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    Holztech
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Low V Data Cable Terminations/Fiber Terminations

General question to the other field service techs out there. 

My employer usually asks me to do the low V terminations as a value-added service to our factory commissioning services. Usually this is just DMX, NET, Unison/Paradigm, and an occasional legacy termination like RFU. 

I've just been asked to look at a couple of projects that have a single run of  fiber between a couple of equipment racks, and I am not sure what all is involved in terminating fiber.

How long does it take to terminate a fiber cable, and is this something that one can learn in a short period of time, or does it take some training and practice before doing this termination in the field?

I know that there are several types of fiber terminations, and I'm not sure which one will necessarily be used on these projects, but I imagine that the timing involved should be fairly similar (e.g. if it takes 15 minutes for one type and 20 for another, I'm not really concerned at the difference.)

Any of your experiences in the field if you have done this would be helpful.

Thanks.

 



[edited by: Holztech at 5:10 PM (GMT -6) on Mon, Sep 21 2009]

  • Though fiber terminations have gotten 'easier' over the last 10 years, the equipment to properly test these connections will run you a minimum of $10,000, on top of the highly specialized tools for each type of connector or fiber type you may run into. Theatrical systems in general use a very limited amount of fiber, making such an investment usually difficult to justify. When I contracted and did terminations, I always farmed out the fiber terminations to a data wiring company. Its usually rather cheap. They usually change around $75-$100 a hour plus parts. It takes a competent person about 5 minutes a connector, plus some testing time. 

    ETC generally does the same thing. On any job with terminations by ETC with fiber, we will contract to a local firm.

     

     

  • in reply to mskurla

    Thanks Mike-

    That confirms what I found out from an A/V company we work closely with here in SF.  Fortunately, they do a lot of multimedia installs and are using a lot of fiber in their systems, so they have a tech who does their terminations.  Looks like I'll probably farm it out to them if we need the work done.

     

    Thanks.

     

     

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