Group buy for 613 core fiber cable

No worries, John. We’ll resurrect this as soon as poss. 

Thanks Tim and Bill,

i can wait for a better timeframe. No Prob

Count me in.

Ciao

Cris

1 hour ago, zampaz said:

i can wait for a better timeframe. No Prob

Count me in.

 Ciao

Cris

Super - thanks, Cris. And, again, to you and the guys, apologies. 

Oof, am I too late to jump on this? I got some plugs + glow end cables for my retras but I'm unsure if this is better or worse than going with the group buy cables...

Hey sinetwo

No, you're not too late. For various time reasons we couldn't make it work last time - plus I then had to cancel my trip to the UK as the UK authorities don't consider me COVID vaccinated - even though I have had the two Pfizer shots through the Dutch system provided on the island. 

All those who were interested want to stay in the consortium and once I can re-organise my trip (probably in the next couple of months) we can try again with plenty of time to get things in place. As last time I'd be in the UK and then NL.

So let me know how much you want and a mailing address. Once I have a travel window we'll start things rolling again - assuming Bill remains happy to help again.

Thanks @TimG

I am happy to help with the UK distribution if you want me to help. I may get interest from my a discord chat as well.

Is there a European supplier per chance?

Odd about your pfizer status as I have pfizer from the UK and its recognised here and internationally?

Thanks, sinetwo. 
 

Im not aware of a European supplier - or perhaps more importantly now for UK Wetpixelers in post-BREXIT world , a UK supplier. But there could be. 
 

if you have friends who’d like some fibre just add them to you order. But I’m sure you’ll appreciate there’s a limit to how much I can bring 

On the COVID vaccine, yeah it’s not the vaccine itself that’s the problem. The UK list of countries where the vaccination programme is recognised does not include Sint Maarten (and about 160 othe countries) therefore they are considered non-vaccinated. Utterly ridiculous. All the Dutch Caribbean islands have the same problem. We've all got Pfizer jabs under the excellent Dutch programme but in what seems the new UK style for government business, it’s not considered acceptable. I just despair. 

11 minutes ago, TimG said:

 On the COVID vaccine, yeah it’s not the vaccine itself that’s the problem. The UK list of countries where the vaccination programme is recognised does not include Sint Maarten (and about 160 othe countries) therefore they are considered non-vaccinated. Utterly ridiculous. All the Dutch Caribbean islands have the same problem. We've all got Pfizer jabs under the excellent Dutch programme but in what seems the new UK style for government business, it’s not considered acceptable. I just despair. 

It makes no sense, you would've thought they'd very much welcome vaccinated people, that's their whole end game! 

I couldn’t agree more. It’s ridiculous. 

Tim

I will take 10m if it’s not too late

Simon

No problem, Simon, I’ve added you to the list. As soon as I know when I’m traveling I’ll be in touch again to confirm. Meanwhile could you PM me please the mailing address you’d like me to use?

Cheers

Tim

Just thought I would chime in on I-fiberoptics. I purchased 7m and was quoted $12 for shipping on the website. After the fact, they emailed and had me pay another $36 for shipping. It came in a padded envelope, and there was absolutely ZERO chance it cost $48 to ship it. The original $12 was very likely correct.

So buyer beware with those guys, they may bait and switch you. Guessing they don’t like small orders. I will never buy from them again.

I have tried to contact two i-fiber cable suppliers, no luck, they are not interested in selling short lengths of cable.
The solution is easy and inexpensive: Buy a Toslink cable from eBay,  $11.38 for 7.5 meters, free shipping
https://www.ebay.com/itm/143227853946?var=442154887264

The cable plugs are Uxcell strain relief plugs from Amazon, $7.49 for 20 plugs (uxcell 20pcs 27mmx7mmx4mm Micro Strain Relief Cord Boot Protector).   
https://www.amazon.com/20pcs-27mmx7mmx4mm-Strain-Relief-Protector/dp/B00XBG5U82/ref=sr_1_14?

The cable can be glued to the plug with ABS plumbers cement or similar.
One can make 6 cables, a bit over 1 meter each, give a pair to a dive buddiy and keep a pair as spares, for under $20, less than $4 per cable.
To make a 90 degree bend, just bend and dip a segment of the cable in boiling water for 5 seconds, and dip it in cold water, done.  About coiling the cable, don't, as the coil is useless, catches and snags to get lost, and is best avoided.  Just wrap the excess cable around the strobe arm.
I have used these cables for several years, zero problems, they always flash the strobes.

"Just thought I would chime in on I-fiberoptics. I purchased 7m and was quoted $12 for shipping on the website. After the fact, they emailed and had me pay another $36 for shipping. It came in a padded envelope, and there was absolutely ZERO chance it cost $48 to ship it. The original $12 was very likely correct." 

It might be because you are in Hawaii but that hasn't been my experience.

I have bought from them a lot and never had anything like that happen. My last 8 meter batch cost $11 or so here to California. 

Bill

"I have tried to contact two i-fiber cable suppliers, no luck, they are not interested in selling short lengths of cable."

Elias: That is strange since I have given the website directly to you and on this thread. 

i-fiberoptics sells almost all of the Asahi multi-core materials by the meter and you can easily order on the website. 

https://i-fiberoptics.com/asahi-multi-core-cable-detail.php?id=3360&sum=166 is the page and at the bottom it is $7.50 per meter. You can buy 1 meter is you want. 

Fiberfin sells some Asahi materials but not the 613 core stuff. Other than them I don't know of any suppliers of the Asahi materials in the US (we use the Asahi fiber in some medical applications). 

Bill

Guys

There's a high chance, COVID willing, that I'll be coming to NL/UK next month so thought I'd check in to see if the fibre orders are still wanted.

This is what we were talking about buying: https://i-fiberoptics.com/fiber-detail-asahi.php?id=3355&sum=166.

It's $7.50 a meter plus a bit in shipping to get it to me (via Bill "bavant" - many thanks)  and then packaging/mailing it in Europe/UK. To keep things simple, I'd suggest adding €15/£15 shipping per order. If it's massively more or less I'll let you know.

If there's still interest, I'm happy to place an order and bring to NL/EU/UK and send on to members there.

Last time the following folks were interested:

Zampaz - 10m 

LeeCat - 10m

John Liddiard - 20m

Michael T - 20m

Atanas - 10m

Simon Kay - 10m

scuba_d - ????

Please let me know if you're interested (either here or PM) and I'll collate an order. 

As you can imagine, the cost, even at $7.50 a meter, will add up significantly so please only commit if you are certain you won't pull out!. When we're ready to place the order, I'll ask you to pay by PayPal Friends and Family.

Michael T. is still in for 20 m :-)

I'm in

29 minutes ago, Michael T. said:

Michael T. is still in for 20 m :-)

Many thanks! Noted.

22 minutes ago, LeeCat said:

I'm in

 

Many thanks! Noted.