On Feb 9, 9:52, Adrien Farkas wrote:
> _these_ 'simplex' aren't really simples, they're duplex, but
connected
> not side by side, but opposite, which makes a need to cut all my sc
> cables into two simplex, which I'd like to avoid. I called it
'simplex',
> because I wasn't able to describe it properly.
Oh, I see. Yes, hard to describe concisely, I suppose they're a sort
of "dual simplex" ;-)
> hmm, i might to move to STs, but ut's fddi cabling systems and all my
> cards are either SC or MIC (FDDI), so I might need bunch of ST cables
> and pigtails. sure, ebay is my friend, but you know, shipping this
stuff
> to europe is quite expensive ;) and I have lots of fddi & sc cables
> already, just missing some stuff to connect it together, this is wher
> the couplers come.
The fibre in my house and workshop is 50/125 FDDI stuff recovered from
work. We don't use FDDI any more so I liberated several 10-metre and
20-metre patch cables, cut off the MICs, and re-terminated them with
STs. The tools and materials I needed to do that cost about ?100 from
TechOptics (luckily, I could borrow a microscope, so I didn't have to
buy that) and it's not hard to do. TechOptics don't have prices on
their website but they're much cheaper than most catalogues, and quite
helpful on the phone.
http://www.techoptics.com
It took two evenings to reterminate 4 cables, both ends. One evening
to strip, wait an hour to let them rest, then crimp and epoxy the STs;
the second evening to cleave and polish the ends. I kept a few shorter
cables that are ST-to-MIC and acquired a few ST-to-SC cables when I got
my ATM kit. Even most of my FDDI kit uses ST or SC connectors; the
only thing I have with MIC connectors (other than adaptors for SGI FDDI
cards) is an ATM-to-FDDI bridge.
I've not done it myself, but someone I know has done a lot of splicing
with gel-filled splices, which are quite cheap (though you really need
a splice box as well). You can get them from TechOptics too.
However, if you already have most of the cables you need, and just want
a few couplers, just buy the couplers.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York
Received on Sun Feb 09 2003 - 19:14:00 GMT