Easiest way to crimp and cut RJ45 connectors

It's been a while since the last post, but I thought I'd take a minute and show you guys how cool and easy making your next RJ45 connector is!

I got these new RJ45 connectors and wired them up to the 568B standard and then I crimped and cut the connector at the same time! Easy, here it is.


Not only was crimping and cutting the connector awesome but how it cut the conductors clean off the connector, nice. I've heard of other tools that say they do this but they suck. They suck because they don't cut the copper conductors all the way and don't cut the conductor off clean on the RJ45 plug.

We had a customer ask us about the Shielded plug and I said, let's check that one out.



As you can tell the shielded plug is quality and the termination process is the same. For more spec sheets and to order online visit Discount-Low-Voltage.com

What is and How to calculate minimum cable bend radius

Minimum bend radius is the smallest allowed radius the cable is allowed to be bent around. While cabling, these cables are bent in many different directions when going through conduits and when pulling around a sheave.

Cables are composed of different components and if bent too far you may put too much stress on those components to the point of damaging them. For example, a 6 strand indoor fiber optic cable if pulled too hard around a tight 90 may appear to be fine once the cable pull is finished. Unfortunately, what commonly happens is the stress around that 90 caused the individual strands to break under the jacket.

To prevent this kind of damage, cable standards such as The National Electric Code (NEC) and the Insulated Cable Engineers Association (ICEA) formed requirements for minimum bend radius.

   How to Calculate Minimum Bend Radius

The figure above shows a cable with an outer diameter of 2 inches being bent around a radius of 12 inches. The minimum bend radius is based on the diameter of the cable and the type of cable. The following formula is used.

Minimum Bend Radius = Cable Outer Diameter x Cable Multiplier

Cable multipliers are determined by industry standards and vary from cable to cable. When purchasing a cable check the spec sheet, many manufactures have the minimum bend radius provided to you for each cable part number.

Armored Fiber Optic Cable Interlocking or loose tube?

Over the past few years I've received many phone calls about a need for an armored fiber optic cable. Most of the time people want an outdoor armored cable but there's also an indoor version. In one of our recent videos we compare the two.



I also want to mention that if your going to be terminating your own fiber cable remember, indoor interlocking fiber has a 900 size buffer, the loose tube has a smaller size 250. Let's check out the difference.



I think the reason why the loose tube is smaller is that it benefits the manufactures in the making of these cables. The smaller size allows for an overall smaller diameter of the tube inside the cable, this goes a long way in higher strand count cables, especially considering you only get 12 strands of fiber per tube. If you are going to terminate a "loose tube" fiber cable don't forget you need fan out kits.

What you do with a fan out kit is you slide the 250 size inside the fan out kit, the fan out kit builds your 250 size to a 900 and also adds strength and durability to that 250 size. Depending on what brand of connectors you decide to use when terminating you might have to build your cable to the 900 size to properly terminate your fiber cable.

I hope you've enjoyed this read, now do me a favor and share, like this post and follow me on Google plus.

Later skater!

"By Mercy Salinas"

Scary Network Wiring Nightmares!!!

So it's been a little while since I've done a blog post, I'll get back into it. If you haven't subscribed to our YouTube Channel do it now for all kinds of cool videos, like this one!

Video editing furniture desk and LAN station overview

LAN stations have been around forever, but I don't remember feeling a boom in demand for them until the late 90's during the dot com bubble.

LAN Station furniture has recently been more popular with video editing companies for their control room needs so depending on what your needs are you'll find many different types of possible set ups that may suit you best. Let's check out a couple.

If your set up is not complex you might want to consider a 24 inch station. The lower shelf is 14 inches deep and is great for shallow components and allowing you room to stretch your legs. The two 16 inch shelf's above can be adjusted in different increments. Includes a built-in cable management channel keeping your communication and power cables organized. With it's 1000 pound weight rating this will be a station that will last, a lifetime! There is a lifetime warranty, so you'll have something to pound on for a while. You may also want to consider some accessories that'll make life easier. I'd start with casters, keyboard tray, LCD mount and maybe a utility drawer.

Maybe you need to make the most out of the space you have at your location and you have multiple monitors you work with. You might want to consider a corner station, shove it in the corner of your location and you should have enough room for about 3 monitors.

Or, your in charge of a team of people and need to provide an organized solution for multiple work stations. You might want to consider a 96 inch station, this larger station also provides larger lower and top shelf's and is completely modular.

