One of the issues involved in installing a data communication network is expandability, as this means pulling in additional cables and making sure there is adequate space to fit. Blown fibre offers an easy way to do this: provide additional empty tubes for additional fibres and simply blow them in when required.
Lennie Janeke of Lonspeare Cables walked us through the process and demonstrated how this is done. Blown fibre is a well established technique that offers not only ease of use, but also cost savings.
British Telecommunication PLC developed and patented ‘blown fibre’ in the early 1980s which was first used commercially in Europe and then Japan. Today, blown fibre technology is implemented successfully throughout the world. Air blown fibre (ABF) technology involves the use of a flow of compressed air to propel a lightweight, flexible fibre unit into a micro tube or micro duct. Bruce covered the following topics: fibre tube infrastructure and tube terminology, micro blown fibre tubes, mini blown fibre tubes, tube numbering, specialised tubes, fibre bundles, micro fibre units, mini fibre cables, fibre flow accessories, equipment and tools and ended with the features and benefits of ABF.
The SAIMC Johannesburg branch thanks Lennie for his informative presentation and demo which were well received.
Golf day
On 5 July, the Johannesburg branch held its annual golf day. Once again the weather was against us and the golfers got off to a cold start at the Kempton Park golf club.
All in all we had 32 four balls and 11 sponsored watering holes, mostly booked by the suppliers to our industry. All the players and people manning the watering holes were invited to join us for a hot dinner and a few cool beverages afterwards. Every player was eligible to receive a prize, regardless of how the scorecard looked. Well done to everyone who enjoyed the day with us
The branch would like to thank all the companies and individuals that supported us and helped make the day the success that it was.
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