Burying coax

[kk4fpx]

Anyone know if it's ok to bury coax?My coax from the dipole runs accross my side yard and makes it harder to mow.I was thinking of burying it but don't know what effect it might have on it.

[KC2UGV]

Anyone know if it's ok to bury coax?My coax from the dipole runs accross my side yard and makes it harder to mow.I was thinking of burying it but don't know what effect it might have on it.

You can. For your sake, I'd bury it in a conduit, however.

[K7SGJ]

Direct burial coax is the way to go, but if your just doing 1 run of RG8 or similar, use some 1/2 inch pvc. It's not expensive and will protect the coax from the elements, not to mention any coax munching critters you might have. If you plan to run any more coax or control lines in the future, put in a couple of them or a larger one. You only have to go a little below grade, and the yard will fill back in quickly.

[kk4fpx]

Thanks for the quick replies.I'll use the pvc pipe suggestion it makes good sense.

[K7SGJ]

Yeah, and if you ever get out of radio, you have a great start on a sprinkler system.

[KA9MOT]

Get some lawn staples and pin it to the ground. In no time at all the grass will cover it up and you'll never see it again until you decide to pull it up.

[K7SGJ]

Get some lawn staples and pin it to the ground. In no time at all the grass will cover it up and you'll never see it again until you decide to pull it up.

Guaranteed to go through the mower the day before the big contest.

[NQ6U]

Being a former CATV tech, I have some little experience with underground coax runs. Here are a couple of things you might want to keep in mind:


If you use regular coax inside conduit, be very sure that all the glued joints are well-made and don't leak.

Make sure that both ends of the conduit are arranged in such a way that they won't allow water ingress. These first two items are important. If water gets into the conduit, it will sit there for a very long time. All it takes is a pinhole in the jacket created while you were pulling the cable and you're looking at trouble.

Per the NEC, the whole enchilada should be 18" below grade. Chances are that no one will ever know if you don't bury it that deep, of course, but I'm just saying.

And, while this is probably obvious, it bears mentioning anyhow—no splices inside the conduit! It's got to be an uninterrupted run or, once again, you're looking at trouble.

[wm3o]

i have thought about moving the "skyline" for the 40m wire and replacing my 160 L with a vertical - that would put two runs in a conduit or direct burial.

if i were to do the conduit, i'd leave extra room for at least two more runs of RG-213/9913. to do it "right" would require digging a trench, lining the bottom of the trench with 6 inches of gravel and then back filling gravel over the conduit to help drain water away from the conduit. i have seen the conduit laid where the center of the run is higher than the ends so that if any liquids do find their way into the run, they will drain at either end - at the elbows on each end several holes are drilled into the conduit to let the liquid drain out into the gravel bed.

direct burial coax is much simpler, take the shovel, stab it in at a 60 degree angle, lift the grass, shove coax in, repeat until complete. of course not knowing where the coax is makes digging that hole for the bird feeder a fun challenge. "i think the coax goes right here, the bird feeder can go right, aw dammit!"

[kk4fpx]

I heard that.... I have a telephone line,a water line and a power line accross that same side and if the the power line had not been in pvc I would have cut it thru with the posthole diggers when I put up my wind generator pole.lol

[KA9MOT]

Guaranteed to go through the mower the day before the big contest.

Mine has been stapled to the ground at 4 different houses since 2004. Not a mower hit yet. I've lost lots of ground radials to mowers though. :dunno:

[K7SGJ]

Mine has been stapled to the ground at 4 different houses since 2004. Not a mower hit yet. I've lost lots of ground radials to mowers though. :dunno:


oooooooooh, I guess I should have taken it off the spool BEFORE I buried it.

[KB3LAZ]

Meh, I just prop up a chunk of the ground with a spade and put the coax in. :P Have yet to have any issues. :P