Hi Pete,
It depends on many things depending on your situation:
1) What are you attempting to protect your cable from? Lawn mowers?
Lightning? Someone digging into them? etc.
2) Type of cable and type of jacket (and how hot/cold/snowy/icy does it get at
your qth?)
I use buryflex coax and CQ304 and CQ302 rotator cable. I have had them laying
on the ground for almost 20 years with no discernable physical deterioration.
If I put them below ground I would have to deal with the acidic soil, critters,
pools of groundwater, etc. Of course these issues would be mitigated by using
gravel, sand, conduit, etc. I like keeping it simple. I have fewer critter
problems and no water/soil issues with laying the cables on the ground.
Nothing likes to nest directly on top of the cables where they are exposed to
the elements. Put them in a protected environment below soil however and then
I am sure the critters would be more interested.
But for anything aboveground, the cable jackets better be physically tough and
uv resistant or else they won’t last more than a few years at best.
3) Convenience and aesthetics...
It is a real PITA to have to move cables around every time that I mow, and even
more of a PITA when I hit one of them with a mower. BUT, where I have dug a 4”
trench only a few inches wide and laid the cables in the uncovered trench, I
don’t have to move them anymore, I don’t have to worry about the mower blades
cutting them or hitting the sides of the narrow trench, and, if I need to move
or replace them, I just pick them up and they are moved in a few seconds.
I have had no trouble with the elements or even snow/ice or standing water
which is rapidly absorbed by the ground.
This also solves the issues of trenching and how deep is deep enough?
Decide on your answers to 1, 2 and 3 and then you may not even need to think
about your questions. If you still want to bury your cables, then 1, 2 and 3
will determine the answer to your questions.
73 & GL!
Bob KQ2M
From: N4ZR
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2017 9:28 PM
To: TowerTalk
Subject: [TowerTalk] A dumb question
After all this time I'm contemplating my first direct buried run of
coax. Hence this qwuestion - how deep is deep enough? DoI need to get
below the frost line?
--
73, Pete N4ZR
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