Thanks to the folks who have responded to this. Without excavating an
acre or so of pasture and putting together an elaborate drainage system,
the conduit I run will be below the water line most of the year. As an
aside, don't even get me started on how our septic system works. One
could buy a nice house in many areas of the country for the cost of
replacing it!
It sounds like I'll need a truly direct burial cable to run through the
conduit if I expect it to hold up to the perpetual water. Originally, I
planned to use Belden 9913 flex but perhaps Davis RF 9914 BuryFlex would
be more appropriate. I'd still run it in conduit. At first, the coax
will be used for HF but I'd rather spend a few extra bucks and be able
to use it for VHF if needed. That's why I'd rather go for a lower loss
coax.
Would Davis RF 9914 BuryFlex be an appropriate cable to run through
water filled conduit?
I'm still a bit hesitant to use the Davis RF product because I've used
so many Belden products successfully.
One would think that that even bargain basement coax jacket is water
proof. I guess not. What might I expect in terms of a useful life from
BuryFlex in a water filled conduit? How would the water cause the coax
to ultimately fail?
Thanks again to all!
-Jeff
KE7FRJ
On Tue, 2008-04-29 at 00:00 -0700, Jeff Stevens wrote:
> Currently I'm running coax right on the ground between my station and
> antennas. I'm looking to install some conduit so I can bury multiple
> runs. When installing conduit I've seen suggestions to put a drain hole
> in at the lowest point so the water can drain out.
>
> I'm located on property with heavy clay soil in the Pacific Northwest --
> it's wet most of the year. The soil is saturated. I understand the
> need to protect coax from rocks and other object in the soil, does it
> *really* need to be protected from water?
>
> Conduit or no conduit, any coax buried here will be sitting in water for
> all but a few months of the year. If a cable lays in conduit filled
> with water for years on end, what happens?
>
> -Jeff
> KE7FRJ
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