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Topic:
Fiber to gate
This thread has 31 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Thursday July 23, 2020 at 22:25
SB Smarthomes
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I need to get Ethernet 390ft to a vehicular gate intercom.  310ft would be through existing 3/4" conduit and the last 80ft is through basement crawlspace to the rack location.

I haven't terminated fiber in a long time, but have experience going back almost 30 years when terminating involved heated epoxy and hand polishing so not scared of it.

I fished pull line through the conduit today and there are 5 pull junctions along the way so the longest distance between pull points is 102ft and the shortest if 58ft.

My concern with fiber is the pull points have the 3/4" conduit sweeping up into 1-gang bell boxes so I'm concerned the bend radius will be too tight inside the 1-gang box.  Might be possible to swap the 1-gang bell boxes for 2-gang, but some of the locations will have interference with other junction boxes, conduit, etc.

Does anyone have a recommendation for fiber supplier/distributor that might have a gel filled fiber that would work with the small bend radius (I don't think there's any chance of getting armored fiber in there)?

I guess the alternative would just be to run CAT6 DB and install a switch along the path.  There's a junction about half way that even has power, but I'd probably just stick a small PoE switch in a Cantex box.

The "Do it right" guy inside me says to invest in the necessary fiber kit and run fiber, but maybe I'm over complicating things and should just run copper.

We don't have lightening here, so that's not really a concern.
www.sbsmarthomes.com
Santa Barbara Smarthomes
Post 2 made on Thursday July 23, 2020 at 23:07
3PedalMINI
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Use clearline, insanely simple and they have just about any and every fiber you would need!
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 3 made on Thursday July 23, 2020 at 23:07
3PedalMINI
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Ohh, it’s also virtually indestructible too!
The Bitterness of Poor Quality is Remembered Long after the Sweetness of Price is Forgotten! - Benjamin Franklin
Post 4 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 08:39
SWFLMike
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Just an FYI...I recently used some extenders made by Veracity, which I got from ADI. The part numbers are VLS-1P-C and VLS-1P-B, their Long Range Ethernet and PoE Extender. I'm using it to power a Mobotix camera/keypad gate station which is on a run that's about 1000', no repeater or midpoint required.

The instructions even say that if you have four or more joins/couplers, "On site testing is recommended". I liked that part, since it seems like the guys who made the thing know that you don't always have optimal circumstances in the field.
Post 5 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 08:57
lippavisual
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Yeah, pull CAT cable and be done with it. Plenty of boosters/extenders on the market that will repeat Ethernet passed the 330' mark.

Unless you're really concerned with grounding issues or something, then the fiber would be better for it.
Post 6 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 09:33
Fred Harding
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my favorite supplier offers products from Techlogix. They offer a huge range of products, and their website has instructional videos that will give you a real idea as to how easy it is to terminate fiber compared to 15 years ago.
On the West Coast of Wisconsin
Post 7 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 10:59
buzz
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You are close to the 100M Ethernet run length. Adding a relay along the way will probably be a mess.

I'd go fiber, a continuous run. You might need an assistant to help pull through the boxes, but the continuous run will be low maintenance over time. Check the Clearline spec. sheet. Notice how robust it is and check out the bend radius. Passing through the boxes will not be a major issue. You may have some trouble fitting couplings inside your boxes. That's one reason to use a continuous run.

After a little practice, you can terminate modern fiber faster than CAT cable.
Post 8 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 11:00
ericspencer
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Bend radius of fiber is 10x OD. As long as they are sweeps and not 90's I think you will be fine. You wan't want to look for an Indoor/Outdoor tight buffer fiber. Termination these days is really simple, you need a fiber stripper, fiber cleaver and some "mechanical" connectors. The connectors require not crimping, glueing. polishing etc.

