April 19, 2013 - Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) is notifying the public that Nexans Canada Inc. has announced a voluntary recall of 102 spools of 14/2 NMD90 Heatex cable (Part #99138) due to mislabelling.

April 18, 2013 - Wesco Canada announced it will formally open its new, fully functional 60,500-sf wire distribution centre on April 24, 2013, between 2 pm and 7 pm at 11616 186 Street NW, Edmonton.

March 15, 2013 - AFL and Dura-Line have joined together to develop an air-blown fiber optic cabling system—eABF (Enterprise Air-Blown Fiber)—which has several key elements that, when combined, yield a state-of-the-art and highly flexible future-proof communications pathway, they say. The system boasts a low-friction high-drag jacketing system that enables the cable to move along the duct at a faster rate of speed. According to the companies, by eliminating the initial high cost typically associated with traditional air-blown fiber systems, network designers will realize that the eABF solution can be their primary network pathway infrastructure. Ideal for data centres, private networks, high-rise buildings, urban and medical campuses, the eABF solution is NEC 770 compliant for both raceways and ducts, and comes complete with AFL connectivity, closures, enclosures, patch cords and connectors, fusion splicers and test equipment.

March 5, 2013 - AFL says it has updated its line of indoor/outdoor plenum distribution cables. Suitable for inter-building campus network cabling, AFL says the NFPA 70 Article 770-compliant plenum cable supports installations where a transition from a traditional loose-tube outside plant cable is problematic and cost prohibitive. Based on 900µm tight buffered designs, the cable family can be terminated in the field using either mechanical or splice-on connectors. The outer jacket is moisture, fungus and UV-resistant, making the cables suitable for both outdoor and underground buried-duct applications. The cable is suitable for spaces requiring plenum, riser, general purpose and outside plant UL flame ratings, says the company, adding it is available in single-mode and multimode, including laser-optimized 50µm OM4. Cables within the family are also available with options up to 24 fibers.

(PHOTOS added March 6, 2013) March 5, 2013 - CSA Group has opened a new wire and cable testing and certification laboratory in Guangzhou, adding it is the first in the southern region of China. In addition, it also increased its product-testing capabilities for U.S. Energy Star testing.

February 14, 2013 - Extron Electronics introduced a 24AWG shielded twisted-pair cable for Extron XTP Systems and DTP Series products. XTP DTP 24 cable is certified to 475 MHz bandwidth at distances up to 330 feet, and employs an SF/UTP shielded foil/unshielded twisted pair design that promises great performance in digital video and audio distribution system applications. Both Non-Plenum and Plenum-rated versions are available in spools of 1000 ft and, to ensure end-to-end cable infrastructure performance, a line of matching shielded RJ-45 plugs, punch down jacks and couplers is also available.

February 12, 2013 - Demand for submarine cables for electricity transmission is growing, as national governments and regional organizations ramp up efforts to build offshore renewable power generation facilities, link remote landmasses, and interconnect their national grids—however, this growth will be impossible to realize using only the current, already strained, channels of supply, says Pike Research.

January 8, 2013 - Platinum Tools has released the T129K1 test kit for the updated VDV MapMaster 2.0 voice, data, and video tester, including a case and foam insert; BNC Female to F Female Adapter; BNC Female to F Male Adapter; RJ45 #’s 1-12 remote set; Coax F #’s 1-8 remote set; and 9V battery. The VDV MapMaster 2.0 now combines cable length measurement with testing, mapping, and tone generator functions into a single unit. The VDV MapMaster is capable of identifying and mapping 19 locations at one time.

PLATINUM TOOLS

November 26, 2012 - General Cable has added the halogen-free Carol brand of Carolprene cables to its 17 Free offering. Carolprene’s 17 Free line of types SOOW and SJOOW rubber portable cord feature an increased temperature rating of 105ºC and the Tru-Mark Sequential Footage Marking system. The 17 Free line does not contain chlorine, fluorine, bromine or iodine, helping to reduce the overall toxicity of the cable, says the company. The cables are CSA certified, UL listed, RoHS Compliant and approved for indoor and outdoor use.

GENERAL CABLE

November 9, 2012 - Legrand/Wiremold has introduced an integrated pathway to help manage cabling and connections for power, communications and audio/video from the building  infrastructure to the work surface. The Meeting Room Transition Channel (MRTC) can be used with the Wiremold Under Table Cable Management System to help transform inefficient meeting rooms and enhance aesthetics by keeping cords out of sight, says the company. The kit includes an adjustable boot, channel, mounting spine and transition covers. The adjustable system is also compatible with different table heights.

LEGRAND/WIREMOLD