AHL: Field Notes For Low Voltage Pros

We trade quick industry news with practical answers to the questions technicians and new project managers run into every week, from fiber expansion headlines to the details that keep installs clean and safe. We share what we do to reduce rework, tighten project communication, and stay ready for emergencies on site. 

• live stream schedule changes and a new “pick one” opener 
• NFPA meaning and why it matters in the trades 
• fiber optic industry updates on sensing, supply, and 400G growth 
• stub up versus stub out definitions for conduit work 
• latching duct raceway best practices, adhesives, anchors, and clean cuts 
• CPR, first aid, tourniquets, and how Good Samaritan laws reduce risk 
• ladder safety fundamentals plus real world transport hazards 
• TR drawings, rack elevations, and customer sign-off to prevent changes 
• stipulated sum, cost plus, and unit price contract basics 
• OBS meaning and why project plans include it 
• single mode light sources versus multimode options 
• virtual servers explained for data center environments 
• fiber optic cable lifespan, moisture migration, brittleness, and OTDR testing 
"you can find access how to get into that group by going to let's talk cablining.com forward slash ask dash chuck dash live." 

Industry News:

https://corporate.comcast.com/press/releases/comcast-introduces-smart-fiber-sensing-platform-to-further-enhance-industry-leading-network-reliability

https://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events/news-releases/2026/09/att-and-corning-team-up-to-engineer-the-connected-world-with-fiber.html

https://www.ekinops.com/news/customers/ekinops-powers-bluebird-fiber-s-midwest-network-investments-for-growing-infrastructure-demand

Transcript

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New Schedule And Audience Poll

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Monday night, 6 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. That can only mean one thing, live after hours with your favorite RCD. And you know that's me. Your favorite RCD and Bixie Technician, by the way. I rarely mention it, but I am also a Bixie technician. I got practice as saying Monday night 6 p.m. Because I almost said Wednesday night 6 p.m. Because I just changed this. Remember, I've been telling you for the last month, live streams were shifting to Anthony's in the house. I've been telling you for the last month, the live streams were shifting to Mondays, and the podcast episodes were shifting to um Wednesdays. Okay, doing a little switchy roo there. And I'm making some other changes too. Daryl, the RCDD's in the house. Couple regulars in the house already. Nice. Welcome back, guys. I'm also making another change. Almost every week I used to say, what are you drinking? What are you drinking? I'm not going to do that anymore. I am retiring that one. But I'm replacing it with a pick one every time. So I'm going to give you two things and I want you to pick which one you would do. Okay, here's the first one. Music or podcasts? Which would you rather listen to? Music or podcasts? Tell me in that chat box. See, I kind of listen to both. I listen to both. I listen to music when I'm when I really want to focus in on something. And podcasts when like I'm driving or something, right? That's where I where my focus is not so not so much required. So that way I'll do, you know, so but music, I my wife doesn't understand. I will literally turn the volume up all the way and listen to music and tune everything out. It kind of helps me focus. Anthony says he likes music. Daryl, the RCDD, are you a music or a podcast person?

unknown 2:25

Okay.

NFPA Acronym Challenge Explained

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Acronym challenge. Oh, this is an easy one tonight. This is an easy one tonight. You should all get this. NFPA. NFPA. What does that acronym stand for? I'll give you a hint. It's a very important organization. Very important organization in our industry. It guarantees the safety of people and product. NFPA. Let me see. Nobody's actually guessed it yet. Well, I can't believe that. I thought that was an easy one. Let me flip over to the other chat. Nope. Nobody's guessed it there. Hey, I put the Meow on Cat 5. Another level. National Fire Protection Association. Association. Or is it an agency? I don't have to go look it up. I think it's association, though. There you go. Daryl RCD got it. News with the No, another thing I'm adding too is each week. And extra levels. Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Another

