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Stumbled on a fiber optic cable spec sheet from 2002 and the numbers are wild
I was cleaning out the back of my work van and found an old binder from a previous owner. Inside was a product sheet for some single-mode fiber from 2002. The loss rating per kilometer was listed at 0.5 dB. I just ran a new drop for a house yesterday with modern cable, and the spec sheet that came with it shows 0.2 dB/km. That's a 60% drop in signal loss over twenty years, which is a huge jump I never really thought about. We all know the stuff gets better, but seeing the hard numbers from back then really puts it in focus. It makes you think about all the old infrastructure still in the ground and why some runs are just a constant headache. Anyone else come across old specs that made you appreciate the new cable, or just feel bad for the guys who had to work with the older stuff?
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alicea262mo ago
I read an article a while back about the glass purity improvements in the early 2000s. They were figuring out how to remove more water and metal ions from the glass, which cut down on that absorption loss. Seeing a spec sheet from right in that era really shows the before and after. It must have been a game changer for long haul runs.
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