Data Center

Hands-on: Cabling photos

Jan. 22, 2021

For ICT cabling and connectivity professionals, the concept of "hands-on" can cut both ways.

As those posting photos to Reddit's social media subcommunities for the trade well know, for ICT cabling and connectivity professionals, the concept of "hands-on" cuts both ways. In that, a hands-on attitude backed by expertise is always what installers need to get out of a fix...and is frequently what previous installers exercised in an opposite way to create the fix...

"Trying to trace a cable and used my phone as a periscope in a tiny access hatch. This was about 20 feet up and my ladder was 12. The phone was to see about 3 feet above my head. And cable toners are very useful. When you can find the closet! Turns out, this building has a closet that the property manager didn’t know existed. Once we found it, the cable was toned to verify the accuracy of following it by color through about 6 bulkheads." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP [orig. poster]: u/sja5164

"Original contractor ran riser cable in an all plenum space. Time to re-pull and extract the bad cable. Original contractor is paying for the removal and new cable install. The cable that has been removed is not worth re-running due to having to cut sections out. The existing cable was zip tied every 3 to 5 feet making it next to impossible to pull out full lengths." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/ThatCurlyHairedGuy20

" 'We're reading crossovers.' What pairs? 'Yes.' The main issue here is it being untwisted about 300% too much." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/sua16

"Spaghetti in the ceiling of a local pub." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/88Drewpeacocks

"Business up top, party at the bottom. I’m not going to mention the Lenel security panel on the wall with the backup battery on top and the keys in the lock. Nope, not gonna mention that at all." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/CannibalCaramel

Send your must-see cabling photos to [email protected].

About the Author

Matt Vincent | Senior Editor

Matt Vincent is a B2B technology journalist, editor and content producer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in the full range of media content production and management, as well as SEO and social media engagement best practices, for both Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine and its website CablingInstall.com. He currently provides trade show, company, executive and field technology trend coverage for the ICT structured cabling, telecommunications networking, data center, IP physical security, and professional AV vertical market segments. Email: [email protected]