Fiber Industry News You Can Use

SPEAKER_00 3:30

thing I'm doing I'm going to do on the live QA's is I'm going to give you a couple stories in the low voltage industry that happened within the 12 previous days. I can't talk today for some reason. Seven previous days. So I got three stories for you, and they're all pretty much fiber optic related. All fiber optic related, right? So the first one is Comcast. Comcast is using fiber to detect potential cable damage. They announced this on September 29th. They announced a new sensor, a fiber sensoring platform that uses vibrations traveling through existing fiber to detect physical activity near the buried cable. Now, this is not anything new. This has been around for a long time. You know, a lot, you know, putting fiber on fence lines and property lines to detect when people come with. This is not anything that's new. But it's something new. Something new for Comcast. The beard of knowledge is in the house. Can the people in the chat double tap the screen? Yes, please double tap the screen. Yes. So yeah, they've used this before, but this is the first time Comcast is using it. And they're using it to help help identify things like construction equipment near their buried fiber optic lines. And this is kind of a good story because think what just happened, literally, was it last week or the week before, where construction crew cut a backup line for an airport. So now they're putting, so Comcast is putting an additional fiber and equipment on it to detect when there's destruction near their existing existing infrastructure. So that way they can become more aware of that. Second one, AT ⁇ T signs a 3 billion fiber optic deal with corning, right? So AT ⁇ T entered a multi-year agreement with worth more than $3 billion for corning to supply fiber and cable for its network expansion. The bad thing is we're already short on fiber optic cable because of data centers. I read an article today. FOA, the Fiber Optic Association, they put out a newsletter. Please sign up for that newsletter. Anyways, I read the one that came out this week, and I can't remember the name of the company, but listen to this. There's a company trying to figure out how to make a 14,000 strand fiber optic cable. 14,000 strand fiber optic cable. They're currently working on it. So with that happening, with all the data, the fiber going in data centers, again, there's going to be more shortage, more shortage of fiber. So anyway, AT ⁇ T's goal of bringing fiber connectivity to 60 million Americans by the end of 2030. Corning will manufacture the fiber cable across the U.S. while the ATT technicians will build and maintain the networks. This is a great example of what increasing bandwidth demand actually looks like on the physical layer, layer one. That's us, right? More capacity ultimately more fiber will be manufactured, installed, and maintained. We're already short of fiber optic technicians, so now they're going to need even more. So I'm telling you, man, if you're thinking of an industry to get into, this is the industry to get into. And the third and final story, again, another fiber optic, uh, another fiber optic uh story, Bluebird. Bluebird fiber upgrades for the Midwest network from 100G to 400 G. You know, people always complain about their network connections, and I get it. I absolutely get it. I can actually, you know, when I do a speed test on my internet, I can consistently bring down over 100 100 100 gig. But but now they're actually talking about going up to 400 gig, right? So sorry, not 100 gigs. 100 meg, sorry, 100 meg. But so now the bluebird is upgrading all of its fiber optic cable for its Midwest networks to be able to allow 100G through 400 gig networks. And the company's already operating more than 36,000 route miles across 12 states, and data and hyperscale and wholesale demand is helping drive that expansion. So again, another fiber optic story going on. Okay, alrighty. My first day working at David Center tomorrow. Chris, that's absolutely fantastic. That's great. If you have any questions, make sure you give us a call.

Upcoming Episodes And Live Zoom Offer

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Upcoming shows for the uh podcast. Uh remember, I'm switching just up. The podcast is now coming out on Wednesdays. So Wednesday night, I'm releasing my anti-static flooring episode. Now, if you remember, I did a show on anti-static O about a year ago where I interviewed the owner from Static Works, who makes an anti-static floor. They sent me something to do the podcast studio. So the episode that comes out on Monday, I'm going to lightly review what we talked about in that previous episode. But I actually filmed me installing anti-static flooring for the podcast studio and talked about how to actually install it. And giving you food for thought, thinking, hey, why should we this maybe this is something that you might want to do as a low voltage contractor to make you just one little bit better than all your competition? Right behind that, I got an episode with uh security with uh Mick from Trican Securities. Mick is a close friend of mine. We both work on or both volunteer at uh um uh TKW, but uh so we came on to talk about access control. And then I also got another show right behind that talking about winter safety. Winter safety. You might want to pay attention to that one, Chris, because while it might not be winter where you are, it's gonna feel like winter in data centers. I remember used to do a lot of work in data centers as a young technician. I would go to work in August with a long sleeve shirt and a coat. And my and my family always made fun of me. Why are you wearing a coat? It's it's summertime. I'm working in the data center. There you go. Um, those shows are recorded, they're in the pipeline, they're coming out. Shows that uh that are in the in the pipeline to be recorded. Again, I got that show talking about how to sell low voltage projects because there's a lot of people in the industry who are hanging up their technician hat and want to become business owners. Great show for you. I got another great show. Um we got finally got the episode scheduled to record. How to decide which certifier to purchase. How to decide which certifier to purchase. And then I got another one too. I'm actually recording it right after I finish this. A Fiber 101 class. You're in Virginia. Uh, if you're in Virginia, then I happen to know where you are. Because you're up in Dennis Center Alley, right? Um, so yeah, I got Fiber 101 uh recording tonight with uh Sean Kelly from the Light Brigade. So lots and lots of episodes coming up. And oh by the way, I'm always looking for ideas for new content. Always looking for ideas for content. So oh, by the way, you know, I enjoy everybody hanging out here and coming with coming up with uh with my live Q ⁇ Is weekly, but you know, these all these questions are actually typically submitted in advance, right? And I answer them. But I do once a month, I do a live Zoom call where we all can get on Zoom and you can ask me questions live right then and there, and we can continue conversations. That's an offer to our the Let's Talk Cableing crew, and you can find access how to get into that group by going to let's talk cablining.com forward slash ask dash chuck dash live. So there you go. Let's get right into the questions. For two years now, and I love thank you, Chris. I appreciate that. What company do you work for, Chris, if you don't mind, if if if it's not too personal because I may know your company. So question number one.

