As data rates increase, they continue to drive cabling commissioning standards higher for installed optical and copper cabling infrastructure. Callum Fitzpatrick looks at the important role testing plays in an installation.

Every major structured cabling vendor now requires testing of an installation to be completed, as they must ensure tight quality standards are met in order to initiate cabling warranties.

For example, Siemon requires testing of all its components and products. This requires permanent link testing, and from time to time, channel testing.

The warranties offered by Siemon have been developed to ensure that applications operate properly over an installed structured cabling system, so it is necessary to qualify cabling installations with devices capable of measuring all pertinent parameters and providing the most accurate measurements possible.

As Fluke Networks general manager Wayne Allen says, “testing ultimately provides a way of ensuring that workmanship is up to the right quality, because poor workmanship can degrade the entire integrity of the install.”

Wayne says the importance of this is often ignored and when it comes to testing, many test technicians lack the adequate knowledge to test effectively.

“We have found that many test technicians don’t really understand the basics of testing and they don’t have a full understanding of how their tester works and what it’s doing.

“We estimate that around 75% of technicians probably get fibre testing wrong. You can see that by looking at the results that are submitted to the vendors for warranty or the Government bodies. We get the filter back from their consultants and they tell us that technicians don’t know how to use their testers correctly.”

Wayne thinks that this lack of knowledge in the industry can sometimes stem from a stubbornness and unwillingness to learn.

“Many installers think that because they’re already qualified, they don’t need to further their education. Or in other cases, they have been taught at TAFE and are only familiar with older instruments.”

This concern caused the Queensland Government to mandate testing on all structured cabling installs – if you are going to test, you must have done a vendor training course on your respective tester.

That’s where the Fluke Networks Certified Cabling Test Technician (CCTT) course comes in. The two day course covers both copper and optical network installation certification and is designed to help you improve installation speed, identify cabling fault conditions and eliminate rework.

The course provides all the required information to understand, maintain and assess the quality of Categories 5/6/7 and optical fibre communications networks and learn how to commission and fault-find associated networks using advanced test instrumentation including the Fluke DTX cable testers and OptiFiber Certifying optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR).

Wayne says that as well as gaining the technical know-how, the course is important to help your confidence with the Australian Standards, what they say and the requirements that they bring.

“After attendees are familiar with the Standards, we show them how to set up the tester correctly for testing and then we go into copper link testing and most importantly, how to interpret the results,” Wayne says.

“We then teach them how to remedy the problem, because the tester will tell you where you’re failing, what’s failed and where the fault is.

“Also, the fibre standards have changed greatly in the last couple of years so we make sure our students are up to date with any developments.”

Once you have the skills and knowledge to be confident with your testing, Wayne says that it pays to invest in high quality equipment. 

“When we go out to sites to sort problems out, we tend to see technicians using cheap and nasty kits instead of good quality, long-lasting tools.

“A chef wouldn’t use a blunt or poor quality knife, so technicians shouldn’t use cheap, poor quality tools on structured cabling. You’ll get five or six lifetimes out of more expensive gear and it’ll work out cheaper in the long run.

The most important tools to have in your arsenal are a good punch down tool, a cable knife, a stripper and of course, a good tester.

However, even the budget testers aren’t cheap, so you need to make sure that you maintain your instrument to preserve its lifespan and make sure it is always working correctly. Wayne recommends that you get your tester calibrated once a year.

“A yearly calibration is very important, you wouldn’t go to a butchers or a greengrocers if you suspected the scales were measuring incorrectly, so it’s unfair for people to accept results from a tester that is inaccurate.

This is a view that is supported by many of the major vendors; they often give 10 to 25 year warranties on structured cabling solutions, so they need to have confidence that the tester that was used was accurate. Otherwise, down the track they may owe a lot of money.

Wayne adds that another way of guaranteeing a successful cabling install is simply through cleanliness.

“Many times we get a complaint that a tester is failing an install, but all we do is clean the area down and everything starts passing.    

“In the fibre area, a clean work environment is always a good work environment. Unfortunately, in the construction industry that’s not always possible, because the data cabler is normally the last guy on site.

“When it comes to copper, make sure you clean the connectors and keep dust out of them, and look after your permanent link leads.”

This general caution and care for your cables can go a long way to improving test results and longevity as mistreatment can cause return loss and crosstalk issues.

“Too many times we see people abuse cable, they’ll tie several boxes of cable together and then leave it on the ground, letting all the other tradies walk on it or run a wheelbarrow over it. They’re actually destroying the cable before it’s even installed,” Wayne says.