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Armoured Cable vs. Unarmoured Cable: What’s The Difference?

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With the rapid development of optical communication, more and more fiber optic cables are increasingly used in different environments. What if under harsh conditions? Then it’s crucial to ensure your cables smooth and reliable operation when transmitting data. This is where armoured cable comes into play. An armoured cable, as its name suggests, is protected against mechanical damage, whereas an unarmoured cable not being protected. What is the difference between them? And why should we choose armoured cable over unarmoured cable? You my find answer in this post.

Amoured Cable Overview
Armoured cable has an extra layer of protection to keep it from being cut or abraded. The armor layer of coax cable is a foil wrap that is ribbed like corrugated metal to allow for flexibility, around the inside and outside of that wrap is a flooding compound to keep moisture from penetrating the cable and causing an impairment. The internal structure of 4 core armoured cable consists of many layers to prevent the cable from damage. The outer jacket provides protection against rodent, abrasion and twist, which is usually made of plastic. And the armoring materials are mainly come from kevlar, steel, and aluminum foils, aiming to protect the armored cable from being stretched during installation.
Difference Between Armoured Cable And Unarmoured Cable
Structure
Many people may think that armoured cable just has metal protection. To be precise, the armoring material doesn’t have to be metal, it can be fiber yarn, glass yarn, polyethylene etc. The only thing that makes armored cable different from unarmored cable is that the former has an additional outer protective layer for optical cable. The 4 core armoured cable tends to be more expensive than unarmored cable, while the armoured cable with steel strip and aluminum is much cheaper than armored fiber cable with Kevlar, which is usually used for special occasions.
Application
Armoured cable is installed in locations exposed to mechanical damage, such as on the outsides of walls, as an alternative to conduit. Armoured cable usually has a small metal ribbon to ensure electrical continuity of the safety ground. (You must run a separate ground wire in flexible conduit too; you can’t depend on the continuity of the conduit.) In HT & LT distribution, 4 core armoured cable is preferred. Inside walls and in other protected locations, less expensive unarmored electrical cable can be installed instead. Unarmoured cable is mainly used for control systems.
Why Should Use Armoured Cable Over Unarmoured Cable?
There are a couple of reasons that armoured cable should be used. The biggest reason is about strength, because armored cable was used more extensively in past decades when cable was simply directly buried under dirt and not used through a conduit. Nowadays most local municipalities require conduits to be trenched in prior to installing network components, thus eliminating the need for unarmored cable in most applications. Secondly, rodents or animals can and will chew through cables so the armor protects the cables from damage by animal or shoveling in direct bury applications. Thirdly, the most uncommon reason it would be used is in an RF environment that has an off air RF signal that is powerful enough to interfere with your network, the armor when grounded can provide another layer of RF protection.
Conclusion
Armoured cable can be regarded as a kind of strengthened cable, which is harder and stronger than standard optical cable. With an unparalleled protection against physical damage without sacrificing flexibility or functionality within fiber networks, 4 core armored cable is a perfect addition to any fiber network in hazardous environments.

