New:
The FOA Fiber FAQs
Page (FAQ s = frequently asked questions) gathers up
questions readers have asked us and adds tech topics of
general interest.
WiFi,
DAS or Small Cell?
Nothing
provides perspective better than looking at something as an
outsider. Especially an outsider who's just trying to understand
something instead of an insider trying to perform successfully
while being an insider. That's how we feel about wireless
communications. If you say "wireless" to an IT or LAN person,
they think WiFi. But to a telecom person they think cellular.
FOA's involvement is based on trying to understand the
infrastructure to support wireless, OSP or premises, WiFi or
cellular, tower site or small cell.
We're basically outsiders on the technology looking at the
infrastructure to support them. Recently we've been trying to
understand the technologies, markets and applications for both
to better include the two technologies in our training and
certification programs.
The initial question we had dealt with distinguishing DAS
(distributed antenna systems for cellular) and small cells (also
cellular). In most ways they seem to be very similar, except
perhaps DAS is indoors and small cells outdoors.
We've started to interview insiders in both technologies to try
to understand how they work and why we should have both. Right
off, we found that there appears to be a general lack of
technical understanding about the other from almost everybody we
talk to who works with one of them. And we're talking real
basics - what frequencies are used, protocols, coverage,
bandwidth, etc. etc. etc. Even the jargon is different, but
that's not unexpected. So we've tried to consolidate information
on the three different premises wireless technologies
appropriate for general usage. Over time we expect to refine
this comparison with more data and user feedback. (got any? send
it to us)
Based on the current evaluation, WiFi is essential to premises
spaces and because of the ubiquity of WiFi, it is inexpensive.
However, WiFi connections for cellular mobile devices appears to
have not yet been refined sufficiently to provide reliable
coverage for cellular voice, but data is good and video, maybe.
Given the cost structure of data plans, using cellular for video
can be very expensive but WiFi is preferable since it is only
limited by bandwidth.
The choice between small cell and DAS in premises spaces is
simple - small cells are generally single carrier connections
and that is too limiting for most users. DAS is similar
technology but has the advantage of offering multiple service
providers. If better cellular service is desired indoors and
WiFi connections for cellular calls is unreliable, a DAS is the
best solution.
Small cells appear to be a good solution for better cellular
service outdoors in metropolitan areas but the capital costs for
building systems is quite high - Deloitte, you might remember
from an earlier FOA Newsletter, forecast a cost of over $200
billion. It makes one wonder if the carriers can make that
investment while simultaneously investing in 5G.
Premises Wireless Comparison
Premises
Wireless
|
WiFi |
DAS
(Cellular)
|
Small
Cell
(Cellular) |
| Connects
to: |
PCs,
tablets, phones, many other devices |
Phones,
tablets, some other devices |
Phones,
tablets, some other devices |
| Usage |
Free,
sponsored |
Paid |
Paid |
| Origin |
Private,
LAN |
Public,
telco |
Public,
telco |
| Frequency
Ranges |
Unlicensed
2.5GHz (802.11n, 14 - 40MHz channels, 3 max
non-overlapping)
5GHz (802.11ac or 802.11n, 24 - 80 MHz channels,
23 max non-overlapping)(more bandwidth, less range) |
Licensed
3G: 850, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz
4G/LTE: 600, 700, 850, 1700, 1900, 2100, 2300,
2500 MHz
CBRS (Citizens band Radio Service, shared, unlicensed):
3600 MHz, 20MHz channels,
5G: Eur: 24-27GHz, US: 37-48GHz, 71-74GHz |
Licensed
3G: 850, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz
4G/LTE: 600, 700, 850, 1700, 1900, 2100, 2300,
2500 MHz
CBRS (Citizens band Radio Service, shared, unlicensed):
3600 MHz, 20MHz
channels,
5G: Eur: 24-27GHz, US: 37-48GHz, 71-74GHz |
| Connects
to: |
Internet |
Multiple
telco carriers |
Single
telco carrier |
| Mobility |
Log
in to each new private system required, limited handoffs
between WiFi systems or WiFi and cellular
|
Seamless
handoffs |
Seamless
handoffs subject to coverage |
| BYOD
(bring your own device) |
OK |
OK |
Depends
on service provider device connects to |
| Optimized
for |
Data |
3G:
voice
4G/LTE/5G: data |
3G:
voice
4G/LTE/5G: data |
| Data:
Max data rate: |
802.11n:
~35-300Mb/s
802.11ac: ~400Mb/s - 7 Gb/s (MIMO) |
4G/LTE:
~100Mb/s
5G: ~Gb/s (proposed) |
4G/LTE:
~100Mb/s
5G: ~Gb/s (proposed) |
| Voice |
VoIP:
good
Cellular on WiFi: not optimal, depends on
device/carrier/implementation
|
Good
with proper coverage |
Good
with proper coverage |
| Video |
Good |
4G/LTE:
marginal, expensive
5G: Good (proposed), cost? |
4G/LTE:
marginal, expensive
5G: Good (proposed), cost? |
Cabling
(typical)
|
Fiber
backbone to Cat 5, POE
|
Fiber,
sometimes Cat 5
|
Fiber,
sometimes Cat 5 |
Summary
|
Best
for data on PCs, tablets, smartphones, good for VoIP
systems, marginal on cellular devices
|
Best
for cellular devices since can cover all service
providers, not optimal for high throughput data (today,
future 5G ?)
|
Good
for cellular devices but can cover only one service
provider, not optimal for high throughput data (today,
future 5G ?)
|
Resource
For Small, Private FTTH Systems
Phil
Trubey worked with his homeowners association to research and
develop a FTTH network. In doing this, he researched FTTH
thoroughly (including FOA). He's created a website to share
what he learned. FTTH.Build
is an informational site for HOAs and small communities
on how to build your own Fiber To The Home gigabit Internet
network.
This web site is to help Home Owners Associations and other
small communities who are looking to build their own fiber
optic network to provision gigabit Internet for their
residents. It assumes that you are on your own, and no telecom
carrier is interested is building out a fiber network for your
area. Methods described here are applicable to communities
ranging in size from a couple of hundred residents to 20,000
or more residents.
Visit http://ftth.build
FOA
Connector Survey
FOA wants
to know what connector termination types you are using in your
installation work. Please take our survey and provide the
information requested so we can tabulate results and report in
the FOA Newsletter. For the typical types of connector
termination processes, approximately what percentage of your
work do they represent?
Write the number in the boxes in the survey form - e.g. 0%, 15%,
etc.
We'll leave the survey open for another month or two to get
more input.
