I started a spreadsheet to document a fiber line. I figure I'll make a
new file for each cable, a worksheet for notes on the cable as a whole,
a worksheet for each buffer tube, and a color coded column for each
fiber. Each row will be 100'. My thought was, if I have a splice
enclosure 4200' down the line, I'll go down to row 42 and enter "Splice
enclosure on pole 305". Then I can note on each fiber whether it passes
through the enclosure, or note what it splices to, including a reference
to another file if necessary.
I understand they used to do something similar with 3-ring binders for
mapping the pairs on phone lines.
The first question I ran into was which distance do I go by:
The actual distance the line has traveled
The cable length, which will be ~15-20% longer due to slack loops
The fiber length, which will be longer still due to the built in
twist.....but is easily measurable with an OTDR.
All three somehow?
Is this even a smart method? Plan B is to use GIS. I can add every
pole, cable, and enclosure as objects in their actual location with
properties describing the actual distance, cable length, fiber length
and anything else I want.
That would be technically better, but I'm the only one here who can use
the GIS software whereas any boob can type into a spreadsheet. If I use
a Google sheet then multiple people can use the same sheets and fill
them in from their phone.
I'm sure these problems have been solved before, so what do you all do?
