ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area New Forum Areas

(new guy jumps in..ducking)

If a VDV forum might mean more EC's would be taking on datacom wiring jobs, and having more info for those jobs, then I think it's a great idea. The end result would be safer, better wiring.

I've always found it way easier to teach an EC how to do data wiring, than a data guy to pay attention to safety and codes. (I don't mean that as a slam, wiring takes a long time to learn, data is usually pretty simple.)

"If you've got some questions on VDV please ask away!"

OK Bill, here goes.

I am doing work for a restoration company that does flood and fire restoration. They want ne to do the CATV and phone. Nothing fancy, just voice and cable TV.

Should I get some sort of termination panel and run home runs to each location? Most of these homes had Cat 5 just daisy chained. With the budget I have to work with I wouldn't want to use a real costly termination center. If there is TV in 4 or 5 locations, I don't see how to do it without multiple home runs. You wouldn't want to use a bunch of splitters would you? How about one big splitter?

Also, should I keep the cat 5 and coax away from the romex, drilling separate holes?

Oh and for the phone, do you hook up for two lines right away or just connect the primary line in each room?

And with the cat 5, are the extra pairs just for noise supression or are they sometimes used to carry voice/data? In other words, is cat 5 capable of more than 2 lines?

Well as you can see I am as green as they come, hope it's not too many questions at once.

By the way, is it common to use a 66 block in residential or is it overkill?

Thanks, Brian

Brian,

I didn't mean here
Please start a New Thread with an appropriate title.


Bill

A VDV area sounds like a good idea, as we are getting more questions on these topics now. "Tricks of the trade" also sounds like a reasonable candidate, as it would allow some neat semi-reference threads to be kept all together in one place.

The only thing I would add is that I don't think we should get carried away with adding extra areas unless they cover a clearly defined topic (or sub-topic), such as above.

Those forums which have four dozen areas on the index page might look impressive at first, but it soon becomes clear that there is a lot of overlap between areas and a lot of confusion as to which is the "correct" area for a subject.

I would be interested in both as new forums.

Steve

I would like to cast my "AYE" vote for a systems (VDV) forum. As coincidental as it can be, this has come up three times recently in conversation with some others that have never visited here (they have now been made aware of ECN) and once with a new member.

To let it be known, I can use, and anxiously look forward to the education also.

Roger

[This message has been edited by Roger (edited 01-06-2005).]

Guys,

A decision hasn't been made yet one way or the other on New Forums and what to do with them. We've recently been looking at upgrading the software, but that's another story.

It seems that people are waiting for a new area to open up before asking a question? If that's the case I'm confused. It should be clear that these types of questions and discussion have always been welcome. Post them in the General area. If a new area opens up later the associated threads can easily be moved there.

Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 01-06-2005).]

Bill,
Yes, I seem to remember there was a rather lively debate about this in 2003, in this thread at the time.