[Orcnet] Off Topic - Fiber Optic Cable

[Keith Lofstrom]

Verizon is preparing to install FIOS next week.  They left a 4 foot
scrap of optical cable, so I cut it open to see how it is made.   

On the outside, it is labelled "22300 feet Corning Optical Cable 12-05
(phone symbol) 12 SME".  It has an oval cross section, about 10mm wide
and 5mm thick.   It is quite stiff and springy; bending it to a 10cm
diameter takes a lot of force, and it springs back straight. 

Inside the hard black outer casing are two thick fiberglass stiffeners
about 1.5mm thick.  Between these is a blue sheath about 2mm in
diameter.  Inside the sheath are the actual fibers; there are 12 of
them in color coded plastic "insulation".  The fibers themselves
appear to be around 0.1mm in diameter.  The blue inner sheath has
some kind of clear oily goo in it.

There is no conductor in there to carry power;  hence the optical
transceiver at my end will be powered locally (I am told these have an
8 hour battery, and use wall power).  I doubt Verizon will let me keep
my copper pair POTS line for when the power goes out.  I probably can
get by with a UPS and my Honda generator, if the neighborhood hub
stays alive.

I don't know about the aging or UV durability of the plastics used, but
overall it seems designed to last many decades.  Very strong, nothing
to corrode.  With all the spare fibers, it will probably provide a heck
of a lot of bandwidth for a very long time.  When they install the
connectors and splices and interface, I will see how durable those are.

Keith

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com         Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs