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    Don McCarty, monthly column, Copper Expert, focuses on troubleshooting and maintaining telephone cable in a digital world. His comprehensive outside plant training experience guides readers to increase effectiveness of telephone repair technicians and managers while maximizing their investment test equipment.

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    Recent

    Don With Truck
    Copper Expert

    400 Columns + One Farewell

    May 1, 2022
    Don McCarty, ISE magazine's Copper Expert, reflects on his career as a trainer and columnist.
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    How come?

    April 1, 2022
    Field technicians call or send emails or texts to me asking questions about a problem they are encountering when provisioning and maintaining the copper infrastructure. These ...
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Save the cable, keep your technicians, and develop loyal customers.

    March 1, 2022
    Each cable pair that is placed from a central office or a remote to a customer costs a few thousand to the telco for engineering, placement, heating up, and installation. […]
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Provisioning And Maintaining POTS Circuits

    Feb. 1, 2022
    I feel privileged to have participated in the growth of the telecommunications industry. I’ve trained copper cable technicians for 50 years and, […]

    Recommended

    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Cable Locating: Beyond The Basics

    Dec. 1, 2021
    In earlier columns I have discussed how to get started with your cable locator with tips about the types of hookups, tone transmission, etc. This month I discuss some of […]
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Maintaining a Robust Copper Infrastructure According to Cable Type

    Aug. 1, 2021
    When a large number of customers are out of service, there is a root cause. Unfortunately, rather than do the hard work to find that cause, many technicians have been […]
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Cable and Conductor Locating

    July 1, 2021
    One of the most difficult tasks in the utility business is finding the path of an underground conductor (pipe, cable, wire, etc.) in an area congested with other services. Any...
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Danger Zone: Split Cable Pairs

    June 1, 2021
    Are you receiving repeated complaints from a customer having bandwidth circuits dropping or others on their line, yet the cable pair tests OK? It’s possible that your customer...
    ISE Columnist Don McCarty, OSP Expert
    Columnist

    Wetting or Sealing Current

    May 1, 2021
    The following came from an interested reader, and may be an issue you’ve faced. I’d like to hear your comments! Dear Mr. McCarty: I have been working in the area […]