Conduit Stub Up Versus Stub Out

SPEAKER_00 11:19

This comes from Tyler Brooks. He says, I hear people say stub up and stub out all the time. What's actually the difference between those two? So what they're talking about is conduit. Conduit. I would love to do, I could do one with you on cabling in secure spaces. I need 705 compliance. Yes, Darrell, shoot me an email. Absolutely. Um so stub up and stub out. We're basically talking about conduits. We're usually talking about the conduit that goes from the work box and then it stubs up or stops out into the ceiling space. Okay. Um sometimes it can also refer to single sections of small diameter metal conduits. So you're talking three-quarter inch, one inch, or or stuff like that. So the term stub up basically means when the conduit comes out from through the cap of the ceiling, the cap of the wall, the condu just goes straight up. And then they're gonna put a bushing on that, right? Stub out means that you put they put a 90-degree bend on it, and so now it phases out in the out into the space. And then they're gonna put a a uh a um a ground on that. Either or they're both fine. Uh they're usually gonna be installed most times by electrical contractors. Uh there are some low voltage people who do install their own their own conduit. Hey, tell me in the chat box, do you install your own conduit? Tell me in the chat box, do you install your own conduit? Most low voltage technicians don't. There are some exceptions, like I said. In some areas where they do, they are they are heavily regulated, and a lot of times they can't install more than 10 feet in any given day. So stub up means it just comes up through the cap of the wall and then puts a cap on it, stub out means it doesn't bend. That's one of the things I can do in the podcast studio. That's what I was thinking about making an episode out of, by the way. Question number two.

Latching Duct Raceway Installation Tips

SPEAKER_00 13:08

This comes from Marcus. Uh he's uh instructor cable came to me on Facebook. His question is I've never installed latching type of service raceway. Is there anything I should know before I start to put it up? So he's talking about latching duct. Latching duct is a plastic duct that's got uh adhesive tape on the backside of it, and you peel it off and you literally stick it to the wall. And as a general rule, we as low voltage technicians only use those in environments where we can't go down a wall or we can't make holes in a wall. For example, maybe uh maybe there's fire stops within the wall, so you can't fish down that wall. Although there's ways you can get around that too. Or it might be a nationally recognized landmark, so, or it might be a school where it's all cinder blocks. So what we do is with this thing called latching duct. It's made by everybody. Panduit makes it, and a bunch of other people make it, and then you peel it off and then you stick it on there, right? Um and and the thing is, it's non-metallic. They do there is a metallic type of raceway. Oh, Daryl, that's that's a good one, a skiff. Daryl, shoot me an email. Let's let's talk let's talk about that. Um so I'm really gonna talk about the non-metallic stuff because again, usually the metallic versions are usually mostly installed by electricians. But we as low voltage technicians will typically put up the plastic latching duct. The plastic latching duct comes in two types. One, the top is separated from the base, and another one, the top is hinged to the base. Hinged to the base. And you know, there's a critical thing. I actually reached out to one of the uh one of the manufacturers for latching duct to see if they could send me some latching duct material. Um The beer knowledge is in the house. Uh, if they can send me stuff so I can make videos on the proper way to install latching duct because so many people get it wrong. So many people get it wrong. It just made, you know, number one, make sure it's level and straight. That's the key thing there. Make sure that you don't leave fingerprints on the latching duct. Okay, that's awesome. Um, also keep remember that um sometimes some customers, you know, it comes in general colors. You can buy it in ivory and some other colors as well. But some of the manufacturers will make them even into custom colors or or for specific types of interiors or finishes. And you can get those. They're gonna cost more. Or you can be like a school where they just paint over top of it. Uh-huh. And hey, I'm gearing, I'm guilty of the fingerprints. I think we all are at beard of knowledge. I think we all have put fingerprints on latching duck at some point in time. But here's you know what? Here's two tips that most people don't think about when doing latching duck, okay? Number one, that adhesive, while it sticks really good on the first day, it typically you'll come back six months, a year later, and you'll see parts of the latching duct falling off. So it's always a good idea to use some kind of an anchor, right? Say drywall anchors or or something like that to kind of also help it. What I used to do is I used to take, I used to buy liquid nails, and I would do three or four dots on that on that along that runway, peel the cigar to expose the adhesive, then put three or four dots of liquid nails, put that to the wall, and by the time that the um adhesive would kind of lose its grip, that liquid nails was holding it solid. Okay, it would never come off. Also, make sure that you cut it really, really good. Try to put the uh the cut ends so they're gonna end up underneath of something, like underneath a 90-degree bend or in the box so that way you don't see them. They actually make a um a cutter for latching stuff. It looks a lot like a PVC cutter for PVC pipe, and it cuts it at a nice shooting, nice clean angle. Oh, by the way, make sure you use your T sections, your T fittings, your right angles, your left angles, your couplers. A lot of people will put up latchings and they've missed that final detail. Question number three, this comes from Emily.

