Cabling Installer Tips Watch

Robert Vattiat

Oregonian Publishing Co.

Portland, OR

It has been a difficult transition using 110-type hardware. I come from the old school where we did a quality-looking job using 66-type blocks and crossconnections. The 66-type blocks offer the convenience of allowing the installer to trace and identify cables easily. Recently, when working on a large job for my company, we hired a consultant. I was leaning toward using the 66 blocks, but he was pushing the 110-type hardware because we where running Category 5 cables. We reached a compromise: We decided to install the 110 blocks horizontally rather than vertically and to skip every other row for terminating the cables.

This compromise provided me with the same feel as the 66 blocks and with the control in jumping them. We were able to keep the Category 5 standard too. The only drawback of the 110 blocks is that they occupy a little more room. The technicians who worked on this project said the blocks gave them more room for their fingers and more control over the loop that they leave for tracing. The wiring company now wants to bring potential customers over to see the job.