Tips & News - August 2015

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Easy to Install While snowshoes, in general, solve the problem, the Opti-Loop storage systems have an advantage: they are very easy to install. “There is a twisted aluminum support wire on the poles. That is what holds up the fiber optic cable. We bring in a bucket truck and attach each snowshoe to that cable with a bolt and clamp. The fiber optic cable is attached to the snowshoes with zip ties and along the support wire with lashers (little coils). It only takes about 15 minutes to mount the pair of snowshoes,” says Powell. ETC installed the initial five sets of Opti-Loop storage systems about five months ago and are planning to buy more, when the need arises. “The prices for the Opti-Loop storage system is competitive and they are easy and fast to install,” concludes Powell.

ETC typically includes 25 to 50 feet of spare cable approximately every fifth span. The question is how to store the extra cable. One option is just coiling it up and attaching the coil to the pole, but coils can cause light loss. In a fiber optic cable, information is transmitted by light that travels through the glass fibers in the cable. Some light is lost when the cable is bent, especially when it is cold. “It does get cold here about four or five times a year. And when I say cold, I mean below 10°F. When it got below 18°F, we used to have excessive light loss in our long cable runs with lots of coils. So, we removed the coils and stretched out the extra cable between two storage systems. That solved the problem,” points out Powell. The storage systems have a turning diameter of about 20 inches diameter. Two are installed at an appropriate distance and the cable is stretched between them. This greatly reduces the number of turns--from hundreds to two.

HUBBELL POWER SYSTEMS |

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