Fluke CableIQ™ Qualification Tester vs. LinkIQ™ Cable+Network Tester

In 2007, Fluke Networks created the cable qualification market with the introduction of the CableIQ Qualification Tester. Certification is essential for building owners who need to ensure that their contractors have installed a cabling system that meets TIA and ISO standards and will support both today’s networks and tomorrow’s — but network cable qualification testers were priced out of reach for network maintenance teams. CableIQ tested cabling against network standards, such as 1000BASE-T, and provided documentation that showed what the cable was capable of.

After 15 years, it’s no longer possible for us to manufacture the CableIQ — but we have a better solution: the LinkIQ Cable + Network Tester. If you’ve been thinking about purchasing or replacing a CableIQ, here’s what you should know about the LinkIQ.

 

Mark Mullins of Fluke Networks demonstrates the differences between the CableIQ and the LinkIQ

7 things to know about switching to the LinkIQ

1. No coaxial testing

CableIQ offered testing for 75 Ω coaxial cable, which the LinkIQ does not. For those who need to test coax, our MicroScanner™2 can test 50, 75, and 93 Ω coaxial cables (at less than half the price of the CableIQ).

2. Modern user interface

The CableIQ’s 2.5-inch monochrome backlit display was nice for a tester in its price range (back before smartphones), but most users today are much happier with the high-resolution color display of the LinkIQ. One example of the value of this display is the “cable speedometer” (see image below), which makes it easy to see what the cable is capable of. And the touchscreen keyboard of the LinkIQ is faster than the four arrows on the CableIQ when it’s time to enter text or cable identifiers.

The LinkIQ’s “cable speedometer” shows clearly what a cable is capable of.

3. Supports today’s network standards

When the CableIQ was launched, 1 Gig Ethernet was the fastest thing on copper. Today the world is moving much faster, so the LinkIQ adds 2.5, 5, and 10 Gig cable qualifications.

4. Switch port testing

Both testers can tell you if you’re plugged into an Ethernet port, but the LinkIQ takes it to today’s speeds, recognizing 2.5, 5, and 10 Gig-capable switch ports. And the LinkIQ adds valuable information about the switch itself: name, IP address, port number, and VLAN. This information helps solve problems where the user is plugged into the wrong switch or port, or the switch is improperly configured.

5. Network Connectivity Testing

LinkIQ can be set up to ping an IPv4 or v6 device, then it displays the results of 4 pings, including response time. This can determine if the network can provide access to key servers or services. The LinkIQ’s address can be set manually or via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). This not only helps debug DHCP problems but allows the user to see the gateway and Directory Name Services (DNS) servers in use.

6. Power over Ethernet

When CableIQ hit the market, Power over Ethernet (PoE) had just started to show up in networks. CableIQ can sense some installations of PoE, mostly as a warning that it should be disconnected to prevent damaging the tester. LinkIQ is built for today’s PoE world, certified by the Ethernet Alliance for compatibility with all current IEEE PoE standards: 802.3af, at, and bt. Not only is it safe to connect, but it will also display the power levels offered by the switch (up to Class 8 or 72 watts), which pairs are powered, and whether the source is single- or dual-signature. To confirm that power is available, the LinkIQ places a load on the switch and ensures that adequate voltage is present. If you’re installing PoE devices, such as access points or cameras, these features can save hours of trial-and-error troubleshooting.

7. LinkWare™ PC Reporting

CableIQ offered its own documenting and reporting package, the CableIQ Reporter. LinkIQ is compatible with LinkWare PC, our industry-leading reporting package that supports our certification testers — even those that were obsoleted before the launch of CableIQ! Tens of thousands of electricians and technicians use LinkWare Live regularly; the single application for storing and reporting all your work makes life much easier.

In addition to its key advantages, LinkIQ also offers several smaller conveniences: a rechargeable battery that’s compatible with standard USB-C chargers, a one-button control that automates the testing process, user support in 12 languages, and a strap to hang it up while you’re working.

Check out LinkIQ’s differences for yourself.

Video Comparison Virtual Demo Talk to an Expert

Keep learning

  • • How to Use a Network Cable Tester – LinkIQ
  • • VLAN Troubleshooting with LinkIQ
  • • Are your fiber optic cables and testers ready for 400G Ethernet?

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Follow European Coatings on LinkedIn

Stay up to date with the latest developments in the coatings industry! We invite you to follow the official LinkedIn page of European Coatings. You will find exclusive insights, industry news, articles and much more!

Follow us now on LinkedIn to make sure you don’t miss any relevant content and become part of our growing online community.


Click here to go to the LinkedIn page of European Coatings.


We look forward to welcoming you to our LinkedIn page and offering you an even deeper insight into the world of coatings.

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Gold Bar Salts Banana Ice Nic Salt

GOLD BAR SALTS BANANA ICE NIC SALT E-LIQUID

Gold Bar Salts Banana Ice combines the timeless taste of ripe, creamy bananas with a refreshingly icy chill, perfect for those seeking a velvety smooth fruity infusion.
Explore through the complete range of Vape Gold’s vaping products, including their world-renowned Gold Bar disposable kit or prefilled Reload pod kit in their flavour-packed grandeur. 