Take
the FOA Connector Survey
Results through November, 2018
Prepolished splice: 10%
SOC fusion splice on connectors: 12%
Fusion spliced pigtails: 61%
Adhesive polish: 18%
FOA
Master Instructor Retires From Teaching, Helps FOA Members
With Websites
Many
times in this newsletter, we've run news and comments from FOA
Master Instructor Bob Ballard. This year, Bob sold his training
company and retired from teaching. That doesn't mean he's
sitting back in a rocking chair however. He and his wife bought
a farm with a historic house in the Northeast US and he still
keeps up with his hobbies like treasure hunting (we're not sure
about the hot rods or homebuilt airplanes, though.) FOA will
miss Bob and his contributions to the FOA. Bob recently sent us
this note about his history with the FOA and what he's doing
now.
From Bob: As I look to the past and ponder the
toils, tasks, relationships, possibilities, probabilities, and
success formulas of building one of the largest fiber optics
training companies in the world, I cannot recall an instance
where I did not have the assistance of Jim and Karen
Hayes. Their incredible knowledge and foresight helped
make all things possible.
In the beginning (circa 1999) when I had a few three-ringed
binders, some old "twist-on" connectors, a great attitude, and a
well-used projector, I presented the idea of fiber education
partnerships with community colleges to Jim and Karen. It
was not long before we mutually agreed that this would be an
excellent idea. Since I was based in Austin, Texas, I
mailed a letter along with my proposed "curriculum" to Mr. Bob
McGoldrick, Continuing Education Coordinator at Austin Community
College, at that time. I was very optimistic about my
offer to his campus and confident I would soon hear from
him. After three weeks I still had no reply and came to
the disappointed conclusion that my proposal to bring fiber
optics courses to ACC had fallen on deaf ears.
However, one afternoon about a week later, I received a phone
call from Bob saying he had reviewed my materials and would like
to meet with me to discuss a partnership. During our
meeting, Bob and I talked about the great need for fiber optics
technician training in the marketplace. Recognizing that
this technology was the media of the future for fiber to the
home and long-distance voice, video, and data transmission, we
agreed on a mutually beneficial financial package and a proposed
schedule. My new company became a reality. At that
time, I had no website, very little equipment, and a limited
supply of student handouts. Additionally, I was only
offering the three-day CFOT course.
The award of the ACC contract prompted me to send out a mailer
to 50 or 60 additional campuses that were within one or two days
driving distance. After a few weeks, I had not one but
five campus partners under contract! I had also created an
excellent website to market my company and had gathered the
tools and equipment I needed for my growing enterprise. I
soon developed more campus partners around the country and, at
one time, had 5 contract instructors and 36 campuses under
contract. None of this would have been possible without
Jim and Karen Hayes of the FOA. As a result of my
relationship with them over the past 30 years and the fact that
I had outstanding instructors working with me, I was able to
build one of the largest and most successful FOA fiber optics
training schools in the U.S.
As of August 1, 2018, I sold that company. I am now
starting a new company in a different arena--website
development. Because of my past business experiences and
successes, I realized there was a great need for a high-quality,
low-cost website design company. Hence, I created www.econowebsites.org
and am offering a 10% discount on products and services to all
veterans and FOA-certified technicians. With the
continuing assistance of Jim and Karen Hayes, I am confident
Econowebsites.Org will further the mission of the FOA and, also,
contribute to the success of aspiring entrepreneurs.
I trust that out of the thousands of students who attended my
classes over the years, I was able to positively impact the
lives of at least a few individuals and that I can continue to
do so with the help of the FOA.
As a part-time treasure hunter, I am still seeking that elusive
hoard of treasure! The banner of photos above has some
interesting photos of a few of my recent finds from treasure
hunting. The 3rd photo from the left shows coins and
artifacts dug up near a Roman village in Milton Keynes, England,
which remain in the possession of the very excited
landowner. The other photos are of my shark "friends" from
a past dive. I call them "friends" because I was not on
their menu at the time. Currently, I am working on a house
in my area that was built in 1764 in which descendants of the
original family are still living. There are numerous structures
on the 13-acre tract that even predate the house. I hope
to report on that "hunt" in the near future.
Anyone seeking information about my web page services can give
me a call at: 717-344-1277 or email me at: bob@econowebsites.org
How
Does An FOA School Serve Multiple Locations?
Aaron Holverson, Network Communications Instructor at Southwest
Wisconsin Technical College sent us a photo of their
trailer used to transport their fiber optic lab between
facilities at SWTC. That's a great way to promote the courses in
fiber optics and networks offered at SWTC every semester. And
thanks to Aaron for the promotion of the FOA with the logo on
the trailer.
They've
ALL Got It All Wrong
This
topic is now covered on the FOA
Fiber FAQs Page (FAQ s = frequently asked questions)
Why do
so many people think are stripping the cladding from the core
when prepping to cleave MM and SM fiber? To FOA,
it seems important to understand where this misinformation
comes from. We did an image search on the Internet for
drawings of optical fiber. Here is what we found:
 
Everybody else (L) and FOA
(R)
EVERY
fiber drawing we found on the Internet search with one exception
(which we will show in a second) showed the same thing - the
core of the fiber separate sticking out of the cladding and the
cladding sticking out of the primary buffer coating. Those
drawings are not all from websites that you might expect some
technical inaccuracies, several were from fiber or other fiber
optic component manufacturers and one was from a company
specializing in highly technical fiber research equipment.
The only drawing we found that does not show the core separate
from the cladding was, no surprise, on the FOA
Guide page on optical fiber.
Special Request: To everyone in the fiber optic industry
who has a website with a drawing on it that shows the core
of optical fiber separate from the cladding, can you please
change the drawing or at the very least add a few words to
tell readers that in glass optical fiber the core and
cladding are all part of one strand of glass and when you
strip fiber, you strip the primary buffer coating down to
the 125 micron OD of the cladding?
TIA
Fiber Optic Tech Consortium Has New Website
The TIA
FOTC, a group of TIA companies that promote fiber use, has a new
website with lots of information on the organization, it's
webinars and white papers. It also has a section on member news
that includes new products and applications.
https://www.tiafotc.org
For most
certifications, the FOA has focused on what happens after the
cable has been pulled or placed - cable preparation, splicing,
termination and testing. In our CFOT, CFOS/O OSP and CPCT
premises training programs, we discuss installing cables prior
to those processes in general terms. But there is a lot of
construction, especially in outside plant (OSP) networks, that
precedes the splicing, termination and testing of the cable
plant.
Several years ago, FOA Master Instructor Joe Botha of Triple
Play Fibre Optics in South Africa began teaching a course on OSP
construction and kindly allowed the FOA to publish the textbook
for his course as
the FOA
Outside Plant Fiber Optics Construction Guide. This
book has been quite popular, since it covers fiber optic cable
plant construction from site survey to complete cable
installation for underground, buried and aerial cable plants.
FOA has just completed an update of Joe's material and created a
new section of the FOA
Guide on OSP
Construction. We've expanded some sections to
include more on cable pulling, blowing and aerial construction
with lashed and ADSS cables. The FOA has extensive material
available in our textbooks and online FOA Guide on what is
involved in the fiber installation process (cable installation,
preparation, splicing, termination and testing), so consider
this the textbook for the construction processes that occur
before the typical FOA CFOT-certified techs begin their work.
