Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1476549
October/November/December 2022 I 25 The PCPAs have been developed also for pulling long unshielded balanced twisted-pair (UTP) pre-connectorized cables. While investing in fully terminated and tested permanent UTP structured cabling remains the recommended industry practice, there are temporary situations that call for the use of long UTP pre-connectorized cables, which may also require pulling. As shown in Figure 1, a 4.8 mm (≈0.189 in) diameter optical fiber pre-connectorized cable with an SC connector, having had its outer body removed, is placed inside the PCPA. FIGURE 1: The PCPA, attached to a 4.8 mm diameter SC pre-connectorized cable, allows it to be pulled in a 3/8 in (≈9.5 mm) diameter hole or conduit. The PCPA is positioned beside the head of a fiberglass pulling stick. As a result of the use of the PCPA, it is possible to pull pre-terminated cables with SC connectors in a smaller diameter hole than the SC connector itself. When removing the SC connector's outer body, it becomes possible to pull it through a hole as small as 3/8 in (≈9.5 mm) in diameter. This is in contrast with pulling with the SC outer body, which is possible with a different PCPA that requires making a hole with an outside diameter of 12.5 mm (≈0.49 in). A tangible reduction of the hole or conduit diameter, by as much as 3 mm (≈0.118 in), is possible by using a PCPA on an SC connector that had its body temporarily removed. First, a flexible fiberglass pulling stick section is screwed onto the head of the PCPA that attaches to the sheath of the pre-connectorized cable by friction, via a reentrant U clamp. The U clamp allows the pulling force applied to the pulling stick to be transferred to the cable sheath, flying over the connector and its boot. The PCPA is a lightweight injection molded plastic part, enabling mass availability at affordable costs. The concept of PCPA is generic and applies to any pre-terminated cable. The PCPA can also be used to pull a pre-terminated cable from an outdoor network interface device (NID) terminal to an indoor location. In this context, the outdoor NID is usually locked by the service provider who has a special key used to troubleshoot the drop cable without needing to enter the facility. There can also be a second NID located indoors and connected to the outdoor NID via a pre-terminated cable that can be pulled with a PCPA. Finally, another pre-terminated cable departs the location of the indoor NID to the location where the fiber optic modem, often called an optical network terminal (ONT) or optical networking unit (ONU) is located. This additional pre-terminated cable can be pulled with a PCPA.