A fully rugged fibre optic cable solution utilises harsh environment connectors designed for outdoor use, but it’s not always pratical to use these due to their weight, size and cost.  However, there are several tougher cable options that can be terminated with standard connectors, three of which have been outlined below.  These can be considered as alternatives to standard patch cables, offering more resilience to damage and increased network reliability.

Ruggedised (aka Flat Twin) Cable

Additional PVC sheath for added protection but still  flexible and light

A Flat Twin cable consists of a pair of simplex fibre cables encased in a secondary PVC LSZH jacket. This additional sheath effectively doubles the thickness of the PVC around the fibres providing additional robustness to the cable.

A tight bend in an optical cable, caused by kinking or pinching can disrupt the passage of light carrying data packets down the fibre core affecting the performance of the data link. The additional sheath around a Ruggedised cable helps to avoid this happening and is especially important in installations where the cable is pulled through voids under tension.

We have provided Ruggedised Cables for a variety of industries including broadcast, industrial and military applications.

Advantages:

• Lowest Cost ruggedised cable option
• Quick manufacturing lead times

 Technical Specification

Bend Radius    40mm
Dimensions     3.8mm x 6.6mm
Connectors     ST, SC, LC, FC

Click here now for pricing information and specification sheet

Armoured Fibre Patch Cables

 A compact cable armoured with steel tape and braid for superb crush resistance

Often armouring is used in cables to provide additional protection against rodents, as well as general damage. The term ‘Armoured’ fibre usually implies heavy, cumbersome and inflexible multi core cables, these two core cables are far from this – with a cross section of just 3mm these armoured cables are in fact the most compact option (actually more compact than standard fibre patch cables!)

Constructed with a layer of helical metal tape, Kevlar and metal braid mesh they are very tough yet still flexible. Compared to Flat Twin, armoured patch cables offer superior protection against severing, pinching, kinking and rodents. Despite this, the cable is no larger than a standard patch cable and the round cross section of the cable allows flexing equally in all directions, aiding cable management and routing in tight places.

A customer of ours, Wildcat Aerial Filming, who film the HD aerial shots featured in David Attenborough’s “Life” and “Planet Earth” series recently tested the strength of armoured cables to the maximum. One of our armoured cables accidently got shut in a helicopter door and despite damage to the cable sheath, the fibre core were protected and they were still able to carry on filming!

Advantages:

• Round cable is the most compact option
• High impact/crush/rodent resistance

Technical Specification

Bend Radius    30mm
Dimensions     3.2mm Ø
Connectors     ST, SC, LC, FC

Click here now for pricing and specification sheet

Tactical Fibre

Truly the best cable when deployment in harsh environments is needed

Designed to stand up to use in harsh environments with resistance to water, chemicals, crushing, cuts and abrasions, tactical fibre can also, and most importantly, can be repeatedly deployed and coiled without compromising it’s performance.

To allow this repeated flexing, the construction is unique in that the fibre cores are “locked” to the jacket, avoiding micro bends of the fibre core under stress, and providing high mechanical protection under extreme loads.

For applications where deploying is a necessity, this is the best cable to use. Universal Networks have supplied these for use in the Broadcast, Oil and Gas Exploration, Mining and Military applications where it meets Military standards.

As well as being suitable for termination with standard connectors, this cable can also be presented in a number of rugged termination options; both butt joint and expanded beam.

Advantages:

• Truly deployable cable
• Meets Military specifications
• Compact, flexible and light round cable
• Standard & harsh environment connectors
• Up to 24 core per cable

Technical Specification

Bend Radius    40mm – 68mm (2-24 core)
Dimensions     5.5mm – 8.5mm Ø (2-24 core)
Connectors     ST, SC, LC, FC

Click here for pricing information

Below is an expanded, to scale diagram of the cross sections of  Armoured patch cable, standard zipped patch cable, and flat twin/ruggedised.  As you can see the 3mm 2 core armoured cable takes up less space that the 2×2.8mm standard patch cable, an important consideration where they need to run in tight spaces.

Tactical cable is not shown as it varies in size – between 5 and 8.5mm diameter for 2 to 24 core.

Comparison of Cable Cross Section

Their product is based around a standard LC Connector, housed in an IP rated shuttered XLR shell which protects against dirt and dust which can impede performance. The cable is a very high spec MIL-TAC (Military-Tactical) cable designed to be tough yet very flexible, light weight and most important – can be re-spooled and deployed without damage to the fibre cores.