Specifications

  • Flavours: Banana Ice
  • Nicotine Type: Nicotine Salt
  • Bottle Size: 10ml
  • Nicotine Strength: 10mg & 20mg
  • VG/PG Ratio: 50/50
  • Vaping Style: MTL
  • Easy Fill Nozzle
  • Childproof Cap

Vape Gold’s Nic Salt e-liquids are conveniently packaged in 10ml bottles, providing vapers with a nic-salt alternative to single-use disposable vape in a cost-effective refillable e-liquid. 

With 10mg and 20mg nicotine salt strengths available, you can quickly satisfy your cravings. Using nicotine salts provides a smoother throat hit, enhancing your overall vaping experience.

Vape Gold was launched to offer a first-class and adventurous vaping experience that was budget-friendly yet luxuriant. Vape Gold rose in huge demand following the launch of their flavour-packed Gold Bar disposable vapes, now expertly replicated in a refillable nic salt and a prefilled Reload vape kit. 

Perfectly balanced in a 50/50 VG/PG blend, Gold Bar Nic Salt e-liquids are ideally used for mouth-to-lung vaping with Vape Starter Kits and Pod Vape Kits. 

Are you new and trying out vaping for the first time? You should check out our beginners’ guide, where we simplify vaping to its fundamentals and explain the benefits of switching to your first vape kit.

Gold Bar Salts Oasis Nic Salt

GOLD BAR SALTS OASIS NIC SALT E-LIQUID

Gold Bar Salts Oasis envelopes your tastebuds in a lusciously sweet combination of various exotic fruits and a mix of moreish juicy berries, cooled down by a soft icy aftertaste.
Explore through the complete range of Vape Gold’s vaping products, including their world-renowned Gold Bar disposable kit or prefilled Reload pod kit in their flavour-packed grandeur. 

Specifications

  • Flavours: Exotic Fruits, Mixed Berries, Ice
  • Nicotine Type: Nicotine Salt
  • Bottle Size: 10ml
  • Nicotine Strength: 10mg & 20mg
  • VG/PG Ratio: 50/50
  • Vaping Style: MTL
  • Easy Fill Nozzle
  • Childproof Cap

Vape Gold’s Nic Salt e-liquids are conveniently packaged in 10ml bottles, providing vapers with a nic-salt alternative to single-use disposable vape in a cost-effective refillable e-liquid. 

With 10mg and 20mg nicotine salt strengths available, you can quickly satisfy your cravings. Using nicotine salts provides a smoother throat hit, enhancing your overall vaping experience.

Vape Gold was launched to offer a first-class and adventurous vaping experience that was budget-friendly yet luxuriant. Vape Gold rose in huge demand following the launch of their flavour-packed Gold Bar disposable vapes, now expertly replicated in a refillable nic salt and a prefilled Reload vape kit. 

Perfectly balanced in a 50/50 VG/PG blend, Gold Bar Nic Salt e-liquids are ideally used for mouth-to-lung vaping with Vape Starter Kits and Pod Vape Kits. 

Are you new and trying out vaping for the first time? You should check out our beginners’ guide, where we simplify vaping to its fundamentals and explain the benefits of switching to your first vape kit.

Wall Thickness Recommendations for Injection Molding

Time to read: 5 min

Injection-molded parts can be complex to manufacture. For best results, designers must understand the molding process, design for manufacturing (DFM) best practices, and the importance of material selection. One of the key factors to consider is the part’s wall thickness. 

There is no single, universal minimum wall thickness and maximum wall thickness for injection molding. Instead, these maximum and minimum values depend upon the material you select and your design requirements. In other words, the wall thickness of an injection-molded part must be determined on a case-by-case basis in line with DFM principles. 
This article discusses the importance of proper wall thickness during injection molding and examines the issues caused by improper wall thicknesses — then provides some wall thickness design guidelines for injection-molded parts.

Why is Wall Thickness Important?

The optimal wall thickness for an injection-molded part balances cost and moldability. A single part may be relatively inexpensive at scale, but even a small bit of unnecessary material can have a large impact on overall project costs. In other words, a few grams’ less plastic on each part translates into significant cost savings if you make many parts. 

Optimizing wall thickness reduces overall part mass, but must be done carefully. Otherwise, thin walls may not receive proper material flow in the mold, while walls that are too thick can end up with sink marks and warped surfaces. Both cases lead to excessive rejection rates, but by following recommended DFM guidelines, you can create parts with walls that are juuuuust right — neither too thick nor too thin. 

Optimized walls also cool more quickly and reduce cycle times. The shorter the cycle time between parts, the lower the production cost because more parts can be molded per hour of machine time. So, since excessively thick walls take longer to cool, they increase molding costs. Ultimately, wall thickness has a direct impact both on cost and on project timelines.

