Telecommunications Cabling and Electronics Specifications Guidelines

Contact: Ron Olton

Backbone Cables

Backbone cables connect the FLOOR WIRING CLOSETS to the ENTRANCE WIRING CLOSET. They include all types of cables. Backbone cables should be placed in a star topology with the EWC as the center of the star.

GAUGE:

To maintain the integrity of the entire copper pair network, all backbone copper cables will be 24 AWG solid wire.

TYPES:

FLOOR WIRING CLOSETS will require various sizes of copper twisted pair cables, 62.5 micron multimode optical fiber cable, and in some cases coaxial cable.

SIZE:

The requirement for Multimode Optical Fiber cables and their number for data use will be determined by college staff and specified when the building or remodeling is being designed. Estimates should include 20% spares, and then be rounded up to the next larger standard bundle size.

The same is true regarding the coaxial cable and multimode fibers for video use. These requirements will be specified by college staff. Estimates should include 20% spares, and then be rounded up to the next larger standard bundle size.

The copper cable requirement will be determined by college staff, using the industry standard formula of four pairs per 100 square feet of floor space plus 10 percent, taken up to the nearest standard cable size.

TERMINATIONS:

Terminations of the coaxial cable and the 62.5 micron multimode fiber cable will be patch panels on a standard 19-inch rack used for data and video equipment and terminations.

The copper twisted pair cables will be terminated on Northern Telecom BIX strips, or equal, mounted on the wall of the FWC.

GROUNDING:

All equipment racks should be grounded (bonded) to the copper ground bar in the FWC. This should effectively ground the sheaths of all coaxial cables. If not, then extra steps must be taken to accomplish it. The metallic sheaths of copper paired cables should be bonded to ground.

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