Included in this new Guide is comprehensive information on new
techniques like air-blown cables using microcables and
microducts. It also covers aerial cable installation more
thoroughly than is typically found in websites or literature.
Microcable training at Triple-Play Fibre with a midspan figure
8.
The audience for this new section of the FOA Guide includes the
management of organizations owning or installing fiber optic
cable plants, designers or estimators of the cable plant, as
well as the actual CFOT certified techs doing the installation
work. It is intended to provide background information on the
entire project and in conjunction with the other FOA information
on basic fiber, OSP fiber, design and testing, provide complete
information on all stages of a fiber optic communications
project.
The
FOA Guide to OSP Construction
Now that we
have the FOA Guide on OSP Construction, we can do a free Fiber U
online course on the subject. The new Fiber
U Course On OSP Construction includes a
review of fiber optic technology for those just getting started
or looking for an update, a lesson on project preparation, then
covers underground construction, underground cable installation,
aerial cable construction and installation, then leads you to
the next steps in OSP construction, splicing, termination and
testing.
This Fiber U course is aimed at managers of fiber optic
projects, either with the network owner or the contractor
building it, want to know how this construction is done and how
it needs to be designed, estimated and construction. It is also
appropriate for installers and contractors who are involved in
the construction process also.
Take the free Fiber
U Course On OSP Construction here.
As we researched products and installation practices for
the new OSP Construction sections, we came across some
interesting products and services. See
OSP
Construction below.
STOLEN
OTDR
This Yokogawa
AQ7275 OTDR
S/N
C3RL18030F was
stolen from the FOA in Santa Monica around July 26-27. Since the
thief probably doesn't know what it is, it may show up on eBay
or Craigslist or other online markets. If you have any
information on this OTDR, contact the FOA at info@foa.org.
New
FiberNext Job Board And Savings Club For CFOTs
FOA
Approved School FiberNext
has created an online job board for fiber techs and a special
"savings club" for CFOTs.
Job
Board
The
Job Board was designed to help connect employers with fiber
technicians and other fiber optic professionals. It is a place
where employers in the fiber optic market can post job
openings and a place where fiber optic professionals can post
that they are looking for employment. Please feel free to post
an opening or browse for your next job or employee. https://fibernext.com/job_board.php
Savings Club
FiberNext, besides being an FOA approved school is also a
distributor. FiberNext invites FOA CFOT®s to join the “FiberNext
CFOT® Club to get special savings on selected fiber optic
products. Visit https://fibernext.com/cfot_club.php to
sign up today ”
Recycling
Fiber Optic Cable
We
received this note from Steve Maginnis, LD4Recycle/ CommuniCom
Recycling on recycling fiber optic cable:
We have 3 Processors gearing up to accept fiber optic
cable (FOC). As we all know, all FOC is not the same. Several
truckloads of “typical” FOC scrap from FOC mfgrs and “typical”
FOC and Coax cable have been studied and tested.
Therefore, today you can begin contacting me with the type FOC
material or scrap you toss to the landfills today. We need to
quantify the expected feedstock. Our expectation for quantities
is quite large (tons) but there is a capacity limit. And I do
have several processors that can take ALL materials and others
that can accept LIMITED types of FOC material and quantity.
Contact:
Steve Maginnis
LD4Recycle/ CommuniCom Recycling
(Visit our new
website)
sm@LD4Recycle.com
803.371.5436
Safety
On The Job
Safety is
the most important part of any job. Installers need to
understand the safety issues to be safe. An excellent guide to
analyzing job hazards is from OSHA, the US Occupational Safety
and Health Administration. Here
is a link to their guide for job hazard analysis.
Investigators
Eye Fiber Optic Work in Deadly Wisconsin Gas Explosion
Firefighter
killed, nine injured, and three buildings destroyed in
downtown Sun Prairie, Wis.
A hole punched into a 4-in.-dia gas pipeline during
fiber-optic line laying is blamed for an explosion that killed a
34-year-old fire captain and injured nine other people,
including four firefighters, in downtown Sun Prairie, Wis., on
July 10. The injured were treated at nearby hospitals and have
since been released. The blast destroyed three buildings,
including the Barr House, a tavern at 100 Main St. that was
owned by the deceased fire captain, Cory Barr.
Sun Prairie Fire Chief Chris Garrison said at a news conference
that after the leak was initially reported at 6:20 PM CDT, first
responders established a 300-ft-dia "hot zone" in the area and
evacuated about 65 people before the explosion occurred. "The
rapid response of firefighters, EMS and police saved a lot of
lives," Garrison said. "This could have been a lot more tragic
than it was."
The owner of the fiber-optics network is Verizon Wireless, which
confirmed in a statement that it had contracted with Bear
Communications "to provide a fiber backhaul for our networks."
It added that no Verizon employees were present at the job site.
"Verizon does contract with local providers in various markets
to provide fiber backhaul for our networks," the Verizon
statement said. "While we have not been contacted about the
investigation, both we and Bear are prepared to work with law
enforcement, public safety and public officials as they
investigate this tragic situation."
Read
the story in ENR. And the final
report by the NTSB details the mistakes made by the
contractor.
FOA also has lots of information on safety: FOA
Guide, YouTube
video and a Safety
Poster
Best
Practices Guide For Underground Construction
We assume
you are familiar with the "One Call" and "Call Before You Dig"
(811) program, but are you also familiar with the people behind
it - the Common Ground Alliance and their Best Practices
website?
CGA
is a member-driven association of 1,700 individuals,
organizations and sponsors in every facet of the underground
utility industry. Established in 2000, CGA is committed to
saving lives and preventing damage to underground
infrastructure by promoting effective damage prevention
practices. CGA has established itself as the leading
organization in an effort to reduce damages to underground
facilities in North America through shared responsibility
among all stakeholders.
Officially
formed in 2000, the CGA represents a continuation of the
damage prevention efforts embodied by the Common
Ground Study.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation and
completed in 1999, this Study represents the collaborative
work of 160 industry professionals who identified best
practices relating to damage prevention. Any
best practice or program endorsed by the CGA comes with
consensus support from experts representing the following
stakeholder groups: Excavators, Locators, Road Builders,
Electric, Telecommunications, Oil, Gas Distribution, Gas
Transmission, Railroad, One Call, Public Works, Equipment
Manufacturing, State Regulators, Insurance, Emergency
Services and Engineering/Design.
Read
the CGA Best Practices Guide here.
Here
are all the CGA resources for damage prevention.
A Short
(Pictorial) History Of Modern Telecommunications
FOA has
been asked a lot of questions about how modern
telecommunications developed. We've been adding information
about the history to some of our seminars and recently to our
curriculum presentations. The
FOA history follows the development of modern communications
through Bell, Marconi, De Forest, Shannon, Kao and the
personnel at Corning and Bell Labs who have made modern
communications possible.