I just want to highlight a couple of options for you and hopefully you can find something that will fit your need best. For me I especially like the cable management, it drives me crazy when all those cables get messy and I have to have casters to easily get behind my equipment. Example.

Share if you care. Thanks!

"By Mercy Salinas"

Color signal transmission distance on coax cable for security cameras

Over the past decade of working with CCTV security camera installation contractors, one of the questions that has come forth is how far can signal travel for my color security camera?

After calling other cctv contractors and getting a feel for what the proper answer is, the "rule of thumb" was 500ft. for color and 1000ft. for black and white. Let's put he color to the test.



Now I need to figure out how far color can travel, perhaps a future blog post! Comment below.

"By Mercy Salinas"

What is and What Size is your Fiber Optic Cable Buffer

Yes, there are two different sizes to your fiber optic cable buffer but before we do a comparison of the two sizes I want to talk about why there's two and what fiber cable construction type is associated with one or the other.

The first fiber cable construction I want to talk about is "Loose Tube". These cables are mostly installed in outdoor only installations. Such as direct burial, pole to pole and anywhere else where most if not all the cable is outdoors. This cable construction is more durable and offers a higher pulling tension. I recently talked with AFL and I wanted to know what the life expectancy is for this type of cable construction and they mentioned that it all depends on the environment but a good estimate is 30 years.

Let's take a look at a loose tube cable from our YouTube channel.   



Another easy way to tell if you have a loose tube fiber optic cable is to read the print on the cable jacket and many cables will have the letters LT on it letting you know it's a loose tube, this cable construction always has a 250um size buffer. I say always because I've been selling fiber since 1999 and I don't remember ever seeing a loose tube with a 900um size buffer. Just makes sense, with a smaller size you can get more strands in a smaller tube hence the 250um size.

So that leads us to the 900um size buffer. This size is commonly found with a distribution cable construction. This is most commonly installed in underground conduits for building to building installations and indoors for riser and plenum installations. It has a smaller diameter, more flexible, lighter and overall just more pleasant to work with. Let's get a look at a distribution cable.



Now that you have a better feel for what size buffer you have before even stripping the jacket let's get a look at what these two sizes look like to the naked eye.



That was a great comparison of the two sizes that are involved with your fiber optic cable. As you can tell after stripping the buffer off the cladding the cladding size is the same, the 125um size. If you're asking yourself what is under the 125um size you then have what's called the cladding and then your core. The core is where your signal is transmitted. For Multimode your core size will be either 62.5 or 50.0 and for singlemode, it'll be 9.0.

Questions please comment below and to order online visit Discount-Low-Voltage.com

Why the Information Technology Industry SUCKS!

Wow! I found this guy named Archie on YouTube and his view about the IT industry is a one I've heard from many different IT managers. Take a listen, this guy is a real character and I do love characters!

  

I think Archie is a real good guy and he just got involved in some unfortunate situations.

Comment below, thanks.

"by Mercy Salinas"

MTP fiber cable assembly to what kind of LC connectors?

Here we go again, changing things when a traditional LC connector worked just fine, or did it? Over the past couple of years the convenience of a small footprint by the LC connector has been evolving due to manufactures battling for your data center dollars. Let's quickly go over the different types of connectors.

1) LC Traditional Duplex - This has been the most popular LC duplex connector since the dawn of time. A simple yet effective design by tightly holding 2 individual strands of terminated LC simplex connectors. A small clip is used to hold the connectors together and also offers a press down tab to easily remove the connectors from the port. Can you remove the small clip? Sure, but it's a chore and you'll destroy it.

2)  LC AFOP Duplex - The AFOP LC duplex has almost everything in common as your LC traditional duplex but the connectors are easily removed and reattached. If your in a busy closet you might have to move single a strand around, especially in an emergency or maybe reverse the polarity. A small clip is used to hold the connectors together, also offers a press down tab to easily remove the connectors from the port and has openings on the sides to allow you to separate the connectors and put them back together.

3) LC Generic UNIBOOT - The LC connector portion of the UNIBOOT is similar to the LC traditional duplex connector, but the main difference is that you have 2 strands of fiber now in one jacket. Since your now saving space in your cable raceway you can add more cables in the same size raceway or save on cost by installing a smaller raceway. This is an excellent choice for high density applications.

