[Chicago-talk] LAN/Phone wiring help needed

Hal Wigoda hwigoda at mindspring.com
Tue May 13 12:52:26 PDT 2008


btw, graybar has offices everywhere.


On May 13, 2008, at 2:40 PM, Alexander Danel wrote:

> I can tell you where to go for tools and parts:
>
> 	Graybar Electric Co
> 	539 W 14th Place
> 	Chicago, IL  60607
> 	(312) 491-1123
>
> They specialize in telephone and Ethernet cabling, tools, and  
> supplies.  You
> can ask questions, too.
>
> A high quality punch-down tool costs about $70 to $100, and is a  
> worthwhile
> investment.  Buy yourself a 1,000 ft roll of cat-6, 4-pair cable;  
> although
> you will never use even half the roll, it is none-the-less cheapest  
> to buy
> the big roll.  The actual punch-down blocks, etc, are cheap.  I  
> attached a
> wooden board to the masonry wall, and then attached the blocks to  
> the board.
>
> You will also want a good quality staple gun, and a selection of  
> staples.
>
> The punch-down tool should have a reversible tip; where one option  
> has a
> knife blade, and the other option has no blade.  (There are also two  
> types
> of tips available, older style versus newer style -- you will need  
> to choose
> one style or the other.)  You will be flipping the tip between blade  
> versus
> no-blade as you work.  The no-blade option lets you punch down a  
> wire that
> then continues to the next position.  A block has 25 positions.   
> Typically,
> you might have each incoming wire span 6 positions; so a block  
> handles four
> wires (i.e. two pairs of wires.)  If you are just connecting one or  
> two
> pairs, you would use a single block, if you have three or four pairs  
> you
> might consider two blocks.  Bring the first wire to the top most  
> position,
> letting the wire get loosely gripped by the pincers, then pull  
> straight down
> and let it get gripped by the pincers at the next five positions  
> below.
> Using the non-cutting side, punch down the first five positions,  
> then flip
> the tip so you have the knife edge and punch down, this final act  
> cuts the
> wire.  (A common error here is to put the knife side up, cutting the  
> wire
> before it enters the pincers, instead of as it exits.)  Then take  
> the next
> wire (the matching wire of the pair) and repeat, spanning the next six
> positions down.  Etc.
>
> It might be traditional that incoming signal goes at the right side  
> of the
> block, and outgoing lines to your house go out the left side; or  
> maybe it's
> the other way -- ask the guys at Graybar what the tradition is.   
> Anyway,
> every position consists of a horizontal row having four pincers in  
> the row.
> These four are arranged as a pair of pairs, with the left two having
> continuity, the right two having continuity, but no continuity  
> between the
> pairs.  You connect your incoming/outgoing wires to the pincers at the
> extreme right/left, then use a "bridge clip" to short the pairs  
> together.
> The idea is that you have the option of not using a bridge clip, in  
> which
> case you would use wires punched down onto the inner pincers, and  
> thusly
> would have the option of carrying the signal to some different  
> position.
> But you won't be doing that; just use the bridge clips to connect  
> straight
> across, right pair with adjacent left pair.  The bridge clips  
> envelop the
> inner pincers, shorting them together.
>
> Don't forget to buy the bridge clips.
>
> Alexander Danel
>
>
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