Morse and his telegraph
We think you will find A
Short History of Modern Telecommunications
interesting. Next we'll add articles on LANs and structured
cabling and the development of fiber optics.
Trivia for photographers: this photo of Morse was taken
not long after photography began in America - the early
1840s. The original is now on display in the Getty Center
in LA as part of an exhibition of early American
photographs.
FOA
Facts
FOA is a
non-profit professional society whose members are all certified
techs - mostly CFOT®s
-Certified Fiber Optic Technicians - but also may be CPCTs -
Certified Premises Cabling Technicians or corporate
members involved in fiber optics.
FOA is a "virtual organization" - we have no "brick and mortar"
presence. We operate over the Internet with operations centered
in California, with active workers and volunteers in locations
as diverse as Texas, Ohio, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Denmark,
South Africa, the Middle East and many more.
Being a virtual organization, FOA has very low overhead,
allowing us to offer cost-effective certifications and many free
programs to support our industry.
As of today, FOA has certified this many techs. About 90% come
from our schools but many experienced techs have become FOA
CFOT-certified directly through our "Work-to-Cert"
program.
FOA has almost 200 approved training organizations in about 40
countries around the world around the world.
FOA has 14
fiber optic certification programs covering every aspect
of fiber optic network design, installation and operation.
Primary
Certifications: CFOT (basic fiber), CPCT (premises cabling),
CFOS/O (outside plant, taught with CFOT included) and CFOS/D
(fiber optic network design).
Skills Certifications (for installers and techs, requires
CFOT): CFOS/S (splicing), CFOS/C (connectors/termination),
CFOS/T (testing), CFOS/FC (fiber characterization).
Applications Certifications (for techs or anyone, including
managers and supervisors): FTTH (fiber to the home), CFOS/L
(optical LANs), CFOS/DC (data centers), CFOS/A (fiber to the
antenna), CFOS/DAS (distributed antenna systems) and CFOS/W
(fiber for wireless)
FOA monitors the trade press, websites and other
resources continually to look at what's happening in many
technologies that affect fiber optics. We're tracing
technologies as diverse as wireless, IoT, autonomous vehicles,
smart cities, energy, or anywhere fiber is used to bring news to
our readers.
FOA continually updates our technical materials, online and
printed, and our curriculum to ensure our readers have access to
the latest technical information and our schools teach the
latest technology and applications. Our printed books are being
updated right now.
FOA created the
FOA Online Guide as a non-commercial trustworthy technical
reference almost a decade ago so the industry would have a
reliable technical reference. In the last year, over 1million
visitors downloaded about 4 million pages of technical
information.
FOA offers free online self-study programs at Fiber
U. In 2017, the number of online sessions doubled to
200,000. Many of those are preparing for FOA certification
programs - taking courses at our schools or using the "Work-to-Cert"
program. Some of our schools are requiring Fiber U programs as
prerequisites for their classroom courses so they can spend more
time on hands-on activities.
FOA offers over 100 educational YouTube
videos that have been viewed 2.4 million times.
FOA offers its training programs to other organizations at no
cost to help them train their members properly in fiber optics.
For example, FOA has been working with the Electrical Training
Alliance (IBEW/NECA) for over 20 years, training their
instructors for their apprenticeship programs. We work with many
other organizations and companies to provide the materials they
need.
FOA has about 300 corporate
members - companies in various aspects of the fiber optic
industry worldwide that we list online and offer discounts on
certifications and renewals.
FOA provides speakers for many conferences and even
presentations for use by other organizations to educate people
on the aspects of fiber optic communications.
FOA has a program to provide classroom
materials for STEM
teachers (science, technology, engineering and math)
introducing K-12 students to fiber optics and creating science
projects.
FOA provides forums for discussion on various social media. Our
LinkedIn groups have about 5,000 members each. If you are not
joining us on social media yet, please do.
New
From FOA
Keeping
Up To Date
FOA
believes that tech information must be kept up to date, so we
are often updating our books. Along with the changes we make to
the books, we update the FOA Guide with the same materials. Here
is a rundown of the 2018 updates of The
FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics, The
FOA Reference Guide To Outside Plant Fiber Optics and
The
FOA Reference Guide To Premises Cabling.
The FOA Reference Guide To Fiber Optics has been updated
to cover some new technology like bend-insensitive fiber, OM5
fiber, SOCs (fusion splice-on connectors), microcables and
microducts. We added information on datalinks on a single fiber
like PONs, DWDM and CWDM. We expanded the chapter on testing to
include much more information on visual
inspection and connector cleaning,
OTDRs and Fiber Characterization. The same updates have been
made to the online material in Fiber
Optics - The Basics in the FOA
Guide online
Premises cabling has not been standing still either. We did many
updates to the The
FOA Reference Guide To Premises Cabling this time. We
updated the cable types to include Cat 8, added a section on
PoE (power over Ethernet), explained the nomenclature used
in the latest TIA 568 standards, added information on POLs
(passive optical LANs), DAS (distributed antenna systems for
cellular) and a complete new Appendix on Data Centers. In
the fiber optic chapter, we expanded the material on fiber
to include POLs, visual inspection and connector cleaning
and OTDR testing. The
same updates have been made to the online material in Premises
Cabling in the FOA
Guide online. We also
added a new page just on
PoE (Power over Ethernet) to explain its background,
applications and potential issues.
We have also updated the FOA Reference Guide To Outside
Plant FIber Optics. It has
been updated to cover some new technology like
bend-insensitive fiber, OM5 fiber, SOCs (fusion splice-on
connectors), microcables and microducts. We added information
on datalinks on a single fiber like PONs, DWDM and CWDM. We
expanded the chapter on testing to include much more
information on visual
inspection and connector cleaning,
OTDRs and Fiber Characterization.
So if you look up information on the FOA
Guide online
or purchase a FOA printed textbook you will now have the latest
information. Since we've been updating our reference materials
used for training, the related courses on Fiber
U are updated also. Finally, we're updating our curriculum
used by FOA approved schools to ensure their students get the
latest information.
This is just another way that FOA tries to make the most
up-to-date, technically correct information available to
everyone in the industry.
Have
You Downloaded Your Copy Of The Updated ANSI/NECA/FOA Fiber
Optic Installation Standard Yet?
Available
Free Courtesy of FOA
NECA/FOA-301was
created to be a document that could be used as a guide to
installation practices and also be quoted in project paperwork
to define what was meant by installation in a "neat and
workmanlike manner." This standard was the first standard to
approach the issues of installation of fiber optics in a
document that could be used by network owners, project
managers, contractors, installers, test techs, maintenance
personnel and even the manufacturers making the products being
installed following this standard.
