FIBER OPTIC CABLE

Fiber Optic Cable

Fiber strands are typically bundled within a cable. The strands can be placed in a "tight" or "loose" buffer tube array. The loose buffer tube array is the most commonly deployed for outside plant applications. Tight buffered cable is generally used within a building for riser and horizontal cable. Tight buffer cable is also used for an "indoor/outdoor" application. This cable is constructed with a weather/moisture resistant cable sheath, and is generally used to get from a splice box located within several hundred feet of a building utility entrance, and must be run several hundred feet within a building to the main fiber distribution point. If the main fiber distribution point is less than 100 feet from the building entrance, there may be no advantage to using the indoor/outdoor cable.

Outside plant cable is constructed to withstand immersion in water, will resist exposure to ultraviolet rays, and is protected from rodents and birds.

Fiber strands are placed in a large (relatively) diameter tube and allowed to "float" with considerable movement. As the fiber cable is pulled into place (in conduit, directly buried, or placed on a pole) the strands are not subjected to the forces of the pulling tension. The strands therefore sustain minimal damage or distortion from stretching.

Fiber cables are (as are all communications cables) manufactured based on their intended use. Each cable will have a standard set of markings indicating its primary use, the name of the manufacturer a National Electrical Code rating and a UL approval code, the number of fibers contained within the cable, the outside diameter of the cable, and the manufacturer's product nomenclature. All of these items should be checked when the cable is delivered to a storage area and then at the job-site before the cable is installed.

Fiber Cable Color Identification Chart

Buffer Tube / Fiber Strand Number Color

1 Blue

2 Orange

3 Green

4 Brown

5 Slate

6 White

7 Red

8 Black

9 Yellow

10 Violet

11 Rose

12 Aqua

13 Blue/Black Tracer

14 Orange/Black Tracer

15 Green/Black Tracer

16 Brown/Black Tracer

17 Slate/Black Tracer

18 White/Black Tracer

19 Red/Black Tracer

20 Black/Yellow Tracer

21 Yellow/Black Tracer

22 Violet/Black Tracer

23 Rose/Black Tracer

24 Aqua/Black Tracer