A typical conversation with my dad began, “Hey Dad—what does that sound mean?” My phone being held up to the engine of a car that I desperately need to keep running. Dad on the other end of the phone, trying to diagnose the problem. He decides, correctly, that it’s a bad spark plug.
How did my dad know this? Experience and time in the trenches. That’s why we continue to turn to those who have practical experience—and why I turned to my dad. I could never figure out how to wire a 3-way switch, for example. I’d call Dad every time I had to wire one. He’d chuckle and say, “OK, Scot…let’s start with the basics. Where is your feed coming from? OK. That’s the black wire.” And then he would explain how to wire it.
Dad died some years ago. I ran into another 3-way switch issue a few months after he passed away and I actually dialed his phone. Obviously, he didn’t answer—but it made me think through the problem. And you know what? I figured it out. I don’t know if it was divine intervention or if it was just my dad’s teachings finally making sense, but I got it wired correctly.
The funny thing is, now my son calls me for the same thing. He says, “Hey Dad—I have this 3-way switch and I’m just not sure how it’s supposed to be wired.” Me? I am now the mentor…instead of the mentored. Never thought I’d be that guy!
It’s the same here at Clearfield®. We don’t think we have all the answers. We learn from the past and apply that to the future. For example, in the past, I installed data wiring in both commercial and residential buildings (now we call them MDUs and MTUs). While similar, both have some unique challenges.
We do the same thing with fiber and are met with the same challenges. Clearfield takes the “best practices” that relate to the installations and develops products like our FieldShield® StrongFiber Drop Wheel and FieldShield Microducts to help both speed the time of installation and give increased protection to the fiber.
In addition, we add the benefit of pre-connectorized FieldShield Fiber Connectors. Previously, we pulled the wire in and terminated at the faceplate in each unit. Very time-consuming! What we learned since then is that by using the microduct as the “wire” at the initial installation and pulling a pre-connectorized fiber into each unit (both in commercial or residential), then simply plugging in the fiber at each end, we eliminate a great deal of time from the installation—and also eliminate the costs of having a splicer make the connections.
The average time to pull, say, a 150 foot or 200 foot drop to a unit from a wiring closet after microduct is placed is about 4 minutes. The time to make the connections on each end is about 1 minute. Oh how I wish I had this back in the day! All those hours spent under desks, in wiring closets and in living units seems like such wasted time now! But the good news is, just like learning from our dads, we can apply what they taught from the past, and then apply what we learned to challenges we have in today’s world. I’m pretty sure my dad is proud….
So if you have a question about how to solve a problem, please contact us. Odds are that we’ve seen it before and we can find a solution that works. It’s what we do.
By Scot Bohaychyk
Scot Bohaychyk—Manager, Product Marketing—has nearly 30 years in the telecommunications industry. Scot’s background includes serving in The White House Communications Agency, providing communications infrastructure support for then-President Ronald Reagan and his White House staff. Scot’s private sector experience includes OSP field and engineering experience, as well as market development and sales work in the fields of blown and pushable fiber for long-haul fiber installations—both in the United States and overseas.