4) LC SANWA UNIBOOT - This connector is named after the the manufacture SANWA and truthfully after playing with this connector vs. the generic UNIBOOT I can't tell the difference, until I grabbed an additional tool that cracks this connector open. After opening it you can reverse the polarity easily! Check the video out. I've also seen this connector specified on many Verizon projects.

5) LC UNIVERSAL - This connector is a proprietary connector. Accepts the traditional size LC connector but also accepts the "MINI LC" for small footprint mini SFP (mSFP) ports. I thought the LC connector was small enough already but space is money. Currently these "High Density MINI LC" connectors are commonly installed and designed to work with Brocade's FC8-64 high density 64 port blade.

You'll probably want to save this post somewhere, I wrote it so I have it saved. If you check the rest of this blog out it's hard to keep track of everything going on out there, I can't remember it all. Don't forget to follow me on GOOGLE PLUS thanks!

"By Mercy Salinas"

Information Technology Tip Tuesday - Best WiFi Sniffer

Check out one of my favorite WiFi sniffers so you can find out what and where your Wireless Access Points are located. Here's that link WiFi Sniffer

The above video shows off how cool Metageek products are.

Don't forget to comment! Thanks!

"By Mercy Salinas"

Information Technology Tip Tuesday - Smart Machines replacing humans

Gartner has a cool read on the future of smart machines replacing the middle class workforce and how CIOs should review policy to help avoid a increase in national unemployment.

Here's a link to the Smart Machines Replacing Humans article by Gartner.

This reminded me of that Twilight Zone episode called a thing about machines.



I hope you stay employed. Comment below, thanks!

GPON, what is it and why install it?

A Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used to enable a single strand of fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 16 to 128. A PON consists of an optical line terminal at the service provider's central office and a number of optical fiber network units near end users. A PON reduces the amount of fiber and central office equipment required compared with point-to-point architectures. A passive optical network is a form of fiber-optic access network.

Downstream signals are broadcast to all premises sharing multiple fibers. Encryption can prevent eavesdropping.

Let's take a quick look at why you'd install GPON. This Tellabs Passive Optical LAN video using GPON technology at the Department of Energy Sandia Lab in New Mexico gives us a good feel for the benefits.



Looks like it's time to redesign the network again. Maybe for the last time.

"By Mercy Salinas"

DS3 734 coaxial cable for the central office? For who, for what?

I guess we can start by talking about how Digital Signal Level 3 comes out to 28 T-1 lines or about 43 to 45 Mbps upstream/downstream speeds, you can also handle 672 voice conversations simultaneously. You'll usually see a DS3 coax cable installed in the last mile of the long haul.

Where is this cable installed? Could be companies who host high traffic websites, government offices, schools or a location might have a DS3 on the back end just for a "as needed" basis.

DS3 interconnect coaxial cable should always be a 75ohm cable. A 50ohm can be used but you'll have lower performance and depending on the length of the cable run a signal might not even appear. Generic requirements for central office coax cable defines 734 and 735 as being the cables used for this application. If you're looking into a coax cable you probably should also look for the GR-139-CORE as a specification.

The 734 cable has a larger conductor compared to the 735 and that'll help you on those longer cable runs, plus the cost difference ain't a big deal so I would splurge for it. The 734 is used for interconnect up to 450 feet.

Let's take a look at a Commscope 734 plenum cable from our YouTube channel.

If you're just starting your research on DS3 hopefully this post helped out and don't forget to share this post!

"By Mercy Salinas"

Cisco Networking Antenna Tips - Information Technology

Here's a cool video on Cisco Networking Antennas.

I hope you learned something and thanks for following!

"By Mercy Salinas"

What is fiber to the home?

Over the past couple of years I've received calls regarding fiber optic cable to the home, what is it and can I install it? Here's a cool video to get your feet wet.

Before you know it, you'll have a single gang in-wall optical line terminal providing 10G and wireless to your living room. Unless your provider is Charter Communications.

"By Mercy Salinas"

Panduit RJ45 keystone jack module blockout device

I recently got a phone call regarding a needed solution for being PCI compliant at the information outlet end. Being PCI compliant is a must for many retailers who do credit card transactions and can't have any open ports unaccounted for, even anyone accessing the wifi has to have their own wireless key accounted for.

