Re: DC fiber cut: field report

[Eric Sobocinski <sobo () merit edu>]

On Fri, 18 Jul 1997 at 09:04 PDT, "Owen DeLong" <owen () DeLong SJ CA US> wrote:
> > Does anyone know (in general terms) how the actual spot/vicinity of a fiber
> > cut like this is located? Or its generally the construction crew calling
> > the boss and saying, shit, look what we found? 
> >
> > Would appriciate any info.
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> > /Subodh Nijsure (subodh () best com)
> Generally, it is narrowed down to the run between two points by what went
> off line.  Then, people follow the line until they see a BackHoe.
> Sometimes, the construction company calls.  Sometimes they just run.
>
> Owen

Usually, after deciding that an outage is a cut, a carrier will attach
some type of time-delay reflectometer (TDR) to one end of the fiber.
The TDR tells them the cable distance to the break.  Cable distance
doesn't directly convert to driving mileage, but at least it narrows the
search to a few miles.

--eric