Archive for the 'Cabling' Category

Fibre cabling guide


October 22nd, 2008

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Not sure how to subscribe to a RSS feed? Read Subscribing to blogs the easy way. Thanks for visiting!Denis has created a very good Guide to Fibre Cabling. If you want a simple nuts ‘n bolts introduction to fibre cabling you will [...]

Video ahoy!


September 4th, 2008

We’re in the process of producing a bunch of videos explaining the features on some of our more specialised products…what am I saying? They’re all specialised!

There are a lot of concepts in the cabling world that many IT workers haven’t come across before. We’re determined to make it as easy as possible for them to [...]

New 6 Point Checklist for Cables


July 1st, 2008

A couple of weeks ago BASEC (The British Approvals Service for Cables) issued a 6 point checklist pre-empting the release of the 17th Edition Wiring Regulations in July. They are alerting cable installers that the need to ensure the correct specification of cables for major projects has now become critical.
Dr Jeremy Hodge, BASEC’s Chief Executive, [...]

ELEX Harrogate Pictures


March 18th, 2008

Many thanks to everybody who attended the ELEX show in Harrogate last week. OPENXTRA had a stand and we enjoyed meeting you all.

Denis and Annie did heroic stand duty ably assisted by Steve from JDSU.

One of the big hits at the show was the cable tester demonstrator box (as demonstrated by Denis above) with various [...]

Looking forward to 2008


January 8th, 2008

We expect two main trends to continue to drive business throughout 2008:

Convergence — a lot of people not normally associated with computers and communications are being drawn in, most notably electricians working in the building industry. With things getting sticky in the housing market, it is likely that a lot of electricians will be looking [...]

Test-Um training roundup


September 28th, 2007

JDSU were kind enough to invite myself and Denis to a Test-Um product training day at the JDSU offices in Basingstoke. Michael, the Test-Um trainer, is extremely knowledgeable about cable testing in general (as an ex-installer himself) and about the whole Test-Um range in particular.
One heads up. The Test-Um name is going to start disappearing [...]

ANN: OWL fibre cable testers now available


September 12th, 2007

We are pleased to announce the availability of the OWL single mode fibre optic cable testers. The shop now has a dedicated Fibre cable testers section.
The OWL products provide great features for an unbeatable price, starting at just £230. Features include:

Germanium photodetector
2.5mm Universal Adaptor Port
Multimode and Singlemode ready
NIST Traceable at all wavelengths
Separate zero reference for [...]

Copper vs Fibre cabling costs


September 6th, 2007

You might assume that because the technology involved in manufacturing optical fibre cable is more complex than copper, installation of fibre networks would inevitably be more expensive than using copper. However, with the advent of CAT6 cabling means that copper is getting faster — but at a cost.
There are environments where copper is at a [...]

Tracking live network cables


August 24th, 2007

I’m often asked how to track live network cables. I have a confession: I don’t know how to do it! There, honesty is always the best policy!
More and more companies have systems that are in operation 24/7, that cannot in any circumstances be switched off. Sometimes the data centre cabling is poorly documented. So, how [...]

Data, Voice, and Video Cabling book


July 31st, 2007

If you are involved in installing data, voice or video cabling then you won’t be disappointed by Data, Voice, and Video Cabling by Jim Hayes and Paul Rosenberg.
Jim Hayes, as we’ve recommended before, also has a couple of online tutorials available. Well worth a look!
The book gives a nice overview of the various technologies involved [...]