Neuron: Missing Window in Windows 7

We've all run into that occasion where an application gets confused after going from dual monitors to one or some other change and ends up "invisible".  Usually it's somewhere very small or off on the screen that disappeared.  In Windows XP I would just right click on the program in the task bar and choose move and then use the arrow keys to move it to a visible location.  It's not quite that easy in Windows 7 since the option to move isn't there, but if you select the application and then type Alt+Space you will get the move menu.

Telephony Basics Pt 4

In previous posts I've explained terminology, color coding, and how to trace cables.  Now it's time to actually connect something.  As I showed in the first post of this series, there are two styles of punch down blocks for telephony, the 66 block and the 110 block.  These blocks are used to connect station cabling to the trunk cabling that goes from an IDF to the MDF.

Wires laid into the 66 block terminals.

Punch down and cut the wire.

Both styles of punch block use a punch down tool to terminate the wires to the block.  Many tools have a dual blade that can be flipped depending on which style of block is in use.  To terminate a wire, you place it into the terminal and then push it down to make contact with the punch down tool.  The punch down tool fits around a 66 block terminal or into a 110 block terminal.  One side of the blade is sharp to cut the wire off flush, this is normally marked on the tool with the word cut.  Be sure to have this side oriented to cut off the loose end of the wire and not the end going to the other block.

Laying out station cabling
in a 110 block.

Terminating a station cable onto 110.

110 5 pair tool

Terminating station cables to a 66 block or 110 block is similar to jumper cables except that you have 4 or more pairs instead of one.  The color code dictates that you should lay out your pairs white/blue, white/orange, white/green, white/brown, white/slate, red/blue, etc.  Each time you put a new station cable on it's white/blue pair would follow the previous cable's last pair.  These pairs are punched down on a 66 block into the outermost terminal.  On a 110 block, they are terminated by placing a plastic biscuit on top and punching it down on top of the wires.  Each biscuit terminates 5 pairs of wires at a time.  While you can use a standard 110 punch down tool, it is much easier to use a tool designed to punch five pair at a time like the one pictured.  Once the biscuit is in place, the jumper wires can be terminated one pair at a time.

In the same method, larger 25-pair cables can be terminated on a 110 or 66 block.  When doing larger cables, getting a neat appearance is often tricky until you have practice.  One phone technician told me to hide extra cable behind the block in case you ever have to reterminate a pair so that you don't have to reterminate the entire cable.  Below is a good howto video from YouTube on how to do 25-pair termination to a 66 block.

Telephony Basics Pt 3

One of the first things that I learned in my foray into the world of telephony was how to effectively use a cable toner.  Although I had used a toner before to trace network cabling, it was a different ball game using it with 66 and 110 blocks instead of modular patch panels.  For those who might not know, a cable toner consists of two parts, the tone generator and the probe.

Tone Generator

Probe

The probe detects the tone(signal) placed on the copper line and generates an audible sound.  The stronger the signal is, the louder the sound will be.  In telephony you usually plug the tone generator into a station cable that is in need of identification and then take the probe into the IDF.  When you get to the IDF, you can run the probe up and down the rows of the 66 blocks, but that method won't always get you the results you want.  An experienced telephone guy taught me to hold the probe in one hand near your ear (so you can hear it well) and then use a finger on your other hand to run down the conductors.  When you hear a tone, you can isolate it by using your finger to touch only one pair of conductors.  For example if the tone is coming on the blue/white cable pair you should be able to place your finger on the orange/white pair and not hear tone, but when on the blue/white you will hear tone.  There is only one drawback to the finger method... phones use voltage to ring which means that if you happen to hit a ringing line, it might bite a bit.

My particular model of toner is a Fluke Networks IntelliTone which has a digital tone option.  This comes in handy when there is digital phone signal or data signal on the line.  Using this option is the same as the analog method, but many times it will power through noise on the line.

Banjo

Another thing to keep in mind when toning out cables is how the color code corresponds with a modular jack.  Remember that most telephone cabling now uses the same color code as Ethernet.  Because of the switch to VoIP, cabling is often now run as all CAT5e or 6 and then used for voice.  When this is done and you plug in your tone generator, the tone will go on the blue/white pair (pins 4 and 5) since they are in the position for "line 1".  To split out the pairs you would have to have a "banjo" that has a modular jack on one end and conductors on the other corresponding to each pair.

Sometimes phone installers will split a CAT5e cable into two jacks with blue/white and orange/white on one jack, and green/white and brown/white on the other jack.  In this configuration green/white and  brown/white are wired to the blue/white and orange/white pins on the jack.