atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring cat3 twisted?

Now this is making sense, I can't remember the manufacturer's name but I'll find out and post it.

Honeywell brand cable. Used more of it yesterday, not fun.

I have an ignorant question:

If Cat5e will only transmit signals reliably over 100 meters, how does a manufacturer, who is shooting out Cat5 wire in mile lengths, which are then cut and put into 1000 foot boxes, know if the wire will not pass the Cat5e test?

I don't think that's an ignorant question at all. I've also wondered that myself. My guess would be that they spot check it on a per-batch basis.

I know some of the manufacturers test there "master" reels before they cut it into 1000' segments. Commscope uses something called WEBTRACK to track there product. Printed on the cable is a number that you use to go online to verify that it passed. I have always wondered about it but I have never verified any wire online.

Nexan does the same thing, They spot check per-batch basis unless it's a special order, then they check it and then label the box or reel.

All of the Atras cat3 that I have been buying has been twisted pair. I don't get it.

According to the standard, cat3 cable pairs MUST be twisted. If they're not, the cable is not supposed to be sold as a Category cable.
Far as I know, the main difference between categories, on same size/material conductors and same type of cable, is the number of twists/foot.
As was mentioned, the twists are there to alleviate "local" crosstalk ie xtalk between pairs of the same cable. But as you know for UTP there's also "alien" xtalk from signal pairs in different cables laid nearby. I suspect that this is what was picked up by the wire KLD laid down.
The other good thing twists do is provide a measure of EMI protection, that's important in "noisy" situations or with sensitive signals.
Arthur, I think that the answers to your question are correct, most reputable manufacturers have some sort of sampling regime in place. For cat3, the samples have to verify sustained "raw" bandwidth of 10mb/s at frequencies of up to 16mhz, at a minimum distance of 100m, and this has to fall within the xtalk parameters for the Category. (The actual bandwidth for say, Ethernet, after the various protocol overheads is considerably less).
In contrast the current standard for 10 gig over copper allows a minimum distance of 10m ONLY.
Sorry about the wordy "tutorial". I've been following the evolution of the standards with some interest - the new ones (EIA/TIA 568 series C) are progressing nicely. I was somewhat surprized when the standards dropped all references to conduit fill, and replaced it with cable strain/pulling tension requirements. I suppose it makes sense, but it is a bit of a culture change for me. Recently I had an argument with a customer who unfortunately got his hands on a draft of the standard and had us redo every raceway/conduit lay in order to accomodate the new cable strain/pull edicts (the whole installation was already certifiable under 568B). Imo it was unneccessary overkill that brought the job over budget and over time, but the customer is always right. Right?

Nope.