05 Nov Intelligent Grounding: The Secret To Longer Distance Cable Locating
How far does your locate signal go? 500 yards? Half a mile? Whether you realize it or not, you could be getting much more distance out of your portable cable locator transmitter. By conditioning your outside plant with Intelligent Grounding devices, you can extend the distance of your cable locate signal to upwards of two to three miles (3-5 kms)! As an added bonus, the extended locating range means you reduce the number of access points required, and therefore the total time required to perform each cable locate.
What’s the difference between grounding and Intelligent Grounding?
Regular Grounding
In a typical outside plant environment, the cable is grounded at every splice location, as well as at the central office/head end and termination point. This means that all transients, your locate signal included, search for the closest path to ground. When your locate signal goes to ground, the signal is terminated early, leaving you with a locate signal that reaches only a fraction of its true potential.
A typical outside plant environment, where the cable is grounded at every splice location, at the central office/head end and the termination point.
Intelligent Grounding
Intelligent Grounding equipment senses whenever there is any transient activity on the cable, and if the transient exceeds a certain threshold (higher than that of a locate signal), the equipment automatically provides a path to ground. Once the transient has safely gone to ground, the Intelligent Grounding device will automatically lift the ground path, allowing the locate signal to travel far distances before terminating at a designated termination location.
Because Intelligent Grounding devices allow the locate signal to travel through them, they also eliminate the need to access any of those difficult to reach access points. Through the strategic placement of the Intelligent Grounding devices, you can bypass the need to access these points, saving you considerable time and effort on every cable locate. Should you need an access point for locating, re-enterable Intelligent Grounding devices are also available.
An Intelligently Grounded outside plant, where a Sheath Grounding Unit (SGU) is placed at every 1-3 splices (depending on network design), and a Line Termination Unit (LTU) is placed at the termination point.
On top of getting the most out of your portable cable locator transmitter, Intelligent Grounding opens the door to even more benefits, including even longer locate signal distances, cable locates without the need for portable cable locator transmitters, and the ability to monitor your cable for ground faults (cable degradation). With this equipment already in place, making the jump to true Touchless Cable Locating and Cable Monitoring is easy!
An Intelligently Grounded outside plant, with a 4200 CMS permanently installed at the central office/head end. The addition of this equipment enables fully Touchless Cable Locating and Cable Monitoring!
Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of Intelligent Grounding!