ATC believes that this year will see many more industries changing over to optical fibre, not only for increased transmission bandwidth, but also for a multitude of other applications.
Historically it is common for the process control industry to use copper instrumentation and control cables. The implementation of optical fibre in this environment and on various projects has proven direct benefits. The emergence of optical fibre in this industry, the migration and transformation from copper to optical fibre, shows definite advantages and cost savings in the long term.
In the process control industry transmission systems are usually provided in multidrop configurations where a pair of fibres is routed between a large number of sites with electro-optic equipment at each site. A signal presented at any one site can be made available to all other sites in the network using Ethernet or RS485 equipment. At the top end, both these can also be substituted by multiplexing equipment enabling transmission of transmitted and received signals via one fibre instead of a pair of fibres, doubling the efficiency of the cable.
Why optical fibre?
Optical fibre transmits voice, video and/or data signals over hair-thin glass using a pulsating laser light or light-emitting diode (LED).
* Optical fibre cable is lightweight, thin, user-friendly and can be easily installed. Space in cableways and trunking is optimised due to comparatively smaller cable diameters.
* Optical fibre is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI), which is a main cause of network or transmission failure. The fibres are therefore not screened like conventional copper wires.
* No cross-talk and EMI occurs between various fibres due to it being a total dielectric transmission medium. No earth loops can be formed when installing optical fibre cable, eliminating the need for grounding/bonding and potentially dangerous situations.
* Lightning or electrical surges will have no effect on optical fibre cable.
* Explosion protection is another advantage as no sparking occurs when separating or in the event of cable interruption once installed, therefore harbours no risk in intrinsically safe environments.
* Optical fibre cable has a long life expectancy with chemical and thermal stability. Cables are designed, tested and evaluated for various applications such as environmental performance, flexibility and stability.
The local manufacturer of optical fibre and communication cable, ATC supplies copper and optical fibre communication cable as well as instrumentation & control cable through its Industrial division.
Situated at Midrand, with branch offices in Cape Town and Durban, this division also supplies optical fibre cable assemblies, cable joint closures, cable accessories, optical fibre test equipment, optical fibre fusion splicing machines and splice management products, as well as media conversion and surveillance equipment to private network operators and the Industrial market.
Theoretical optical fibre training courses with accredited certification from the American Fiber Optic Association (FOA) and the Technikon Witwatersrand, aimed at installers and system integrators are presented as a value added service. ATC also provides hands-on installation, jointing and testing training. Assistance is given to clients by trained and qualified engineers and technicians on solution planning, installation and commissioning to hand-over stage.
Incorporating the requirements of ISO 9001, ATC manufactures communication cable at its Brits based plant to customer requirements, while complying with international standards and specifications.
ATC
012 381 1400
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