Go
here for more information on NECA/FOA-301
and directions for a free download.
FOA's
Newest Textbook - Fiber Optic Testing
FOA
Reference Guide To Fiber Optic Testing
Libro
de Diseño para Redes de Fibra Óptica en
Español - FOA
Design Book Available In Spanish - Online
FOA has translated the FOA Guide To Fiber
Optic Network Design book and made it available online to
those studying for the CFOS/D Certification but whose native
language is Spanish. You
can access the Spanish translation of the Design book here.
A printed version will be available in the near future.
Interested
In A Career In Fiber Optics?
FOA has created a new YouTube video to introduce students to
careers in fiber optics. It was made for showing to high school
and junior high students interested in tech careers but anyone
interested in a possible career in this field will find it
interesting. If you have kids in school or know teachers, let
them know about this too. Watch the FOA
Careers In Fiber Optics Video on YouTube and visit the FOA
Careers In Fiber Optics web page at www.foa.org/careers/.
The word on
the "Dig Once" program is getting out - FOA is getting calls
from cities asking us for information and advice. It helps that
the current Administration is trying to convince cities of the
advantages of installing ducts or conduits when they dig up a
street so they don't have to do it again. Here are some links
for more information.
The DoT page on the administration’s Executive Order: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/otps/exeorder.cfm
From the Council of State governments: http://www.csg.org/pubs/capitolideas/enews/cs41_1.aspx
From the city of San Francisco: http://sfgov.org/dt/dig-once
An article about Dakota County, MN: https://muninetworks.org/tags/tags/dig-once
And
the one to download and hand out:
A “How To” Guide from The Global Connect Initiative: https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/6.-GCI-Dig-Once.pdf
Useful
Online Resources
We often
have contacts give us online links for useful information which
we like to share with our readers. Here are two:
Why
We Warn You To Be Careful About Fiber Shards
Photo courtesy Brian Brandstetter, Mississauga
Training Consultants
1-844-440-0047
www.fiberoptictraining.com
Another
Source Of Articles On Fiber
FOA
President and editor of this newsletter Jim Hayes has also been
writing a column in Electrical
Contractor Magazine for more than 15 years now. Electrical
contractors do lots of fiber work and this column has covered
some toics they are interested in including installation
processes, network design, fiber applications and in the last
year, a lengthy series on dark fiber - what it is, how's its
used and how it benefits the growth of communication. A recent
web site redesign makes it easier to browse all these articles -
just go to http://www.ecmag.com/contributing-authors/jim-hayes
and you can see all of them.
Fiber
Optic Education For Students At Any Age
We hear
about fiber optics all the time - it's in the news whenever we
hear articles about high tech, the Internet and communications,
and many communities are getting "fiber to the home." But few
people really understand fiber optics or how it works. FOA is
focused on educating the workforce that installs and operates
these fiber optic networks but we're always getting inquiries
from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) teachers
who want to introduce fiber optics to younger students in K-12
grades or technical schools.
We
start with the FOA
Careers In Fiber Optics Video on YouTube and visit the FOA
Careers In Fiber Optics web page at www.foa.org/careers/.
These are for students who think they might be interested in
careers in fiber optics and want to know more about what fiber
techs do.
Using red laser light (a VFL here but a laser pointer works
also) to show how fiber guides light.
FOA has begun developing a series of YouTube videos intended for
teaching students in elementary, middle and high schools about
fiber optics. The first FOA video is titled "Fiber
Optics For Teachers." With this video, we show teachers
how fiber works and carries signals and then explains simple
experiments to demonstrate how fiber optics works in the
classroom using some plastic fiber and a laser pointer. Since
many teachers do not know where to get the fiber, the FOA offers
to send them a sample for use in demonstrations in their
classroom (USA only right now.)
At the end of the video, teachers are given directions on how to
request samples of the plastic fiber from the FOA.
This video joins the "Fiber Optics Live" series How
Light Travels In A Fiber, Fiber
Attenuation and Connector
Loss that show how fiber works using simple experiments
that can be duplicated in any classroom. More videos will be
coming soon.
If you have kids or know some teachers who would be interested,
please send them to the introductory video Fiber
Optics For Teachers and we'll be glad to help them
get started with some entertaining programs for their
classrooms.
Resources
For Teachers In K-12 And Technical Schools
Teachers in all grades can introduce their students to fiber
optic technology with some simple demonstrations. FOA has
created a page for STEM or STEAM (science, technology,
engineering, arts
and math) teachers with materials appropriate to their
classes. Fiber Optic
Resources For Teachers.
If
you have kids in school or know teachers who are interested,
send them to the FOA page Fiber
Optic Resources For Teachers.
Should
Your Company Become An FOA Corporate Member?
As all FOA
individual
members know, they join the FOA by becoming certified,
mostly taking their CFOTs but some CPCTs, either by
attending a FOA approved school or joining directly based on
field experience (our "work to cert" program.) Over the years,
we've been contacted by manufacturers, contractors, consultants,
and other types of organizations who ask about becoming members.
We don't certify companies or organizations, we told them, so we
were not sure what we could offer as a benefit of membership.
But then, companies asked about using our educational programs
to train employees, how they could get listed on the FOA website
as service providers or if they could get a quantity discount on
membership or certification for all the FOA members working for
them. That began to sound like a benefit for being an FOA
corporate member. And providing a list of useful suppliers to
the market could be a benefit to the industry as a whole.
So FOA has quietly been letting companies and other
organizations join the FOA to take advantage of those benefits
so we now have several hundred corporate members. We've put then
into a database and listed them on the FOA website in map
and list
form. Here's the map.
The online map
and list
can be used to find suppliers and service providers.
The map, like our map of schools, lets you find the FOA
corporate members close to you. The table form lists them
by category: Installer/Contractor, Component Manufacturer,
Installation Equip. Manufacturer, Transmission Equipment,
Services/Consulting, Distribution and Users of Fiber Optic
Networks. You can sort the tables to find members meeting your
needs, e.g. by location, certifications offered, etc. Click on
any column heading to sort that column; click twice to sort in
reverse order.
How
Does An Organization Become An FOA Corporate Member?
Simple,
just fill in the online
application form. When your application is accepted, you
will be asked to pay the membership fee - $100US first
year, $50US/year or $100US/3years to renew. You will then be
listed on the online
map
and list,
have access to exclusive FOA educational materials for your
employees and get discounts on certifications and
renewals.
Events of
Interest: FOA
now posts events on our LinkedIn groups, Facebook page and
other social media
FOA
has a company page and three LinkedIn Groups
FOA
- official company page on LinkedIn
FOA
- covers FOA, technology and jobs in the fiber optic marketplace
FOA
Fiber Optic Training - open to all, covers fiber optic
technology and training topics
Grupo
de La Asociación de Fibra Óptica FOA (Español)
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TO INDEX
 What's
Happening @ FOA
FOA
Standards:
FOA offers free standards for datalinks and testing the
installed fiber optic cable plant, patchcords and cable, optical
power from transmitters or at receivers and OTDR testing. Look
for the "1
PageStandard" web page and in the FOA Online Reference
Guide.
