Topband: [Bulk] RX cables in woods

[Grant Saviers]

Rock ledges probably mean directional drilling would be prohibitively 
expensive.  Even in soft soil it costs A LOT more than trenching.  Same 
for a Ditch Witch over ledge even with carbide teeth, but you might get 
a lot of it underground.    I put in 6000' of 1" water line (mostly PVC) 
to a spring and Ditch Witched with my ride on in loose rock, pulled it 
in with a ripper blade on the tractor in adobe, and used galvanized 
sch40 where I had to go above ground over ledge.  Pasture land with 100+ 
grazing cattle at a prior QTH.

PVC conduit/pipe/well tubing is fragile when cold, so deer might damage 
it in the winter.  EMT is cheap and will withstand any deer hoof, but 
will rust thru eventually.

A 3/16" EHS catenary cable stoutly attached to strong trees will 
withstand fairly large branch drops with the cables tie wrapped to it.  
You might get a Beverage for free with it but I would run the 
coax/control underground for at least the last 100' to the array. What 
radius are you planning?

I ran the RG6 and control line for my DXE 4sq receive in an underground 
1 1/4" conduit, about 220', and rented a walk behind Ditch Witch look 
alike to do the digging, mixed forest, soft ground.  I rented it at Home 
Depot.  (I sold the ride on DW3500 and it was too wide to navigate among 
the trees)

You might need to tweak the supply voltage or control wire gauge for a 
900' run.  I think liquid tight flexible conduit is much more expensive 
than 1 1/4.  1 1/4 pvc sch 40 flexes quite a bit in warm weather or get 
a PVC bending blanket heater for sharper bends.  900' is long for a 
single pull, you may need a junction pull box or two. Use plenty of 
pulling lube.  You might be able to use 1" PVC if there are few bends, 
and large radius bends are easy in 1".  Any sch40 or EMT galvanized 
required for above ground will be cheaper. (EMT to sch 40 PVC requires 
an adapter, the OD's are different.)

Underground is better for the antenna's performance.

Grant KZ1W


On 2/21/2015 4:34 PM, Greg Zenger wrote:
> This spring I plan to augment my station receive capabilities by installing
> a array of receive verticals (DXE 8 circle). I live in New England on a
> glacial moraine; the soil is very rocky and uneven in the woods that
> surround my station. I have found a plateu large enough to place my array,
> however it its about 900 feet from my station. I am wondering what the best
> method for routing the recieve coax and array control cable through the
> woods might be. The land is highly poplulated with wildlife (deer, fox,
> wild cats, turkey, rodents etc.) and the path between my station and the
> antenna site is very uneven with rock ledges.  I suspect running the cables
> on the ground will lead to damage, from animals and suspending from trees
> (10' high for deer clearance) will be susceptible to damage from branches
> falling (a problem I currently face with my beverages). I have been
> thinking of running the coax and control cable in a liquid tight flexable
> pvc conduit along the ground for added protection, though this adds
> considerable cost.
>
> Id love to hear any suggestions or insight on how to route 1000' of cable
> through the woods.
>
> Greg N2GZ
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