On Tuesday 15 April, the inaugural New Zealand BICSI Cabling Skills Challenge was held in Auckland, with 10 competitors vying for the title of New Zealand’s ‘Best Cabler’. It was a full day of fun, excitement and nerves for the 10 competing participants (eight from Auckland and two from Wellington (well, Palmerston North actually) commencing at 7:30 am and closing with a mad dash to the airport for the ‘Palmy’ competitors to catch a 6:00 pm flight home. Each competitor was given two predefined tasks to complete within an allotted time frame of 45 to 60 minutes per task plus testing. The first task was to install, terminate and test a 17 m dual Category 6A / Class EA F/UTP telecommunications outlet from a patch panel within a wall-mounted cabinet, fitted off on catenary wire and terminated into a dual wall-mounted face plate. Each competitor then had to set up a Level IV tester to the correct parameters, test both links and gain a full pass to be successful. The second task was to install and terminate a 50-pair voice cable with one end terminating on a 50-pair 110 IDC block and the other end terminating on a 25-pair RJ45 voice grade patch panel. Each competitor then had to successfully complete accurate continuity testing to the T568A wiring pattern. Each competitor was measured on their roughing-in skills, cable management, termination techniques and accuracy, health & safety and testing knowledge. The judge commented that it was pleasing for him to witness such a high level of trade skills and knowledge demonstrated by all the competitors throughout the tasks; but alas there could only be one winner. And the winner is…Frazer Mackie from OSL Data & Communications Ltd. Frazer wins bragging rights (and a trophy to prove it) to being the ‘Best Cabler in New Zealand’ (until next year…), a GoPro Camera and complimentary entry to the BICSI South Pacific Conference & Exhibition to be held in Brisbane May 12-14. Here he will compete against the Australians for the title of ‘Best Cabler in the South Pacific Region’. Airfares and accommodation is being sponsored by TE Connectivity. We wish Frazer well in representing his fellow Kiwis against the Aussies! These events do not happen without the help of many volunteers from all areas of our industry and BICSI wishes to express its appreciation to the following individuals and companies and acknowledge their support: C & L Communications who provided the venue, did a lot of work setting up the competition floor, provided those ‘last-minute’ emergency supplies that often get overlooked, and ‘fed & watered the judge’. TE Connectivity for providing the cabling components and hardware, sponsoring the judge’s time and for kindly sponsoring airfares and accommodation to get the winner - Frazer Mackie - to Brisbane to represent New Zealand against the Aussies and of course to enjoy the benefits of the BICSI conference and exhibition. Where would a competition be without competitors? A big thank you to: C & L Communications, Allendale Electrical, Adsel Specialty Systems, OSL Data & Communications & New Zealand Telephone & Cable Ltd for putting their top tradesmen into the competition, all of whom represented their companies with distinction. Last but certainly by no means least; the BICSI volunteers behind the scenes that make this happen (you know who you are, you are too many to mention but a big thank you from BICSI NZ). This inaugural challenge has garnered support and interest from many within the NZ cabling community and has also got the creative juices flowing for next year with ideas coming in around sponsorship, timings, venues and ‘upping the ante’ on the challenges. So watch out next year for a bigger, brighter and tougher Cabling Skills Challenge 2015! For those of you who participated this year – a big thank you and we hope to see you back again next year. For those of you who couldnt make it this year, we hope to see you join in next year. If you are interested in having your company and/or brand associated with next year’s Cabling Skills Challenge 2015; please contact BICSI’s NZ Southern Coordinator, Mike Stacey on +64 274 610662 or email [email protected] or the BICSI South Pacific office.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Apr 2014 22:45:25 +0000
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