Bexel has been providing fiber-optic support for the Vancouver games since last October, when the company began manufacturing cable assemblies in its Dallas facility and shipping them to Canada a month later.
Many of the fiber cable assemblies were preterminated before being shipped to Vancouver for installation at the various venues. Due to installation requirements, some cables had to be terminated on-site after installation by Bexel personnel.
On location, the company provided the equipment and skills to fusion-splice or repair connectors, including SMPTE hybrid connectors in the harshest environments regardless of the weather conditions or location. The company said working with a fiber-optic strand about the size of a human hair in subfreezing temperatures on the side of a mountain is where experience and techniques paid dividends.
With more than 8000 terminations/fusion splices, more than 340 cables totaling about 48 miles and 135 optical distribution frames (patch panels) located throughout most of the Olympic facilities, Bexel has had a crew of six people on location working full time since November.
In addition to terminating the fiber at the International Broadcast Center, Cyprus and Whistler Mountain venues, Bexel is also providing fiber-optic transmission equipment that will allow for camera signals to be sent from Whistler to the production trucks located at the base of the mountain more than 3mi away.
