Topband: Fw: Deterring Critters was:Re: How Good is Good Enough?

[Merv Schweigert]

I know for a fact that the telco drop wire does not appeal to chewers,
I put down a BOG and in one days time it was in 4 pieces,  due to
mongoose activity,  yes one of the fine imported species in Hawaii,
Or it could have been rats,  we have roof rats that will chew anything
in sight also.
The wire was teflon insulated, and they did not mind the teflon.
but while clearing part of this 30 acres I ran across a long length of
telco drop line that had been laying here since the 1980s,  it was intact
and in fine shape,  no chew marks,  dont know what the difference is
but it the rodents did not take a liking to it.
Above ground beverages have to be 10 to 12 foot up due to the
hundreds of deer crossing the property daily.  I used WD12 for those
runs.
Merv K9FD/KH6

> That material that looks like superman's zip cord is known as "Rural C"
> drop wire. My book says that comes in 18.5 gauge (yes, half a gauge!)
> which is RUS standard #PE-7 spec #4295, 14 and 12 gauge (AWG)
> configurations which is "Bell System Type" spec #4283. It lists it as
> 30% copper CCS wire with a HDPE jacket. Tough stuff. I'm looking in my
> General Cable catalog and it shows the minimum length as 1,000 feet so
> it isn't unrealistic to order this stuff if you have a lot of runs to
> put in.
>
> This stuff used to be the standard telephone drop cable used in rural
> and suburban areas and it is *strong*. The newer cable is a few 24 AWG
> twisted pairs with a glass fiber support strand and overall PVC jacket.
> I know the telco guys replace the old cable periodically with the new
> stuff (like when someone orders a second line or fancy DSL service that
> needs the twisted pairs) so it might be worth calling the local telco
> service yard to see if you can get their old scraps if you want to keep
> it cheap.
>
>    -Bill
>
>    
>