NECA/FOA
301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard
Standards
cover components and systems and how to test them, but rarely
get into installation issues. The FOA NECA 301 standard which
covers installation of optical fiber systems has been revised
for the second time, adding considerable new materials. This
standard is derived from FOA educational material put in
standards form and approved by ANSI as an American National
Standard. It's specifically written to be used in contracts to
define "installation in a neat and workmanlike manner." The
standard is available from NECA.
FOA members can go
here for instructions on how to download your free copy.
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Free
Fiber U Self-Study Programs
FOA's
"Fiber U" free online self-study programs help you learn about
fiber optics, study for FOA certifications or use them to help
create "blended learning" classes. There are two new free online
self-study programs on Fiber
U. Fiber Optic Network Design is for those interested in
learning more about how to design fiber optic networks or
studying for the CFOS/D certification. FTTx is for those wanting
to know more about fiber to the "x" - curb, home, wireless, etc.
- or studying for the CFOS/H certification.
Got to Fiber U
for more information.
Fiber U
Online Self-Study Programs Offer Certificates of Completion
FOA has
been offering quite a few free online self-study programs on Fiber
U, our online learning site. We are always getting
questions about getting a certificate for completing the course
online, so we have setup an option to take a test online and get
a certificate of completion for these online courses.
While it's not FOA certification, FOA will recognize a Fiber
U Certificate of Completion as background experience to
qualify for applying for FOA certifications. We also intend to
expand the program to more specialized topics as preparation
for FOA specialist certifications.
If you have associates that want to get started in fiber,
have them take this course online to get started. Go to Fiber
U and get started.
FOA
Books And Publications
FOA
Basic Fiber Optic Textbook Now Also Available in French
and Spanish
FOA
Reference Guide To Fiber Optic Network Design And FOA's
Outside Plant Fiber Optic Construction Guide
Read
More about the FOA
Reference Guide To Fiber Optic Network Design
and
More
information on the FOA
Outside Plant Fiber Optics Construction Guide
Lennie
& Uncle Ted Guides - Perfect For Getting Started
Lennie
and Uncle
Ted's Guides have moved to the FOA website.
Lennie is the place where many if not most fiber techs
begin their education. FOA has just updated the two
guides to ensure they stay relevant - more than 20 years
after they were first written.
Lennie goes all the way back to 1993 when he was created
as the mascot of the original "Fiber U" conference - the
same Fiber U that is now the FOA's web-based training
site. Lennie
Lightwave's Guide To Fiber Optics was created
as a beginner's introduction to fiber optics. Over
60,000 printed version of Lennie's Guide were given away
and it became one of the first commercial web pages in
1994. Uncle Ted's
Guide To Communications Cabling was written a
few years later to introduce techs to "Cat 5" - UTP
wiring - that had only recently been standardized in
TIA-568.
Lennie and Ted's Guides are used in the current Fiber U
online self-study programs and are still the best place
to start learning about fiber optics.
Lennie
and Uncle
Ted's Guides are online at the links here, can be
downloaded as printable PDFs and are now also available
as free iBooks on iTunes.
Lennie
Lightwave's Guide to Fiber Optics and
Uncle
Ted's Guide To Communications Cabling
are now available free to iPad users who can download them from
the Apple iTunes store. Of course they are still available
online or for download.
You can also find these free guides on the FOA website - go here
for all the links: Lennie
Lightwave's Guide to Fiber Optics and Uncle
Ted's Guide To Communications Cabling
Download PDFs of Lennie
or Uncle Ted.
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TO INDEX
FOA
iPad Apps
FOA
LossCalc
 FOA
LossCalc estimates the optical loss of a fiber optic link. This
will save time for the installer of a fiber optic link needing
to know whether test results are reasonable and/or make a
"pass/fail" determination. It can also help the designer of a
link to determine if communications equipment will operate over
this link.
By choosing the type of link (singlemode or multimode) and
specifying the length of the fiber and numbers of connections
and splices, it will calculate the end to end loss of the link.
The app has default specifications for singlemode and multimode
links or the user may create custom setups with specifications
appropriate for any application. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/foa-losscalc/id476262894?mt=8&ls=1
Self -Study in Fiber Optics
 Our
first app is a self-study version of the FOA Reference Guide to
Fiber Optics. The FOA APP builds on the FOA basic fiber optic
textbook to create an interactive learning environment that
builds on the iBook electronic version of the book to add a
guide to use for self-study and real-time testing that provides
feedback on what you have learned and correct answers to
questions answered incorrectly.
The FOA APP is priced at only $9.99, same as the iBook, so the
self-study program is free. Download it from the Apple APP Store
with your iPad or iTunes.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/foa-guide/id434354283?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
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The
FOA has many videos on ,
including two Lecture Series (Fiber Optics and Premises
Cabling), Hands-On lectures on both and some other informational
and instructional videos. For all the videos, go
to the FOA Channel "thefoainc" or use the direct links
below.
View
a complete list of FOA Videos with links to each video on
YouTube.
Where Are
The Jobs In Fiber Optics? FOA talks about all the
applications for fiber optics, what jobs involve and the
qualifications for the workers in the field.
Fiber
Optics - Live! A
series of videos that use lab demonstrations to show how
optical fiber works.
Cabling
Project Management - what's involved in a
copper/fiber/wireless project -advice for the customer and the
contractor
Hazards
Of Counterfeit Cable
You may
have read the stories we have written about the counterfeit
"Cat 5" cable made from copper-clad aluminum rather than pure
copper. Recently we tried an unscientific burn test on the
cable compared to a known good UL tested cable and posted a
video on YouTube. You can see the results below.
Counterfeit
Cable Real UL-rated cable
The
difference is obvious and the danger is real. Watch the video
on YouTube: Premises
Cabling Lecture 11: Counterfeit Cat 5 Cabling
View a
complete list of FOA Videos with links to each video on
YouTube.
View
all the FOA Channel on YouTube.
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TO INDEX
What's
New in the FOA Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide?
We are
continually updating the Online Reference Guide to keep up with
changes in the industry and adding lots of new pages of
technical information. Go to the FOA
Guide Table of Contents to see the latest updates - look
for  .
Find
What You Want Using "Google Custom Search
 There's
so much information on the FOA Tech Topics and Online Fiber
Optic Reference Guide that even a well-organized Table of
Contents isn't enough and when the material is always changing,
an index is impossible to maintain. So the FOA is using the
latest technology in search, Google Custom Search, which will
allow you to search just the FOA Tech Topics and
Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide for any topic you want to
find more about. Try
it!
Go
to The
FOA Online Fiber Optic Reference Guide.
