[Robotgroup] I'm on Boing Boing... for cables...?

[Evan Harris]

I'm not sure I would recommend your method for use with Cat5/Cat6 ethernet 
cables.  I don't have a reference handy, but if you read the installation 
and handling specs for many kinds of high speed data cabling, you'll find 
that you usually aren't allowed to exceed a certain minimum bend radius, and 
what you have described would make it very easy to kink the cables and 
significantly impact the noise immunity and long-term service life of 
those types of cables.

The bend radius varies with the type of cable, but is often 4-10x the outer 
diameter of the cable for copper cables, up to multiple feet for smaller 
optical fiber lines or larger stiffer coax lines.

Evan


On Thu, 7 Feb 2008, TomD wrote:

> A musican friend showed me a trick for cables, he was a keyboardist with
> a big MIDI setup.
>
> Take the cable and fold it in half, ends together.
> Then keep folding until it's short enough to tie a
> simple, but loose overhand knot. It will stay tied
> in a box, it does take up a little more room than
> tightly coiled cables, but no ties are needed, nor
> will they tangle when you untie the overhand.
>
> It probably wont work for a 100 ft extension, or really stiff cords.
> But for everything from earbud cords to Cat6 to SCSI cables, it works well.
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