[ncolug] Re: Spare Patch Cable Management
- From: "Silas Lang" <aptget@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 12:47:07 -0400
Oh, I also use the rows of little drawers too, just not much for
computer-related. All my small computer-related parts are in ziplocks in a
tub.
I think the key to the tubs and shelves thing is to have LOTs of them, so
that they aren't too full. I have about 8 of the 5' tall steel shelves (I
call them "shopping cart" shelves because that's what the chrome versions
look like, even though some of mine are black.) Probably 20 or so tubs. The
tubs stick out slightly so I can look down into them, and that is also why
the 5' high spec - in this case (lots of obscure items) I don't want stuff
up high where I can't look down into the tubs...
Then for stuff that I hardly ever open, I use larger tubs, in stacks, with
covers...
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck
Sent: Friday, June 7, 2013 8:31 AM
To: ncolug@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ncolug] Re: Spare Patch Cable Management
It's funny how one solution -- your cables in bags in tubs on a shelf,
for example -- can work for one person, but not another. I tried that
and totally lost track of many of my cables and stuff. Which explains
why I just tossed a bunch of Cat 3 stuff in the trash and am debating
about the fate of several Cat 5 patch cables.
Thanks for sharing your solutions. I was sure that I wasn't the only
one who's had to be creative in coming up with a system for storing our
stuff.
For adapters, I was thinking about using one of those storage thingys
with the rows and columns of little plastic drawers. (Harry had a
couple that he used to keep Legos in that is just itching to be
reused...)
On Fri, 2013-06-07 at 06:10 -0400, Larry DiGioia wrote:
My solution was similar - I just put two large hooks into a wall, about
5' apart. Then draped cables across them.
This covered the medium ones... in the 6 to 8' range, which are the most
popular... and best of all it lets me see the ends, which is similar to
your solution. I should mention I included power and audio cables mixed
in. Finally, I put the both the shortest ones and longer (15' to 100')
ones into ziplock plastic bags in a tub, with a large printed page in
the bag for length... ("less than 6' " etc)
For all my audio adapters I use a fishing tackle box that has clear
sides, I can immediately see what I am looking for. In my new house I
settled on the "tubs on shelves" method for everything else.
On 6/6/2013 7:06 PM, Chuck wrote:
> Howdy.
>
> Are you like me in that you have a collection of spare patch cables
> floating around? I have tried to get a handle on my cables for several
> years. At first I just coiled my cables up and tossed them in a tub.
> But the tub would always end up in the basement among a bunch of other
> tubs, so when I needed a cable I'd have to go down to the basement and
> sort through the tubs to find the right one, and then I'd have to dig
> through the mess of cables that magically became entwined while in the
> tub. I tried putting the coiled cables in zip-lock baggies, but the
> largest ones wouldn't fit.
>
> Fortunately, I think I've finally come up with a winning idea, and I
> wanted to share it with you all.
>
> First, I have classified my cables as either "short" or "long" and I
> deal with them differently. For me a long cable is one that is > 2
> meters, all others are short. The thing to note here is that my cut-off
> for long vs. short is not arbitrary; it was chosen for a particular
> reason, that I will came back to in a moment.
>
> I have found that I typically use shorter patch cables more frequently
> than long ones, so I want them to be available. Also want to minimize
> tangling and I want to be able to visually distinguish cables by type --
> coax vs. Ethernet vs. USB -- and I want to get an idea about how long
> they are without a bunch of fussing around. In order to meet these
> goals I've concluded that the cables need to be hanging vertically. But
> hanging from what? Well that's where my first bit of inspiration comes
> in. I went to a local hardware store and picked up 6 small compression
> springs, and then dug around in my garage and found a small board and
> some clips. About 20 minutes later I had a small wall-mountable
> solution.
>
> I then drilled a couple of small holes in my office closet and used
> those little plastic insert dodads to screw it to the wall and started
> hanging cables from it, with the cables hanging down, and tied with hook
> & loop wire ties.
>
> The middle two springs are now full of various USB cables, which has me
> thinking that I didn't build this big enough. I may make another one
> and put it on the other side of the closet...
> But that's how I am now storing my patch cables that are < 2meters long.
> Note: DO NOT use anything like this for fiber optic cables, as the
> springs do pinch the cable and you could end-up crushing the fiber.
>
> For cables that are longer than 2 meters, I lay the cable out next to a
> tape measure and use a sharpie to mark it every meter. I then coil the
> cable up so that the circumference of the coil is 1 meter long. This is
> quite easy as all you need to do is to line up the sharpie marks. I
> then use 3 small pieces of black electrician's tape evenly spaced around
> the coil to help it retain it's shape. Now I can tell how long a cable
> is just by counting the number of loops in each coil.
>
> That's it. I now have a small stack of coils for my long patch cables
> and a couple of bundles of shorter ones hanging in my office closet.
>
> I'll send pictures in follow-up emails.
>
> I hope someone finds this useful.
> Chuck
> .
>
>
>
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