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FOA
Schools
Find
a listing of all the FOA-Approved schools here.
Find An FOA-Approved Training
Organization
Most
inquiries we get regarding finding a FOA-Approved training
organization want to know two things: what school is closest to
me or what school offers the certifications I need. The FOA has
about 200 training organizations we have approved worldwide so
finding the right one can be difficult! We've been looking at
ways to make it easier, and we think we've got a good solution.
In fact we have two solutions.
First we have added a sortable
table of all the FOA-Approved schools.
You can also use our FOA
Google Map to find FOA-Approved schools.
What
Should A Fiber Optics or Cabling Tech Know and What Skills Do
They Need?
FOA
certifications are based on our KSAs - the Knowledge, Skills and
Abilities that techs need to succeed. Read the FOA KSAs
for fiber and cabling techs.
School News
Feedback
We always
enjoy feedback, especially when it shows how great some FOA
instructors are. These came from students of Tom Rauch, an
instructor at BDI
Datalynk:
"I took your fiber optics certification courses this past March.
I just wanted to let you know that in two weeks I start working
as a fiber optic technician with ___ up in ___. You mentioned on
the first day of the course that there is always one guy in
class who had rubbed his last two nickels together to be there
and, in that instance, I was that guy. Now I'm going to be able
to provide for my family like never before and I owe it to the
certification that I received from you and BDI Datalynk. I just
wanted to thank you again."
"Thanks to our tremendously knowledgeable and patient instructor
Thomas Rauch, who was not only generous in sharing his wealth of
information, but he did so with ease, humor and in a way that
invited curiosity and participation. He was encouraging and
proud of our accomplishments and helped us learn from our
mistakes in a way that did not break our confidence, rather it
pushed us to better results the next go around. The hands on
labs were just AWESOME!" Just thought you should know what a
class act you have representing you in his travels..... but then
again you probably already knew that! : )
In almost 19 years at Verizon and having held numerous
positions, I have gone through many training sessions. I cannot
remember ever having been actually looking forward to coming
back to class quickly after lunch, to get back to the hands on
activities, and walking away with the sense of empowerment that
the information presented was not only relevant but dead on
point accurate! I will be signing up for the Outside Plant class
on March! I can't say enough good things about Tom and his
impact! Feel free to quote me, I can only imagine that he will
open so many doors and change so many lives in the years to
come, with his style of teaching! Great experience, awesome job!"
IBEW
and FOA Partner on Fiber Optic Training
The
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the
National Electrical Contractors Association(NECA) through the
National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee
(NJATC) in
a partnership with the FOA has published a new textbook for
training IBEW apprentices and journeymen in fiber optics. The
new textbook uses the material from the FOA Reference Guide To
Fiber Optics with new material and photos from other NJATC
training partners.
Quote
from one of our certified instructors: I want to thank
you and your organization for all the resources you provide for
the students and the opportunity to offer the certification to
the students. The fact that you published the book yourself to
get the cost down and the unlimited free resources on your
website shows a commitment to the public that is second to none.
I let it be known to the students that the FOA is the best in
the industry at supplying knowledge and resources related to the
communication industry. I look forward to passing on the
information that you provide for the industry.
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Good
Question! Tech Questions/Comments Worth Repeating
New:
The FOA Fiber FAQs
Page (FAQ s = frequently asked questions) gathers up
questions readers have asked us and adds tech topics of
general interest.
Real
Questions From FOA Newsletter Readers
Cleaning
Connector Protective Caps
Q:How do you clean LC Fiber Optic end caps (the cap that
covers the cleaned fiber cable)? Is there a tool for that?
A: We assume you are talking about the small plastic
protective caps on the connector ferrule. There is a joke in the
industry that goes “there’s a reason they call them "dust caps’”
they’re often full of dust.” The problem is these are plastic
molded parts that are made by the billions for various purposes
- some just fit fiber optic connectors. They come out of the
molding machine and are dumped in barrels. No provision is made
to keep them clean, plus they will have some mold release
chemicals inside them that can attract or hold dust. Even static
electricity is a problem.
We know no way to clean them nor to keep them clean. We
recommend using them to protect the connector ferrule - in fact
we’re trying to get people to call them “protective caps” - but
after they are removed and before use (connecting to another
cable or a transceiver or testing them) they need inspection and
cleaning.
See these pages in the FOA Guide: Microscope
Inspection And Cleaning of Fiber Optic Connectors Cleaning
Fiber Optic Connections
Directional Splice Loss
Q:
I have a customer that is splicing a fiber distribution hub to
their fiber plant. The fiber distribution hub utilizes
100FT long fiber stubs of SMF G.657.A1 and the fiber plant uses
SMF G.654.D. The project has a contract fusion splice
passing spec of 0.2dB loss, averaged bi-directional and also a
one-way <0.3dB loss (either direction) specification; using
an OTDR for measurements.
From my research, if the splices OTDR’s test results for the 2
directions are -0.2dB / +0.6 (average of +0.2), the network is
not actually seeing a +0.6dB loss; but this is how the OTDR
interprets the backscatter information… the OTDR being somewhat
confused due to the bend insensitive fiber characteristics.
A: Correct - the directional differences are due to the
mode field diameter variations in the two fibers. G.654 is
a large MFD fiber, ~12.5microns, compared to ~9 microns for
G.657.A fiber. The OTDR measures based on backscatter which will
be very different for the two fibers.
Markers For Underground Fiber Optic Cables
Q: I have a general question about above ground
markers for fiber optic cable in conduit. Is there a
recommended spacing for the markers? Is there a standard
to reference for this?
A: We asked some people who make them and they said the
guideline is “line of sight.” The rules for markers are
mainly what information needs to be on them. Of course we also
recommend adding marker tape about a foot above the conduit. I
was curious if there were any legal issues and I found this
interesting page from Cornell Law School: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/192.707
So I might add to line of sight any crossings of roadways,
rail ways and some markers for bridge crossings.
We have a new section on the FOA Guide: Outside
Plant Fiber Optic Cable Plant Construction that may be
useful.
Reflectance
And Return Loss
Q: Help me understand measuring reflection little better.
Why do we consider -55dB to be a better reading than, say,
-25dB? If reflection and return loss are inverse readings and we
had a 55dB return loss, would that positive reading for return
loss be considered good?
A: Reflectance is measured as the ratio of reflected to
incoming signal at a connection. The confusion comes because
reflectance and return loss are inverse readings. Consider this:
If we have 1/1000 of the light reflected, the reflectance would
be -30 dB (1/1000 = -30 dB) but the return loss would be 30dB
since it is defined as 1000/1, the inverse, and is described as
+30 dB.
Likewise, an APC connector would have a reflectance of -50 dB or
a return loss of 50 dB.
However, return loss as tested by all OTDRs is not be the
reflection from a single event but the total of all reflectance
events plus total backscatter from the length of fiber being
tested in the trace.