First Aid Training And Jobsite Liability

SPEAKER_00 17:06

She's a lead tax and she lead tech, and she sent me a message through LinkedIn. So we recently had an action on one of our job sites, and it made me realize I should probably get some first aid training. Ooh, yes, I'm glad you thought of that. What training should installers have? You know, it's always better to be proactive than reactive. Proactive than reactive. And uh you didn't mention who your company was, but most companies put their technicians, I bet you Anthony's gone through some type of first aid training. Um, they go through some type of first aid training. It could be something basic like CPR, you know, or something like that, but there are some other classes you can take. I highly recommend that every installer, every technician, every project manager be provided CPR training. And I actually once I thought about becoming a CPR instructor. Those of you know me know used to be in the fire department many, many, many years ago. Um, and I was in the EMT as a part-time job to do in communications. So I could do CPR. I've done CPR many times. Um, it's not a fun thing to do. Stopthebleed.org. Yes, thank Chris Hobbs is in the house. Um every technician should have CPR training. And every technician should also have some minimum level of of um of training for his first name. Daryl, the RCD said he used CPR on a job site. Wow, that's that's pretty, that's I'm glad you took that training, Daryl. I truly, truly am. Um now, again, first aid, you know, a lot of people kind of get really leery about first aid because they're worried about, well, what if I cause what if I cause them, you know, break a bone or something, and then now they're gonna sue me. Well, you know, if you're doing CPR right, you will break bones. Especially, I used to do a lot of CPR in people in convalescent homes when I was a when I was an EMT. And I've broken many, many bones. And I bet you if you went back and asked them, they would rather have a broken bone and still be alive than uh than not. Right? So, so CPR is really, really something you should get. And uh, most of your local fire departments will offer free CPR training. If not, you can always contact the uh the Red Cross. Um, Chris Hobbs has a great suggestion here. Tourniquets should be required on all job sites. So, yes, 100%, because you know, we're using we're using saws and stuff like that. Unrelated here. I was putting baseboards in the house um uh Sunday, and I had to take my oscillating saw and I had to cut these strips off the wall. Well, it's I'm laying on the ground while I'm doing baseboards, as you can imagine. Well, I set the oscillating saw down and then I just kind of reached over to get my pencil, and my finger just lightly went across that oscillating saw and it cut my finger. Not a not enough to go get stitches, but you know, it just goes to show you how easy it is that it is to cut yourself. And a tourniquet is a great idea. And again, I think I should go with at least your basic, your basic first aid treatment, right? So anyway, getting back to a lot of people afraid, oh my God, if I give CPR, I'm gonna get seeded. Well, typically, it kind of depends on your location, but typically you get your you're protected by what's called the Good Samaritan law. The good Samaritan law. Now, what does the good Samaritan law mean? It means that uh you can approach and assist an injured person, and as long as you don't, it basically says, as long as you don't cause any more damage than somebody who's equally trained would do. So if you've only been trained in CPR, and I'm thinking right, broken bones is a common thing with CPR, they're not gonna see you for that. They can't. You're protected by that. So, you know, and by the way, keep in mind, first aid training, especially if you're gonna be using tourniquets, uh, first aid training, CPR training expires and it changes. Oh my gosh, does it change? When I first got trained in CPR when I was in the fire department, I was taught 15-2, 15 compressions, two breaths, 15-2, 15-2, 15-2. When I went back and redid my CPR training, I want to say about three years ago, they changed it to 31. 30 compressions, one breath. 30 compressions. So it's changing because we're learning more and more about the body. Question number four, this comes from Jake Miller on Instagram.

