wiredInUSA June 2019

Listening to cable AFL now offers OSP MicroCore ® tonable cables, locatable within an underground cabling system using standard electromagnetic locator devices. To locate and mark the cable location underground there must be a continuous metallic material placed within the pathway. This electrically conductive element can be part of the duct system, part of the armor layer within the cable, or a tone-wire under the cable jacket. Tonable OSP MicroCore loose tube fiber optic cables (LM, LM200 and LMHD) include a stranded copper conductor placed, longitudinally, directly under the jacket. After thecable is jetted intoan underground micro-duct, or pulled through a traditional HDPE duct pathway, the copper wire is accessed and connected to a signal transmitter and then energized. The low- resistance copper wire acts as an antenna that propagates the imposed signal, allowing its location to be determined using a signal detection device. Historically, a tonable option for a traditional loose tube or ribbon fiber optic cable meant the use of an armored OSP cable package, which limited the amount of fiber that could be placed in a given pathway size.

offers network owners the ability to add two to three times the amount of fiber to their cable pathway. In addition, the reduced diameter and lighter weight construction of the OSP MicroCore tonable cable package allows for longer cable lengths on smaller reels which improves site handling, reduces splice points and lowers scrap. Extending the range AFL has added RuggedizedMicroCore, and Ruggedized MicroCore with SpiderWeb ® ribbon technology, to its MicroCore product line. An alternative to traditional inside plant central loose tube ribbon cable, both cables are designed to eliminate the concerns associated with edge fiber stresses. Ruggedized MicroCore cables consist of an OFNP/FT6 (NFPA 262) or LSZH (including ONFR-LS/FT4/CPR B2ca rating) flame-rated outer jacket with an installation tension rating of 150lbs, and exceed the requirements of the latest Telcordia GR-409-CORE inside plant cabling requirements. Likely applications include headend termination to a fiber backbone, termination of fiber rack systems, intra-building backbones, MTP/MPO or MTP to breakout terminations. “AFL’s Ruggedized MicroCore cables represent the highest fiber density solutions available, allowing for maximum cable pathway utilization,” said Michael Houck, product manager for inside plant cables at AFL.

The use of an OSP MicroCore tonable cable in place of an armored OSP cable

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wiredInUSA - June 2019