This is where most people are confused and misuse the terms.
Older
questions are now available here on the FOA Guide.
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Worth
Reading or Watching:
Sign
up at the FOA Pinterest
board
FOA
"Quickstart Guides"
In our
continuing quest to help people understand how to test fiber
optic cable plants and communications systems, we've created two
more "QuickStart Guides to Fiber Optic Testing." They are
simple, step-by-step guides on how to test fiber optic cable
plants, patchcords or single cables using insertion loss or OTDR
techniques and optical power from transceivers. It's as
straightforward as it can get - what equipment do you need, what
are the procedures for testing, options in implementing the
test, measurement errors and documenting the results.
It can't get much simpler.
Send anybody you know who needs to know about fiber optic
testing here to learn how it's done in a few minutes.
Testing
Fiber Optic Cable Plants And Patchcords
Testing
Fiber Optic Cable Plants With An OTDR
Measuring
Optical Power In Communications Systems
Like
Crossword Puzzles? Here's Some On Fiber Optics
Do you like
crossword puzzles? How about one on fiber optics - or maybe a
half-dozen of them? FOA Master Instructor Eric Pearson of Pearson
Technologies has created a series of crossword puzzles on
fiber optics that are keyed to the FOA CFOT reference materials
and his book Professional
Fiber Optic Installation, v.9. You can have fun and
study fiber optics at the same time!
This months crossword puzzle is on "Optoelectronics and
Splicing" - Download
the crossword puzzle on "Optoelectronics
and Splicing."
If you
missed the earlier puzzles, here they are:
Download
the PDF file of the crossword on "Light and Fiber".
Download
the PDF file of the crossword puzzle on "Cables".
Download
the crossword on "Connectors
& Splices."
Older
Fiber, Do You Know How Good It Is?
There's
millions of miles of long distance fiber installed around the
world and most of it likely to see an upgrade of the systems
operating on it, probably in the near future. Twenty years ago,
most of it was probably running at ~1Gb/s, ten years ago it was
probably 2.5 Gb/s, recently it was likely to be 10Gb/s but now
many are being considered for 100Gb/s or beyond. Can the fiber
support such speeds? Can it be "repaired" or "modified" to make
it possible to use it at higher speeds? If you own that fiber,
can you say what it is worth without knowing its future upgrade
capability.
In order to know the potential for upgrades on your cable plant,
you need to test it. This process involves a number of tests and
is called "fiber characterization." Greg Stearns of TTP-US, an
FOA Corporate Member, performs these tests and has written a
short article on why you need to characterize fiber and how its
done. Read about fiber characterization from someone who does it
often and can explain it well.
Download
the paper here (PDF, 80kB).
Where
In The US Do Contractors Need Licenses For Fiber Optics?
We often
get asked where in the US do contractors doing fiber optic
installations need licenses. We found a good website for that
information, the NECA -NEIS website. You might remember
NECA-EIS, as they are the partner with the FOA in the NECA/FOA
301 Fiber Optic Installation Standard. NECA is the National
Electrical Contractors Association and NEIS stands for National
Electrical Installation Standards. They have a very easy to use
map and table that gives you data on every state in the US, so
mark these pages for future reference.
NECA/NEIS
http://www.neca-neis.org
(See “State Regulations”)
http://www.neca-neis.org/state/index.cfm?fa=state_regs
(all electrical licensing)
Low Voltage: http://www.neca-neis.org/state/index.cfm?fa=specialty_licensing
Benchmarking
Fusion Splicing And Selecting Singlemode Fiber
We've been asked many times "How long does it take to splice a
cable?" It's not a simple answer as it varies with the number of
fibers in the cable and the work setup, including whether one or
two techs are working at a job site. FOA Master Instructor Joe
Botha of Triple Play in South Africa did his own analysis based
on decades of experience both splicing cables and teaching
others how to do it properly. This is one of the best analyses
we have seen because Joe includes prep times as well as splicing
times and differentiates between one tech and two techs working
together. He adds some other tips on fusion splicing too. This
should be mandatory reading for every tech and given to every
student! Here
is Joe's splicing analysis.
Joe also has an excellent writeup on how
to choose singlemode fiber that helps understanding
the different types of G.6xx fiber. Read
it here.
And you will want to read Joe's report on splicing
different types of SM fiber, including bend-insensitive
(G.657) fiber. Read
it here.
Free
- Mike Holt's Explanation Of The US National Electrical Code
(NEC) For Communications Cables
Mike Holt
is the acknowledged expert of the US National Electrical Code
(NEC). His books and seminars are highly praised for their
ability to make a very complicated standard (that is in fact
Code - law - in most areas of the US) easily understood. Part of
the appeal is Mike's great drawings that make understanding so
much easier. Mike makes Chapter 8 of his book available free. It
covers communications cables, telephones, LANs, CATV and CCTV,
for premises applications. Even if you live in a region or
country where the NEC is not the law, you may find this
interesting.
Download
Mike's Chapter Here.
Good
Technical Website For Installers
American
Polywater (http://www.polywater.com/)
has one of the best technical website for cable installers. Check
out their website, especially “Videos,” “Engineer’s Corner”
and “Calculators.” http://www.polywater.com/NNNBSL.pdf
Fiber
Optic Safety Poster
We've had numerous requests to reprint our guidelines
on safety when working with fiber optics, so we have
created a "Safety Poster" for you to print and post in your
classroom, worksite, etc. We suggest giving a copy to every
student and installer.
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-
FOA
Tech Topics -
A
Fiber Optic Tester In Your Pocket? (See the video on
)
Yes!
The camera in your old cell phone is sensitive to infrared light
- lots more than your eye - and can detect light in an optical
fiber or from a transmitter. Chris Hillyer,CFOT/CFOS/I,
Master Instructor, Northern California Sound & Communication
JATC brought this to our attention.
If
you have an old cell phone, try it. Our experience is that older
cell phone cameras have better sensitivity at IR wavelengths
than newer phones, so you may want to toss that old flip phone
into the toolbox.
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Product
News
YOKOGAWA OTDR Has Extended range, High Resolution And Multitasking
One OTDR manufacturer you don't hear as much about is YOKOGAWA
(formerly ANDO) which is too bad - they make some of the best
OTDRs, exemplified by this new model AQ7280. Need long range -
how about 50dB. High resolution - 0.6m dead zone. Like touch
screens, but for some functions want hard buttons, it's got
that. Options for VFL, microscope, light source and power meter,
etc. - it has that too.
But the unique aspect of the YOKOGAWA AQ7280 is it offers
multitasking - you can let do a trace with long averages while
you inspect connectors, make power readings, use the VFL or
other functions.
More
info on the YOKOGAWA AQ7280.
FOA
thanks Yokogawa for a gift of an OTDR to use for R&D and
teaching!
Have
you read the FOA
pages on cleaning?
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