Understanding Armored Fiber Patch Cable

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With the development of telecommunication, demands for fiber patch cables are increasing all over the world. However, it is known to all that cables under harsh environment must be in need of better protection. Luckily, the advent of armored fiber patch cable efficiently solves the problem. As the name indicates, this type of optical cable is wrapped in a protective armor to prevent optical cables from animal bite, moisture, corrosion and other damage. Therefore, using armored fiber patch cables will greatly reduce the cost of unnecessary cable loss. This article will give you a basic introduction about the structure, types and advantages of armored optical cable.
Structure of Armored Fiber Patch Cables
Armored fiber optic cable has some basic layers. The first layer is the outer jacket made of plastic materials. It can protect the cable from the destroy of solvent and abrasion. The second layer under outer jacket is the strength member made of armored materials, such as aluminum foil, steel and kevlar. These materials are difficult to cut, bite and burn which are great protections for the optical cable. Next is the inner jacket of fiber made of protective and flame-retardant materials to support the internal optical fibers.
Types of Armored Fiber Optic Cable
Armored fiber patch cables can be divided into indoor armored optical cable and outdoor armored optical cable according to the premises.
Indoor Armored Optical Cable
This kind of optical cable includes double and single indoor armored fiber patch cables. The double armored cable has the stainless steel wire woven and stainless steel tube. On the contrary, the single armored cable does not contain the stainless steel components. Most of the indoor armored cables are deployed for building wiring applications. You may find them in walls, between floors, in plenum air handling ducts and under data center floors, etc.
Outdoor Armored Optical Cable
There are light armored and heavy armored optical cable used for outdoor applications. The light armored cable has the protective plastic jacket with the same durability and longevity of a stainless steel cable, but its weight is much lighter. The heavy armored cable is wrapped in a wire circle which can be applied for riverbed and ocean floor.
Advantages of Armored Fiber Optic Cable
There are numerous advantages of armored fiber optic cable. The flexibility and durability of armored cable are excellent which makes it the right choice for industrial purposes. Moreover, the armor materials protect the cable from damage caused by animal, human or harsh environment, thus it can be applied to places where ordinary cables can not. The armored cable can also undergo heat and high pressure of extreme conditions. Using the armored optical cable not only ensures the high speed data transmission, but also extends the life span of cables.
Conclusion
When fiber optic cables are needed for terrible conditions, a strong protection for the cable is very necessary. Therefore, to secure the data communication, armored fiber optic cable is a good solution to make the cable free from different damages. But when you operate the armored fiber patch cables, you must be careful of the freshly cut edges which are very sharp to cope with. And the budget of your project should also be taken into consideration as armored cables are generally more expensive than the common ones.

Applications for Outside Plant Fiber Optic Cables

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Inside plant refers to the cabling running inside a building. Similarly, outside plant is the cabling
running outdoors. Outside plant cables are thicker because of more durable insulation jackets. As for
fiber optic communication, there are many types of outside plant fiber optic cables. Some have extra
protections to prevent corrosion and other elemental interference. Outside plant fiber optics are
widely used in telephone networks, CATV, metropolitan networks, utilities and so on. If you want to
choose the right outside plant fiber optic cable, its applicable environment is an important factor
for consideration. This post will introduce some common outside plant fiber optic cables and typical
outdoor application environments.
Outdoor Breakout Cable
Outdoor breakout cable is perfect for rugged applications and installations that require increased
performance. It is usually made of several bundled simplex cables wrapped in a common cable jacket.
The fungus, water and UV protections and temperature durability are beneficial to its outside
applications. Its design of individual fiber reinforcement enables the quick termination to connectors
and omits the use of patch panels or boxes. With much less termination work, outdoor breakout cable is
more cost-effective when small fiber counts and short distances are required.
Outdoor Loose Tube Cable
Outdoor loose tube cable has the gel-filled design protecting the cable from moisture environment. The
gel within the loose-tube construction stops the penetration of water and keeps it away from the
fiber. Also, it keeps water from freezing near the fiber at low temperatures which reduces the chance
of stress fractures. Fibers are bundled inside a small plastic tube that can protect fibers from
outside stresses. Outdoor loose tube cable is often used in conduits, strung overhead or buried
directly into the ground.
Outdoor Ribbon Cable
Outdoor ribbon fiber optic cable has high fiber counts and small cable diameter. It contains the most
fibers in the smallest cable. These fibers are laid out in rows as ribbons, and ribbons are laid on
top of each other. Likewise, it also has gel-filled protection to block outside water. Ribbon cable
makes installation much faster and easier since mass fusion splicers can join a ribbon at once.
Outdoor Armored Cable
Outdoor armored cable is a direct buried type that prevents itself from animal bite. The metal
armoring between two jackets effectively prohibits rodent penetration. Outdoor armored cable can be
divided into light armored and heavy armored types. The former has the protective plastic jacket with
the same durability and longevity of a stainless steel cable with a lighter weight. The latter is
wrapped in a wire circle to be applied for underwater regions that near shores and shoals.
Outside Cable Plant Applications
Outside cable plant deployment can be implemented in many environments. Above-ground, underground,
buried and underwater are the typical applications.
Above-ground Cable Plant
Above-ground cable plant can be exposed to extreme temperatures, and to humidity that varies with the
seasons and with daily temperature changes. Cables under such circumstances should be durable to adapt
to extreme weathers and water penetration.
Underground Cable Plant
Underground cable plant usually applies cables in underground structures including the utility holes,
controlled environmental vaults, ducts and so on. The condition in utility holes and ducts sometimes
can be corrosive because of man-made chemicals. Cables with corrosion-proof materials are perfect for
this environment.
Buried Cable Plant
Buried cable plant applies cables directly into the soil. Cables can also be exposed to the same
corrosive environment as underground plant. But animal bite is an additional problem. Cables for this
application should be very tough to endure both chemical corrosion and animal attack.
Underwater Cable Plant
Underwater cable plant are located beneath the surface of water. The water can range from relatively
pure to brackish, or to badly contaminated with industrial effluent. Cables for underwater plant are
extremely rugged, with fibers in the middle of the cable inside stainless steel tubes and the outside
coated with many layers of steel strength members and conductors for powering repeaters.
Conclusion
Unlike indoor cables, outside plant fiber optic cables must be wrapped in different layers to
withstand the severe installation conditions. Choosing the right kind of outdoor cable can save you a
great deal for long-term maintenance. And your project application is an important aspect that will
affect the selection of fiber optic cables.

