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Major Network Failure Between Miami & Puerto Rico
ISP's
| 12/04/2006
| Various
Posted on 12/04/2006 3:41:12 PM PST by cll
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This sucks. We have not felt so isolated since a date I won't dare mention. Curiously, Venezuela, 500 miles south of here, had a failure yesterday, election day.
1
posted on
12/04/2006 3:41:14 PM PST
by
cll
To: rrstar96; AuH2ORepublican; livius; adorno; TeĆ³filo; wtc911; Willie Green; CGVet58; Clemenza; ...
Puerto Rico ping. In case you were wondering.
Please FreepMail me if you want on or off this list.
2
posted on
12/04/2006 3:44:02 PM PST
by
cll
(Carthage must be destroyed)
To: cll
Does a new cable have to get put in place?
To: Jedi Master Pikachu
News are sketchy. Actually, this is the first solid news we've gotten since yesterday.
I am not in the know but I would think that if it is a fiber optic cable, it would have to be replaced.
Right now we seem to be down 80% in capacity. I have been able to log on only a few times today.
4
posted on
12/04/2006 3:48:40 PM PST
by
cll
(Carthage must be destroyed)
To: cll
or other possible cause.You really mean to say "sabotage", right?
5
posted on
12/04/2006 3:50:39 PM PST
by
taxesareforever
(Never forget Matt Maupin)
To: cll
To: taxesareforever
"You really mean to say "sabotage", right?"
That's from the statement by one of my ISP's. But it looks like a big coincidence that Venezuela also reported a major failure yesterday.
7
posted on
12/04/2006 3:52:58 PM PST
by
cll
(Carthage must be destroyed)
To: cll
8
posted on
12/04/2006 3:56:57 PM PST
by
NonValueAdded
(Prayers for our patriot brother, 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub. Brian, we're all pulling for you!)
To: Jedi Master Pikachu
Nope. They pull them up and repair them.
To: Jedi Master Pikachu
Here's some info from a few years ago. Can you imagine fishing for a cable 9,400 meters underwater?
Alcatel breaks world record in deep-sea cable repairs - Undersea
Fiber Optics Weekly Update, June 27, 2003
Alcatel has successfully completed a fiber optic cable repair in water depths close to 9,400 meters -- breaking the world record for deep-sea cable repair operations. The Alcatel operated cable ship, C.S. Heimdal, completed the fiber optic cable repair approximately 700 km off the coast of Japan on a transpacific cable system connecting Japan to the U.S. continent. Because of the extreme water depths involved, Alcatel created a special grapnel to avoid the cable breaking under its own weight as the cable was raised from the seabed for repair. Based in Japan and fully mobilized with remotely operated vehicles, the C.S. Heimdal vessel enables Alcatel to help its customers respond to potential cable outages within 12 hours.
To: Jedi Master Pikachu
Cable "burn thru" is one possible cause of the failure. Most long US undersea fiber cables are DC powered using the ocean as a return path for the DC power.
If the cable sheath is damaged the cable, in essence, shorts to the ocean. which can cause the copper conductor in the cable to burn away or dissolve - like electroplating in reverse, for lack of a better description.
They fish the cable up, splice on a new section of cable and run along till they find the next 'whole' section, another splice, and testing to confirm the repair.
Damage can be caused by fishing gear - the cable are normally found on charts - or by anchors, seismic events or chafing from tidal or current moving the cable across the seabed. More can be found
here with links to photos.
11
posted on
12/04/2006 4:06:27 PM PST
by
ASOC
(The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
To: cll
![](http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2005/06/14/inside-jaws.jpg)
JAWS not available for comment.
12
posted on
12/04/2006 4:07:03 PM PST
by
xrp
(Republicans Message: Vote for us, we suck less than Democrats.)
To: ASOC; ProtectOurFreedom
Dang. So it's going to be a while.
Thanks to both for the info.
13
posted on
12/04/2006 4:14:59 PM PST
by
cll
(Carthage must be destroyed)
To: ProtectOurFreedom; ASOC
To: ASOC
...If the cable sheath is damaged the cable, in essence, shorts to the ocean....Fascinating. Thanks for the info. FReepers are the best!
15
posted on
12/04/2006 4:22:38 PM PST
by
FReepaholic
(Give me ambiguity or give me something else.)
To: FReepaholic
LOL
Just a lucky break, I happened to had (at one time) responsibitly for two major US FO cables from AK to CONUS. Fishing gear was our #1 worry followed by, of all things, earthquakes of the coast of ORE.
Now, I just use the 'net and let someone else lose sleep over cable cuts..... it *is* way cool technology tho, esp the
erbium-doped parametric fiber optic amplifiers.
16
posted on
12/04/2006 4:32:23 PM PST
by
ASOC
(The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
To: xrp
From the link in post # 11:
The first small diameter fiberoptic cables were damaged by fishing boats with drag nets and by sharks chewing on them on the ocean floor...
17
posted on
12/04/2006 4:34:20 PM PST
by
cll
(Carthage must be destroyed)
To: ASOC
Cable "burn thru" is one possible cause of the failure. Most long US undersea fiber cables are DC powered using the ocean as a return path for the DC power. This doesn't make sense to me. Fiber-optic cables are passive: you just shine light down them and pick it up at the other end. Or is the power for repeaters along the cable?
18
posted on
12/04/2006 6:24:05 PM PST
by
AZLiberty
(Willing to die for your beliefs? Good, because we're willing to kill for ours.)
To: cll
Curiously, Venezuela, 500 miles south of here, had a failure yesterday, election day. Strange indeed.
19
posted on
12/04/2006 7:47:31 PM PST
by
livius
To: AZLiberty
The cable is is (from inside to out) 4 fiber strands
a Teflon wrap
a copper 'pipe' to carry voltage
another layer of Teflon. In places the cable may be unarmored and about 5/8 of an inch thick.
Armored cable can be 2 or 3 inches in diameter.
The amplifiers, which sit about every 100kM or so, are used to boost signal levels, get their power from the coper in the cable.
See my earlier post for erbium doped amplifiers - they are really quantum state energy pumps - cool sorta new (1999) tech -- also used on land based systems as well.
An interesting sidenote, since the cables from AK to CONUS are DC powered, the copper inside the cable acts almost like a 3,000 kM antenna.
During magnetic storms, system feed voltages can vary by about 100 VDC as the earths magnetic fields 'cut' the antenna and induce voltage, acting like a big generator.
20
posted on
12/04/2006 7:57:13 PM PST
by
ASOC
(The phrase "What if" or "If only" are for children.)
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