After doing some research it appears that the easiest way to lock out the RJ45 information outlet is by using a blockout device by Panduit. It's an easy, simple and secure way to control access at the outlet, especially in those very heavy public areas. Let's check it out from our YouTube channel.



There it is, easy right! I still get a good chuckle hearing about those kids and their crayons.

"By Mercy Salinas"  

How to wire a 66 block without a punchdown tool

If your looking into wiring a 66 block and you've never wired one before or maybe you have many moves and changes and your tired of re-punching the block, this might be an excellent option for you.

Looks really cool so I brought in a sample to check out.

We're considering stocking these so we asked our Facebook fans what they thought and here's what they said.

So it sounds like these blocks are designed with high speed transmissions in mind. So far the jury is still in session. Please, if you have any questions comment below and let us know if we should stock these. 

Thanks!

"By Mercy Salinas"

RGBHV cable with BNC connectors and RCA connectors

If your in the professional broadcasting industry RGBHV cables are a must have for many different kinds of high definition applications. If your broadcasting coaxial cabling infrastructure consist of high quality HD-SDI coax cables such as Belden 1694A or 1855A your probably going to make sure your RGBHV cable is also on the same level as the rest of your infrastructure.




These assemblies are available in many different lengths, assembled in America using an American made coaxial cable, (The parent company of Tappen is Southwire, they make kick-ass wire). If image quality is a top priority why cut corners.

"By Mercy Salinas"

Corning CamSplice mechanical splice tool overview and How To

I just want to talk about this tool by Corning as an easy and effective way to mechanically splice fiber optic cable.



Let's check out some of the features.

* No adhesive or epoxy required
* Reduces splice time with no curing needed
* Universal one part fits all fiber coatings
* No polishing required
* Reduces installation time
* Fiber alignment mechanism
* Self centers the fiber for low loss

Now let's figure out how to splice fiber optic cable.



It's a very simple process and I know you can do it. Just a quick tip, if your repairing a direct burial fiber it's recommended that you replace the cable at least 30 feet in each direction so you'll have to do as least 2 splices per strand of fiber.

"By Mercy Salinas"

   

Introduction to your MTP fiber optic cable polarity wiring

If your getting into MTP cables you need to know what type of polarity you need to configure these cables to, a good place to start is with the TIA-568-C.O standard. This standard provides guidance on serial transmission fiber polarity for fiber networks installing MTP optical connectivity. Each 12 strand MTP connector is divided into six 2 strand fiber optic serial circuits that require polarity management that can be achieved using one of a few methods.

I'm going to start you out with what so far seems to be the most popular polarity pinout, this would be the "Universal Polarity Management Method" and is used in many Corning fiber networks. It seems to be a little odd that this would be the most popular so far because the universal method is not included in the TIA standard but it does meets the "intent of the standard" that's according to Corning. Makes good sense that this would be most popular because Corning seems to be the biggest giant in the fiber optic cable market.

This system is mated key-up to key-down. This method supports simple concatenation of multiple trunks without effecting polarity. Accommodates all simplex/duplex connector types. The components related to your MTP connector will also allow for easy moves without polarity concerns used in other methods.

The next most common polarity pinout method I see is "Method B". This uses a single module type wired in a straight-through configuration and standard patch cords on each end. One thing that will stand out to you is how all the components in the system are key-up to key-up. This method will require more planning for your modules location. This method also does not accommodate angle polished single mode connectors. It's also a common method in Commscope fiber optic network infrastructures.

Now thinking about it, the next method is not far behind after looking at my sales history of MTP cables. Let's talk about "Method A". This uses a single type wired in a "Straight-Through" configuration and two different patch cords in a optical circuit. One cord is straight and the other is flipped. All components in the channel are mated key-up to key-down. Because the polarity is addressed in the patch cords the end user is responsible for managing the network.

The last method I'm going to brush on is "Method C". This uses a pair wise fiber flip in the trunk cable to correct for polarity. This will enable the use of the same module on both ends of the channel and standard patch cables. Because the polarity is managed in the trunk, extending links requires more planning to maintain polarity. The TIA standard does not mention text regarding the ability to migrate to parallel optics, but parallel optics capability can easily be achieved with a special patch cord to reverse the pair-wise fiber flips in the trunk.

Now that you have a better under standing of what polarity you might need I'll be waiting for your phone call when your ready to order these! 888-797-3697 ex. 232

"By Mercy Salinas"