Have You Chosen the Right Cables Ties?

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You can frequently find racks, frames or panels in the cabling system. They are necessary components for cable management. However, sometimes you may easily forget about a small but helpful tool for cable management – that is cable tie. People’s first impression about cable tie is always a self-locking and colorful plastic strip. They think cables ties are pretty much the same. Seldom have they considered about whether they are choosing the right or not. In fact, cables ties have many different distinctions in construction, material, color, size and some special features. So do you want to know if your selection is right? Don’t worry. The following parts will give the explanation.
Cable ties have to be able to meet the most varied demands these days as they are used in the widest range of operations – from the simple bundling of cables with cable ties to the absolutely specific use of cable ties under extreme conditions. Thus, many factors are taken into consideration during the design of cable ties.
Cable Tie Construction
Cable ties can be classified as either one-piece or two-piece construction. One-piece cable ties typically have a plastic locking device molded into the head of the tie. The locking device ratchets the notched strap to tighten and lock. This design has a lower cost of manufacturing and is used for general applications around home or office. Compared to one-piece cable ties, two-piece cable ties are with higher performance. They consist of a stainless-steel locking device embedded into the head of the tie, and a smooth locking strap. This design offers high tensile strength, and resistance to mechanical and environmental stress for applications that require greater performance than what a general cable tie offers. In addition, the smooth, infinitely adjustable strap also allows for the exact bundled tightness. The head of the two-piece cable tie engages the strap when installed, and permanently locks in place. With a lower profile and smoother cross-section, the uniform cross-section distributes stress across the strap more evenly than with one-piece cable ties. Thus, the two-piece cable ties are more resistant to brittleness and breakage in harsh environments, particularly appropriate for harsh conditions, such as ultraviolet exposure, extreme temperature, and exposure to moisture or chemicals, as well as for applications where retrofitting is not an option.
Cable Tie Material
The material design of different cable ties also needs to consider for different applications, such as occurring indoors or outdoors; the environment’s temperature range; the presence of moisture, chemicals and radiation; flammability issues; and cost. Cable ties are available in a wide range of materials, each with its own specific properties. Among them, the most common type is nylon cable ties. Nylon ties can offer good resistance to weather and ultraviolet rays in lower temperatures. In addition, for applications in harsher environments that require extra durability in the face of heat, chemicals and other corrosive elements, there are stainless-steel cable ties.
Cable Tie Color
The most commonly used cable ties are white and black. But colorful cable ties are also popular with users. These cable ties with rainbow colors are very useful when you are trying to color-code your cables, or just want to match the ties to your equipment. Moreover, you can use different cable ties to mark different cables bunch which is convenient for cable management.
Cable Tie Size
When using cable ties, you should also consider the size and shape. First, be sure to measure the diameter of the cable bundle you’ll be tying and decide the length. In general, to buy cable ties with a little longer length is better. Because no one wants to find out at the last minute that the cable ties are too short to use. In addition to length, width or shape are also important considerations to choose optimal cable ties for your cable bunch.
Cable Tie Special Features
Though the standard-design cable ties can meet most of our requirements, sometimes, we still need something special for special applications. For instance, most cable ties lock permanently, but sometimes, we would prefer to looking for a solution that cable ties can be undone without actual cutting. Then, releasable cable ties have been launched in the market. In a releasable cable tie, the built-in locking tab can actually be disengaged, allowing the tail end of the tie to be pulled free from the head. Releasable cable ties tend to cost a little more than the standard type, but they save money and are more eco-friendly in the long run because you can reuse them over and over instead of just throwing them away. Additionally, for different special applications, there are mounted head cable ties, marker ties, etc.
Conclusion
It is very unprofessional to use random cable ties for your cable management. Knowing the secrets about cable ties can lead you to choose the matching cable ties for your applications. This will greatly reduce the unnecessary problems during actual practice. Actually, no matter cable ties or other assembles, each component of cabling system should not be underestimated. The right selection will greatly increase the efficiency of a cabling system.

