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Re: [TowerTalk] Need Help For Cable Runs To Tower

To: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Need Help For Cable Runs To Tower
From: Joseph or Ruth Patrick <hdmc38@bellsouth.net>
Date: Sat, 25 May 2013 10:07:56 -0700 (PDT)
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
I agree with Jim. It is not code to put high voltage and low voltage in the 
same 
conduit. That being said a lot of people do, but don't do it. I live in Florida 
where the water table can be 18" down or more depending on location. We do not 
drill holes in the bottom of underground conduit. Again Lot's of people do. 
This 
is JMHO. I do not claim to be an expert. Good luck.
 73 DE K4XZ Joe Patrick
God Made Man
Sam Colt Made Them Equal 




________________________________
From: Jim Lux <jimlux@earthlink.net>
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Sent: Sat, May 25, 2013 11:47:44 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Need Help For Cable Runs To Tower

On 5/25/13 8:36 AM, Wayne Willenberg wrote:
> While I am waiting for my 89’ crank-up tower to be built and delivered, I
> thought I would get busy running the various control lines for the rotator,
> the AC power for the motor that lifts the tower and, of course, the RF
> cable for my antenna that will be on top of the tower.
> 
> I would like to place these lines underground from the panel entrance to my
> shack to the base of the tower.  (That total distance is about 175 feet)
> My first thought was to run the cables through PVC pipe, and to use Andrew
> LDF5-50A Heliax (7/8”) for the RF cable.  Of course, I will have to use a
> flexible coax from the base of the tower to the top of the tower.
> 
> I would really appreciate some advice before I start trenching.  For
> example,
> 
> 1)  It would seem logical not to put the RF cable in the same PVC pipe as
> the 220 VAC wire for the motor and the power and control lines for the
> rotator.

And combining power lines and "Class 2 power limited" low-voltage circuits in 
the same conduit/enclosure/etch is specifically prohibited by most electrical 
codes.



If it is better to separate the RF cable from the other lines,
> how far apart should the 2 PVC pipes be?
They can be next to each other.  the concern isn't electrical, it's mechanical: 
in order for there to be an inadvertent short from power circuit to "low power" 
circuit, you'd have to have two barriers fail (i.e. conduit walls).

You can combine the coax and the low voltage control lines in one conduit: 
they're all "power limited" circuits.

> 
> 2)  Should I drill holes in the bottom of the PVC to allow any water that
> gets into it to drain away?

That's a subject of much discussion and subject to local conditions, like 
whether the animatronic owl needs to be periodically reoriented as the Earth's 
spin axis changes.

I don't drill holes in mine, but I live in relatively dry Southern California, 
and I make sure the stub up ends at least a foot above ground surface (so that 
sprinklers, and such don't wind up putting water into the it). Mostly when I 
pull the wires out, they're dry, but every once in a while they're damp.  The 
only time I had "wet" (as in the conduit was full of water) was when there was 
a 
shovel and big rock induced break in the conduit that I didn't catch early on.


> 
> Thanks as always for your help with my first tower.
> 
> Wayne, KK6BT
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
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