IDEAL Industries, Inc. (www.idealindustries.com) is conducting a major expansion of its optical-fiber tool line, including its LAN tools.
The Sycamore, IL-based supplier of data communications testing and service tools is taking these steps to capitalize on what it sees as the demand to light dormant or dark optical-fiber cable for use in LANs.
Tom Reinert, optical-fiber product manager, says that in spite of the slow economy, end users are still turning to installers as they seek to tap into dark fiber. Reinert says less than 5% of installed fiber in the United States is now carrying traffic. New fiber installations are likely as well, he says, driven by residential applications, the need for higher bandwidth for computers, and videoconferencing.
"The contractors that we sell to say their business is off a little, but there is still fiber being installed," says Reinert. "Com mercial buildings and businesses are still being hooked up with fiber."
Reinert says the company revamped its LAN tool section after carefully listening to feedback from cable installers. "What we have done is meet throughout the years with different fiber installers, work in training classes and watch what they do. We've paid attention to their comments, and tried to make the improvements they would like to see."
Based on this input, IDEAL plans to introduce more than a dozen next-generation optical-fiber tools in the coming months. These will include cutters, scribes, polishers and microscopes to help fiber installers light the tens of thousands of miles of dark optical-fiber cable installed worldwide.
Of its revised optical-fiber jacket strippers and optical-fiber buffer strippers, for example, Reinert says, "We have made them more user friendly, and changed dimensions on them so they are easier to work with."
The Simplex/Duplex Fiber Optic Jacket Stripper is designed to help installers who are working with simplex cables or the newer duplex cables. The duplex strip notches on the tool are designed for installing MT-RJ style connectors, and for reducing the time required to prepare the cable.
IDEAL has also developed a stripper that will remove the jacket off of ribbon fiber without destroying or damaging the fiber underneath it. The company has modified the stripping jaws or blades so it will handle Corning Cable Systems plenum or fanout ribbon cable.
The company will also unveil a new pair of scissors that can be used to cut the Kevlar on fiber. "There is a notch there that can be used to break the glass or the vinyl jacket of the cable, and the serrated portion of the scissors can be used to trim the Kevlar," says Reinert.