FYI, there are extended distance copper/Cat cables on the market now, Superior Essex has their Powerwise cable that will do 1G out to 200m, there is also Paige's Game Changer cable with similar performance.
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Post 9 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 11:10
internetraver
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With the projects you work on I'm surprised you haven't been doing fiber in homes for years.

I would go fiber for the simple fact that you're going to have to get good at it and need the tools eventually, it's the future.
OP | Post 10 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 14:18
SB Smarthomes
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On July 24, 2020 at 08:39, SWFLMike said...
Just an FYI...I recently used some extenders made by Veracity, which I got from ADI. The part numbers are VLS-1P-C and VLS-1P-B, their Long Range Ethernet and PoE Extender. I'm using it to power a Mobotix camera/keypad gate station which is on a run that's about 1000', no repeater or midpoint required.

The instructions even say that if you have four or more joins/couplers, "On site testing is recommended". I liked that part, since it seems like the guys who made the thing know that you don't always have optimal circumstances in the field.

Thanks for all the suggestions... I think this is the win for this situation.  I've used extenders before (some that even run on 1-pair of wires), but never transmitting PoE before.  The Veracity pieces look like a no-brainer and can send the PoE wattage I need using a PoE+ switch so I won't need to worry about power at the far end like I would for fiber.

This is just a quick job that needs to happen Tuesday and I already have spools of CAT6 db.
www.sbsmarthomes.com
Santa Barbara Smarthomes
OP | Post 11 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 14:24
SB Smarthomes
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On July 24, 2020 at 11:10, internetraver said...
With the projects you work on I'm surprised you haven't been doing fiber in homes for years.

I would go fiber for the simple fact that you're going to have to get good at it and need the tools eventually, it's the future.

I have a buddy that owns a company that does commercial fiber and I've used his guys to terminate & test fiber in the past (I think the last time I terminated fiber was 12+ years ago).

The cost of termination kits is so low now it makes sense for me to jump back in with Cleerline or Fred's Techlogix.

My concern with using fiber on this job was working with the existing conduit because it's only 3/4" and has such small pull boxes!
www.sbsmarthomes.com
Santa Barbara Smarthomes
Post 12 made on Friday July 24, 2020 at 20:18
Sean@iTank
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Just make sure you add electrical isolation if you go the copper route. Something like: [Link: blackbox.com]
Post 13 made on Saturday July 25, 2020 at 01:18
edizzle
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fiber always over copper. period. cleerline fiber is as easy as terminating a cat5. bulletproof.
I love supporting product that supports me!
Post 14 made on Saturday July 25, 2020 at 01:43
Brad Humphrey
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On July 24, 2020 at 14:24, SB Smarthomes said...
My concern with using fiber on this job was working with the existing conduit because it's only 3/4" and has such small pull boxes!

I just went to the back of my truck and got a piece of the Cleerline for you. It is the single mode, 6 fiber, DB, armored cable. You can bend it into a pretty tight loop, enough to curve in a single gang box. And the pull strength on this stuff is amazing. That outer multi-core tube around the fiber, protects it extremely well.

The only problem is the cost. The tag line all these fiber companies keep giving is how fiber is almost the same cost as cat these days. But that isn't the cost of these Direct Burial Armored cables - which is what you are most likely needing fiber for.

Also, someone mentioned indoor/outdoor fiber. The 2 big brands in this category for CI installers, both have cable listed as indoor/outdoor and NEITHER is suitable for burial. Currently the only cable they make for burial (that I've seen) is the cable that is also armored.
OP | Post 15 made on Saturday July 25, 2020 at 17:33
SB Smarthomes
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On July 24, 2020 at 20:18, Sean@iTank said...
Just make sure you add electrical isolation if you go the copper route. Something like: [Link: blackbox.com]

Thanks for the link.  Not sure if an isolator will be necessary... I'm planning to power the DoorBird all the way from the head-end via PoE.  Only potential for ground loop would be through contact closure to the gate controller.
www.sbsmarthomes.com
Santa Barbara Smarthomes
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