 These cables come in 2 and 4 core versions, both multi and single mode and can be supplied with or without deployable reels. The bulkhead receptacles mount in standard XLR format knock outs.

Typical uses are any that require temporary fibre connectivity such as outside broadcast, exploration and military comms. The Neutrik range will be added to the web site over the coming weeks, but for now we can advise, quote and supply for your requirements over the phone or please fill in our contact form and we will call you straight back.

Our last day for shipping will be the 22nd of December however we will be open until around Midday on the 23rd and we will return on the 3rd of January at 9am.

Once again thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you in 2012

Image Credit jannoon028 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Distances:

100m on Cat6a and Cat7 cable types

55m on Cat6 cable which is already deployed in many data centres

45m on Cat5e, the most commonly installed UTP cable types

Note: these distances are for solid core cabling, not standed as typically used in patch cables.

Another great feature of 10GBaseT is that it will auto negotiate to 1000Base-T, so a switch will conecct to 10Gbe and 1GbE devices, protecting your investment and allowing for gradual upgrades of connected devices. DAC, SFP+ and CX4 connectivity options all require 10GbE devices at both ends. Work against 10GBase-T, it uses more power than other options.

We are working on solutions to help with this and several will be appearing on our website over the coming weeks.

One off the shelf option is to use the E2000 connector. This is a very high quality connector commonly used in the telecommunications sector but little known in other industries. The main benefit of the E2000 connector is a spring loaded shutter which protects the end face when decoupled, thus protecting against contamination or damage automatically.

We can terminate any type of cable we advertise with E2000′s – until these are added to our website please call for information and costs on 0844 846 0440 or fill in our contact form and we’ll call you back

What are the differences between the Category classifications of copper?

How do you convert copper into fibre optic cables?

When should shielded cables be used?

What does UTP, FTP, STP and SFTP mean?



You can find our Copper FAQs on our website or by following this link. You may also wish to take a look at our Fibre Optic FAQs.

Are there any other questions that you would like answering? Please leave a comment below and we’ll get right on it!

Traditional fibre optic cables are simply too delicate to survive the demands of harsher environments experienced when venturing beyond the confines of the data cabinet and server room.  What’s needed is a durable kink and crush resistant equivalent to the standard 3mm patch cable; we have something even better.

Made from high quality components our armoured fibre optic cables consist of a fibre pair housed in a stainless steel tube with Kevlar, helical metal tape and metal braid mesh for additional protections contained within a LSZH outer-jacket.  The armouring of the fibres gives excellent resistance against kinking, crushing and rodents.

Despite the additional protection built into the cable it is still flexible and very compact with a diameter of just 3mm.  Importantly the cross section is round, so flexing is omni-directional making it easier to route and re-coiled if used for temporary links.  There is no other cable this compact that offer this degree of fibre protection.

We manufacture these cables within the UK to allow us to deliver to site in a reasonable time, furthermore we can also offer the cable terminated with a LC Uniboot connector (rather than a fibre breakout into two simplex tails) which is beneficial for environments such as high density data centres where space is scarce.

Our armoured cables are available in multimode (OM1, OM2 and OM3) and singlemode (OS1) with a range of popular connectors and made to desired lengths

It’s a common misconception that rats actually eat the cables, instead they use the insulation to line their nests or chew it to wear down their constantly growing teeth. There are several ways to protect cables against rodents

 (and other creatures,) including metallic armouring and non-metallic options including glass shards and bittering agents which deters rodents.

We supply all three options and on our website have the following metallic armoured options for fibre copper:

Armoured Cat5e and Cat6 cable – for external use, can be run in ducts, directly buried or installed vertically up masts

Armoured Fibre Optic Patch Cables – for internal use, has the same thickness as a normal fibre patch cable but contains a metal braid and stainless steel tube meaning this assembly is flexible and compact but also durable.

Armoured (Corrugated Steel Tape Armour) Loose Tube Pre Terminated Fibre - for external use in harsh environments, contains a water-blocking gel and protects the fibres from temperature fluctuations. Suitable for direct burial inter-building links, harsh environments and campus backbones.

Armoured (Steel Wire Armour) Loose Tube Pre Terminated Fibre - for external/internal use, this cable is more flexible but heavier than CSTA Loose Tube but provides the highest level of rodent protection. The LSZH sheath also allows its application in internal environments. If you need any assistance in choosing the right cable for your application or are interested in the non-metallic options please give us a call on 0845 846 0440