Do You Know About Fiber Optic Splitter?

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today’s optical network topologies, the advent of fiber optic splitter is significant in helping users maximum the performance of optical network circuits. Fiber optic splitter, or sometimes called as beam splitter, is a passive optical component that can split an incident light beam into two or more light beams, and vice versa. The device contains multiple input and output ends. Whenever the light transmission in a network needs to be divided, fiber optic splitter can be implemented for the convenience of network interconnections.
How Does Fiber Optic Splitter Work?
As for the working principle of fiber optic splitter, it can be generally described in the following way. When the light signal transmits in a single-mode fiber, the light energy can not entirely concentrated in the fiber core. A small amount of energy will be spread through the cladding of fiber. That is to say, if two fibers are close enough to each other, the transmitting light in an optical fiber can enter into another optical fiber. Therefore, the reallocation technique of optical signal can be achieved in multiple fibers. And this is how fiber optic splitter comes into being.
Classification of Fiber Optic Splitter
At present, there are two types of fiber optic splitters. One is known as PLC (planar lightwave circuit) splitter, and another one is known as FBT (fused biconical taper) splitter.
1) PLC splitter divides the incoming signal into multiple outputs by using an optic splitter chip. One optic splitter chip is able to achieve at most 64 ends. PLC splitter is usually used for larger applications. The losses of PLC splitter are not sensitive to the wavelength, which satisfies the need for multiple wavelengths transmission. PLC splitter’s configuration is compact and its size is small, thus the installation space can be greatly saved.
2) FBT splitter is fused with a heat source similar to a one-to-one fusion splice. Fibers are stretched under a heating zone to form a double cone. The cost of FBT splitter is lower due to the commonly used materials, and the splitting ratio is adjustable. But the losses are sensitive to wavelengths. Device should be chosen according to wavelengths. And it is unable to offer the uniform spectroscopy.
Applications
1) Passive monitoring application of fiber optic splitter is used for the maintenance of long-haul network, cable TV ATM circuit or local area/metro area network. The splitter taps into a small percentage of optical traffic. Majority of the signal arrives its destination, but a small percentage is directed to a local access port. The application can be done by manual operation for troubleshooting purposes or by connecting the splitter to a network monitoring system for ongoing maintenance and performance assessment.
2) Fiber optic splitter can also be used for FTTx/PON application. This enables to reduce the physical fiber usage or the basic quantity of required fibers. A single fiber can be split into many branches to support multiple end users. The strain on the fiber backbone can be greatly decreased through the application.
Conclusion
To sum up, fiber optic splitter provides a solution for improving the efficiency of optical infrastructures. PLC splitter and FBT splitter are varied in different aspects, hence choosing the right type of splitter for your network is also important. fiber-mart.com.COM provides all the above fiber optic splitters. Please visit fiber-mart.com for more information.

What Is a Fiber Optic Splitter?

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The fiber optic splitter is also referred to as optical splitter, which is an integrated waveguide optical power distribution device. It plays an important role in passive optical network (EPON, GPON, BPON, FTTX, FTTH and so on) by allowing a single PON interface to be shared among many subscribers. To achieve this, it is designed to split an incident light beam into two or more light beams and couple the light beams to the branch distribution as an optical fiber tandem device, which has the function to maximize the performance of network circuits.
How Optical Splitter Works?
In general, a optical splitter has many input and output terminals to attain the branch of the light beams and maximize the functionality of optical network circuits. The passive optical splitter can split, or separate, an incident light beam into several light beams at a certain ratio. As a simple example, Figure 1 shows how optical splitter with 1×4 split configurations can separate an incident light beam from a single input fiber cable into four light beams and transmit them through four individual output fiber cables. For instance, if the input fiber optic cable carries 1000 Mbps bandwidth, each user in the end of output fiber cables can use the network with 250 Mbps bandwidth.
As for the optical splitter with 2×64 split configurations, it is more complicated than the optical splitter with 1×4 split configurations. There are two input terminals and sixty-four output terminals in the optical splitter with 2×64 split configurations. Its function is to split two incident light beams from two individual input fiber cables into sixty-four light beams and transmit them through sixty-four light individual output fiber cables.
What should be noted is that the ejected light beams may or may not have the same optical power as the incident light beam. The designer would better to take it into consideration when designing the passive optical networks.
Optical Splitter Types Classified by Package Style
The optical splitter can be terminated with different forms of connectors, and the primary package could be box type or stainless tube type. Fiber optic splitter box is usually used with 2mm or 3mm outer diameter cable, while the other is normally used in combination with 0.9mm outer diameter cables. Besides, it has variously different split configurations, such as 1×2, 1×8, 2×32, etc. With the development of the optical splitter manufacturing technology, the fiber optic market can support the high-technical splitter used in the network where the split configurations are 2×64 or larger at present.
Optical Splitter Types Classified by Transmission Medium
According to the different transmission medium, there are single mode optical splitter and multimode optical splitter. For multimode ones, the phrase implies that the fiber is optimized for 850nm and 1310nm operation. For single mode ones, the phrase means that the fiber is optimized for 1310nm and 1550nm operation. Meanwhile, based on working wavelength difference, there are single window and dual window optical splitters. The single window fiber optic splitter is to use one working wavelength, while the dual window fiber optic splitter is with two working wavelengths.
Optical Splitters Types Classified by Manufacturing Technique
On the basis of different manufacturing technique, there are two fiber optic splitter types, which are popularly used nowadays. One is the traditional fused type optical splitter, fused biconic tapered (FBT) splitter, which features competitive prices; and the other is planar lightwave circuit (PLC) splitter, which has compact size and suits for high-density applications. Both of them have the advantages and can be used in different applications.
Fused Biconic Tapered (FBT) Optical Splitters
The FBT splitter (See Figure 2) is fabricated by the traditional technology with over 20 years history. Its manufacturing technique is relatively mature and the manufacturing cost is lower than PLC splitter, so that the FBT optical splitter can be deployed in a cost-effective manner in today’s fiber optic market.
In the manufacturing process of FBT splitter, there are two or more fibers placed closely together, typically twisted around each other and fused together by applying heat while the assembly is being elongated and tapered. The fused fibers are protected by a glass substrate and then protected by a stainless steel tube. Meanwhile, there is a signal source controls the desired coupling ratio to meet the requirements in applications.
Nowadays, FBT splitters are widely used in passive optical networks, especially in the network where the split configuration is not larger than 1×4. In fact, there is a slight drawback of FBT splitter, the split configuration. In details, if more than four splits are required, multiple FBT splitters can be spliced together in concatenation to multiply the amount of splits available, like a tree splitter. By using this design, the package size increases due to multiple FBT splitters and the insertion loss also increases with the additional splitters. Therefore, if high split counts are needed, small package size and low insertion loss are also required, you are suggested to choose a PLC splitter, instead of the FBT splitter.
Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) Optical Splitters
With a more recent technology, the PLC splitter (See Figure 3) provides a better solution for applications with larger split configurations. Clearly different from the manufacturing technique of FBT splitters, in the manufacturing process of PLC optical splitters, the waveguides are fabricated by using lithography onto a silica glass substrate, which allows for routing specific percentages of light. As a result, the PLC splitter offers very accurate splits with minimal loss in an efficient package.
PLC splitters
With the rapid growth of FTTx worldwide, the requirement for larger split configurations (1×32, 2×64, etc.) in these networks has also grown in order to serve mass subscribers. Due to its performance benefit of larger split configurations, the PLC splitter is more commonly used in the network where the split configuration is larger than 1×4.