how it’s going to end up in the field.