Free Template: Injection Molding Gant Chart

Defects Caused by Incorrect Wall Thickness

Wall thickness optimization prevents multiple types of injection-molding issues. The most common problems that stem from wall thickness are listed below:

  1. Sink Marks: Sink marks can have multiple causes, but the most common one is a wall that’s too thick. Because resin cools from the outside, the material in the interior will remain fully molten even after the outer surfaces have solidified. As the core slowly cools, it contracts and pulls the outer faces inward, creating indentations. The effect is particularly apparent on flat surfaces. In most cases, thinner walls supported by ribs are better than thicker walls. Ribs won’t precipitate sink marks and the structure uses less material, too. Below is an example of sink-mark defects:
  1. Short Shots: Short shots occur when plastic solidifies before completely filling the mold. There are many potential causes for this, including wall thickness. If a wall is too thin, the plastic will not flow quickly enough to fill the whole mold before solidifying. 
  2. Warping: Injection-molded parts will warp if their internal stresses are not balanced. These imbalances can be caused by non-uniform wall thicknesses. For example, when a thin wall section is abruptly followed by a significantly thicker section, the two will cool at different rates. The thicker section will cool more slowly than the thinner section, induce unequal shrinkage, and deform the structure. Below is an example of a warping defect:

Wall Thicknesses for Various Materials

The wall thickness chart below indicates the recommended thicknesses for some common injection-molding plastics.

In addition to the recommended wall thickness, it’s important to consider a material’s flow characteristics. Each material has a maximum flow length for a given injection pressure and wall thickness — this is known as the flow ratio. Thin walls of greater length require greater pressure, which requires larger injection molding machines and more robust tooling, both of which increase costs. 

Below you’ll find flow length ratios for some common plastics.

Design Guidelines for Part Wall Thickness

At minimal wall thicknesses, there are a number of design techniques that can optimize part strength. 

  1. Ribs/Gussets: Ribs and gussets are used to support walls, bosses, and other free-standing features in injection-molded parts. Ribs primarily enable the reduction of wall thickness without sacrificing part strength. Fictiv recommends ribs no more than 50% to 60% of the wall thickness that they intersect, and rib height must be kept to a minimum. 
  1. Bosses: Bosses are cylindrical features that reinforce fastener holes. Bosses should follow the same thickness guidelines as standard walls, and may be reinforced with gussets or ribs to further increase strength. 

Draft Angles: Draft allows parts to be properly ejected from molds. Without a draft angle, parts may get stuck in the mold and can be damaged when ejected. Typically, walls and ribs must have draft angles of between 0.5% and 1% per side as indicated below:

4. Corners: Corners should be rounded to prevent excessive stress concentrations that can compromise the parts’ strength and longevity, and sharp corners significantly increase mold costs. The following image illustrates a rule of thumb for sizing the radius on a corner that’s the nominal injection-molding wall thickness:

5. Thickness Transition: While walls of uniform thickness are often preferred, there are some situations where the wall thickness must vary for part functionally or strength. To prevent issues such as sink marks and warping, the walls must transition smoothly between thicknesses as indicated below:

Get DFM Feedback from Fictiv

The rules for a properly designed injection-molded part are well-established, but designing your parts well takes time to master. Good thing Fictiv is your operating system for custom manufacturing and we’re here to help! 
Our experts have years of experience designing and manufacturing injection molded parts and you need only create a Fictiv account to get their expert guidance. We provide detailed DFM analysis of every part to help you optimize your injection-molding designs and accelerate your development cycles.

Rolland Courbis talks about Swansea link

In an interview with Midi Libre, recently departed manager Rolland Courbis has spoken about links to Premier League side Swansea.

Courbis had the following to say:

“England is a possibility, in truth. But today, there are no direct contacts with any club. Swansea? I can honestly not tell you anything more. There is not yet anything official… England, it would be really fun. And also, it seems like I am the man of complicated situations.”

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Wide Leg Pants for 2011

The skinny and straight leg are going to be nudged a bit out of stores as next season’s merchandise starts hitting stores. Taking its place will be the wide leg and flare leg of the 90’s as you can see on Cate Blanchett in her Dries Van Noten wide leg. I must say, on the right person I love a trouser pant (not the flare), but in truth it flatters very few people. If you are short, just skip it unless you really love it and feel comfortable in gargantuan heels. For those that have little interest in the growing width of pants and jeans, stock up! Hit the stores and snatch up all your skinny and straight leg pants and jeans before you can’t find them anymore. I recommend going into stores like Loehmann’s, Nordstrom Rack and Saks Off 5th that are still carrying last season’s items.

I can feel some of you thinking… don’t you want me to be “in style”? I don’t believe in “in style.” When people say something is “in”, they are referring to what is “in” stores right now. I call it “available for sale”. What I do believe in is flattering, elegant, fresh and unique. These words should be used repeatedly when examining your wardrobe. A post on how to wear wide leg pants will appear next week.

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