Ladder Safety Rules That Prevent Injuries

SPEAKER_00 21:26

He says, I saw a funny ladder meme recently, and I remembered you did something about ladder safety a while back. It's true. I did an episode on five on ladder safety. Actually, I did it twice. I I it was one of the first episodes I did, and then I redid it about a year later. I should probably repost that episode, right, about ladder safety. Um, so I'm just gonna cover some ladder safety technique, uh basic safety techniques. Number one, know how to choose the correct type of ladder, right? Make sure it has the right height, right? Don't stand on the top of the ladder. Make sure you understand what kind of service you're placing it on. There was a there was a story. I remember it and it shows how old I am. I was a technician for Super TV back in 1992. 1992. And I used to listen to Paul Harvey all the time on my radio. Because I was driving between uh job sites. That's where I guess where I get my podcast things from, right? And uh he told, you know, you know, he used to this thing called the rest of the story. Anyway, he started talking about this one person who uh he set his ladder up. He had a bar, he had a farm, he set his ladder up because he had to do some work to his barn. It was in the middle of the winter. And if you've ever looked at a ladder, you know they've got, oh, I don't know, tons and tons of stickers on them, which tells you all the proper way to use it, right? And the ladder slipped out, he fell down and got injured. He sued the ladder company. Listen to this. He sued the ladder company and won because there was not a label on the side of the ladder that said, not to place the ladder in frozen cow manure. So yeah. All right, thanks for stopping by, Mr. Anthony. Yeah, so people will sue for anything. So choose the right ladder. Oh, so inspect the ladder. You know, that's why we're not supposed to be painting over our ladders and putting stickers on our ladders, right? So make sure that uh you look at that ladder. If there's any cracks, take it out of service. Super TV, oh my gosh. You knew Super TV, Daryl? That is I used to be a super TV technician a long time ago. A long time ago. This is my first one of my first jobs in communications, like 1984, 1985. Um, so yeah, if you see any fractures, you know, take it out of service. Um, what I used to do is I saw a ladder that had a defect to it, I would take my my circle shell and cut it in half. Cut it in half. That way there was no way that somebody can actually accidentally pick it up out of the warehouse and start using it again. Right? Um also uh make sure you transport the port the ladder carefully. You know, a lot of the work tucked trucks have the ladder act on top of them, secure them down. A lot of them have the locking mechanisms, some some technicians would use bullstring, some technicians would tie wraps. I'm gonna tell you now, I was coming down. Daryl love this one because I used to live in Maryland, but I worked in Virginia. I was coming down the BW Parkway, right, one day in my in my car, and right when you get into the DC, the BW Parkway kind of converged with New York Avenue, and then it's New York Avenue down through D.C. and it comes out on the beltway in the bottom side. Right there, just about that intersection. A work van was carrying an extension ladder. It fell off the truck because he didn't secure it correctly. It hit the road right in front of me and literally just started spinning. I had nowhere to go. There's a car in my left lane, a car in my right lane, and I had to run it over top of it and it blew both my front tires up. So secure the ladder to the truck. Okay. Um also pay attention to your health. Um, you know, if you're having problems with your ankle or your legs, you know, be careful, you know, because it's gonna take a I used to do roofing, and that used to wear me out. And when you're climbing that ladder, three points of contact, three points of contact at all times. And as Darrell pointed out, make sure you pay attention to the belt buckle rule. The belt buckle rule means your belt buckle should be between the two sides of the ladder. You should not be going out on the sides of those. So I'm as I'll tell you what I'll do is I'll go ahead and repost that episode again. Don't bust my chops because it was one of my first podcasts, so I wasn't quite as polished yet. So don't make fun of me when I repost that, okay, everybody? All right, question number five.

TR Layout Sign Off To Avoid Rework

SPEAKER_00 25:40

Carlos, he's an IC tech engine, just came through YouTube. I'm working on a small job where there aren't any rack elevations or TR drawings. TR drawings. How do I make sure that the customer won't change their mind after I've built the TR? Tell me in the chat box, have you ever done a project, probably a small project, maybe a medium-sized project? Tell me if you've ever done a project where you were never given rack elevations or telecom room layouts. Tell me yes or no in the chat box if you've ever had to do that. Because I guarantee you, this is something that every technician has to do. So here are some things, here's some things that I would recommend you do. If you get one of the jobs, okay, you get one of those jobs. If that if the if the if the room is not laid out already, I suggest that you kind of put some thought into it, create one, tell them which room, you know, do the drawing of the room, which walls you're gonna be mounting, the 66 blocks on, where the racks are gonna be, where the ladder rack is going to be. Right? Just remember, you know, you gotta use the, you know, make sure you identify the three-quarter inch, AC grade plywood. Um, and if it's required to be paid and make sure you note that on your drawings. And then what I would do is I would create that drawing, and it can be by hand, although you can do it now pretty much pretty easy in almost any program. And then uh make sure that you uh give it to the customer and have them sign off on it first. And let them know that if they don't sign off on it, you're not going to build it out. Also, including at rack elevations. You know, you're gonna put your put your uh your fiber optic enclosure at the top and then rack, patch panel, switch, rack, patch panel, switch, or wherever you need to put on there. Draw it out, it doesn't have to be pretty, and have them sign off on it. So that way there's a clear understanding between you and the customer. Okay? Clear understanding between you and the customer and have them sign and let them know that you are not going to build that room until they initial or sign, sign and date that that drawing. Because the worst thing in the world is put the racks in, put the ladder rack in. The customer comes out to do an inspection and says, Oh, I wanted my racks over there. Well, now you gotta unbolt everything. Hopefully, even start terminating yet. So again, if that remember, I got that rule of 147 pro chips. Number one, document, document, document. Okay, question number

Contract Types In Low Voltage Projects

SPEAKER_00 27:57

six. This comes from Nicole through LinkedIn. Every time my dog is seeing a scroll outside. I'm a new project manager, and I thought there was basically only one type of contract, but apparently I was wrong. Um, what contract types could I run into in the low voltage space? So there's there are three common types of contracts that you can come across: stipulated sum, cost plus, and unit price. My favorite is stipulated sum. It's gonna cost us, we're gonna charge you um um $100,000 to put in the cable, terminate, and build everything out, lump sum, labor, never break out labor materials, just give them boom, that's what the price is. Cost plus um is a little bit different. So what you do is you actually keep track of the cost, and then you you're allowed to put a certain amount of markup on that to first for a certain amount of return. Um uh wish for cost plus percentage of cost contracts. Yeah. I've never been a big fan of cost plus. I've always liked stipulates. In fact, the vast majority of my contract experience has been um has been stipulated, stimulated, stipulated, so I'm sorry. Um and then you got the the unit pricing. Now the thing with unit pricing is it's kind of a nightmare because first you gotta figure out how many units there are, and then you build out your estimate and you divide by those number of units and come up with your unit pricing. Of course, I'm talking it's a very high level here. And the problem is you gotta have some in there because what if that what if they had one more drop and that involves putting in a new ladder rack and a new relay rack? Well, there you go. You just lost the cost, you just lost your your money there on your on your units on that one, right? Cost plus, you won't lose money, but you can also but you also can't pick up much. Uh yes, and that's why I always like the cost plus. Um, I mean, sorry, that's why people like the cost plus. I don't like cost plus, but you know, it does allow you to pick up some extra money. Um but it can be very, very valuable, right? Question number

OBS Charts For Project Clarity

SPEAKER_00 30:05

seven. This comes from Brandon, he's an estimator from Facebook. I keep seeing OBS mentioned in project planning. What is OBS? And what should I care about? OBS stands for organizational breakdown structure. Okay, it's just a chart that shows the people within the organization or people within the project and who they report to. A good project plan will include an organizational breakdown structure. So that way they know. So if you're like a local voltage contractor, you know that you're gonna be underneath the customer or somebody else, you know who to report to, and then this shows who they report to up the line. It makes sure everybody knows who they are, where they fit in that scale. It's also responsible for all the team members, so everybody kind of knows how they fit into that system, so that way they understand what they're gonna be doing. You know, it doesn't necessarily imply rank like a lot of people think that it does. Like, you know, again, it kind of deples what their role was within that company. Question number eight.

Single Mode Light Sources Versus Multimode

SPEAKER_00 31:04

This comes from Kevin, fiber optic technician, came to be on Reddit. Yes, I'm on Reddit. Uh, what type of light source is used with single mode? And how is it different from the other light sources within within multi-mode? So single mode typically uses a laser diode. Um multi-mode can use LED lights, um, vixels, shortwave uh lasers. There's also a new one too. I just saw, again, I mentioned that that newsletter from the FOA they put out every week. There's a new one coming on board. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. It's like P-S-C-E-L or something like that. But primarily, single mode is going to be for your single mode, and it's going to operate at 1310 or 1550. Lasers are more expensive, but they can go longer distances because they're more powerful. They can turn on and off quicker, so they can do more bandwidth. So that's where you go. Question number nine, Amanda, the data center specialist.

Virtual Servers Explained For Data Centers

SPEAKER_00 32:05

I've heard the term virtual server used all the time in data centers. What is a virtual server? And how is it different from a regular server? So virtualization allows multiple servers to be housed in the same physical host without compromising, without having any of the benefits of a separate physical layer. So virtual servers are completely partitioned within the same host. So you can have multiple of them within same within one. Now the uh the high dead, it gives you high density, great for data centers. Everything's all in one unit, so that's gonna help leave the power considerations, the heat considerations, and they're easier. Well, I don't know, maybe, maybe, maybe my um my beard of knowledge can tell me in here. Um I've heard that virtual servers are easier to configure and easier to maintain maintain. So if you are if you know uh um oh my mind's pulling the blank over a sudden on me. Dang it, man. The beard of knowledge. If you know, please tell us there in the chat box. Question number 10.

Fiber Lifespan And Proactive OTDR Testing

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Last question. This comes from Derek. He's a fiber foreman. Fiber foreman. How long does fiber optic cable actually last before it needs to be replaced? We have some older fiber that's still working fine. I'm just curious as to if and or when it will never need to be replaced. You know, it fiber lasts a long time. In fact, right now, in case you didn't know it, the first fiber optic cable that connected the US to Europe was called TAT 8. And they're currently, right now, removing that fiber because they've replaced it with new fiber. And I don't know how old that fiber is. I want to somebody, somebody in the chat box, go to go to look up when was TAT 8 installed? I don't remember off the top of my head. Let's figure out how old that cable is. But you know, for example, most fiber, 20 to 25 years, they're still providing you good service. Fiber optic cabling is usually designed for a lifecycle of about 40 years. What happens is um is if the fiber doesn't necessarily fail, but the bandwidth exceeds the fiber we installed 40 years ago. Well, think about 62.5 fiber, ohm one. It's not even it's not even recommended to be installed in it. It's considered legacy fiber, and that was about 40 years ago, 40, 50 years ago. So yeah, it's it so again, a good a good average, 20, 25 years, but it can suffer from some moisture migration, which can cause an increase in attenuation. It could also cause it to be brittleness. And brittleness is generally not a problem for fibers if they're never disturbed, but it does become a problem if you start moving them. So if you see a fiber optic cable installed somewhere, don't touch it. Leave it alone. Okay? Leave it alone. It's gonna last forever. And especially if you put that fiber optic cable inside of interduct or inside of conduit, it's even protected even more. So if you really wanted to be careful, you want to be proactive, proactive, then uh you can do periodic testing with an OTDR. I used to work for a customer in the Maryland area that they used to take their fiber and shoot it every year with a tier two test or with an OTDR, and they would compare those test results to the previous year. They looked like something was causing problems. They replaced the fiber before it ever went out. So there you go. Daryl, the RCD, says Queen and Unicam started failing at 25 years. We're now replacing some that you installed. When he says some that I installed, he means some that the company I worked for installed. Because I was a project manager. I was not a fiber optic technician with that company. But I understand what you mean there, Mr. Daryl, the RC. I appreciate you. All right, then we're 10 questions.

Final Wrap Up And Thanks

SPEAKER_00 35:50

I went six minutes over. Six minutes over. I appreciate everybody being here tonight. So let's go ahead and close this out. And we're just gonna be able to do it.