[TowerTalk] Underground conduit question

Wed Feb 9 08:15:13 PST 2011

Hi Larry,

Whatever...!

It's STILL light-years better than the situation that I had here before I
installed the conduit.

~73!~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ

*****************************************

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry stowell" <lclarks at nc.rr.com>
To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 8:31 AM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Underground conduit question

>
>
> I don't care how you seal the joints or rain proof the ends. You are going
to get condensation! The
> only way is to seal the ends and pressurize it( like the telephone
companies do). If you are
> fortunate to have very good drainage soil lay the pipe on landscape cloth
to keep out the dirt. Here
> in NC with the red clay it is impracticable to drain. I gave up and built
a pergola and ran all my
> cables in the top of that.
>
> 73 Larry K1ZW
> Durham, NC
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Diane
> and Edward Swynar
> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 8:10 AM
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Underground conduit question
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> I used standard-issue-variety black pvc pipe that allowed me to bury some
15' - 20' of feedline &
> rotator cable from the base of my tower, to the shack window in the
basement...
>
> I specifically did NOT use the pipe with the leaching holes in it---and in
order to keep water from
> gaining entry at either end, I used elbow joints there, such that the
cables are actually facing the
> ground when they enter & exit the pipline "tunnel."
>
> After some 3 years, I can honestly say, "So far, so good." And I no longer
have to worry about
> nicked lines when I cut the grass in the area come summer...
>
> ~73~ de Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ
>
>
> ******************************************
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Al Kozakiewicz" <akozak at hourglass.com>
> To: <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 8:58 PM
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Underground conduit question
>
>
> > I've seen countless posts in various forums regarding the perforation of
> perfectly watertight pipe to aid "drainage".  Do people get that much
> airflow through their buried and sealed pipe that condensation is a major
> problem?
> >
> > I can tell you that where I live in upstate NY, if you bury perforated
> pipe below the frost line or, for that matter, more than a couple of feet
> deep, it will fill with water and stay that way forever.  I'm no expert,
but
> I kinda think that's worse than some condensation!
> >
> > Al
> > AB2ZY
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Daryll Webb
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2011 1:27 PM
> > To: towertalk at contesting.com
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Underground conduit question
> >
> > Howdy   I like this group!  Good stuff all around.
> > Hr is what I plan to do with my install.
> > As the feed line will be direct bury, not submersible! I plan to use the
> plastic pipe that is used for leach beads, it has drain holes in it.
> > That way if any water gets into it I think it will drain as it is
suppose
> to. A thin layer of sand or pea gravel should make it work.
> > It will only need to be 12" deep or less jest to keep it from coming up
> after a few years.
> > If I need to change cable I hope to hook the new one to the old one and
> pull it in as the old is pulled out.
> > In theory it should work. Wish me luck  Daryll kg9nd
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Peter Dougherty <w2irt at verizon.net>
> > To: towertalk at contesting.com
> > Sent: Tue, February 8, 2011 12:10:14 PM
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Underground conduit question
> >
> > On 2/7/2011 1:55 PM, Peter Dougherty wrote:
> > > Hi all,
> > > Several years ago I had a run of 4" solid white PVC tubing run on a
> > downward
> >
> > Very important...How long is this run and how deep.
> > It's roughly 41 or 42' long, buried about 18" down at the deep end and
12"
> > on the shallow end. It was installed when an electrician put in a 120
VAC
> outlet for our nearby pond. These three pictures can describe it better
than
> my words can:
> > http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll290/W2IRT/Towers%20and%20Antennas/
> >
> > Snow won't hurt, it's just a nuisance.
> >
> > >>IF the conduit maintains a grade all the way it won't fill up with
> > >>water and freeze. This part I'm afraid to ask. What did you use to
> > >>block the end
> > in the
> > >>yard to prevent "critters" from turning it into a ready made home?
> >
> > I used 1/2" wire-mesh (hardware cloth) fastened by a hose clamp. The
> cables run through the squares.
> >
> > > After the lines emerge from the conduit they just run over top of the
> > ground
> > > to their respective antennae. After a coax failure to my loop, I tried
> > > pushing a fish-tape through the conduit in hopes of running a new
> > > length
> > of
> > > cable but it became obvious that the inside of this conduit had gotten
> > > ice or muck inside, so I need to wait until spring to try and remedy
> things.
> >
> > >> If there are more than a few cables in the conduit and/or it's a long
> > >> run it'll be very difficult to push a fish tape through it once it
> > >> has cables in place.
> >
> > If you look at the pictures referenced above, I have a number of cables
> that exit the house and then go up to the vertical section just a few feet
> away (which now has a 180-degree cap on it) and to an antenna switch box
> mounted on the side of the tower. One line (the 160 antenna) comes back
down
> that riser and along the full length of the conduit. I have 3 or 4 other
> cables that run the full length of that conduit (the failed K9AY coax, the
> control line and a run of RG-6 for a noise sense antenna, which has just
now
> been repurposed as the K9AY coax).
> >
> >
> > > This now leads to a few much broader questions.
> > > 1) Can I do anything to improve the drainage of the existing 4"
> > > conduit (remember, it's already on a downward angle)? Digging up the
> > > back yard is NOT an option.
> > How deep is it. With cables in the answer is probably not. If the
conduit
> is "always" on a grade with no low spots it should not need any more
> drainage.
> >
> > I'm *pretty sure* it's on a constant albeit shallow angle down away from
> the house.
> >
> > >> You could build a box for the cables to exit into at the end of the
> > >> conduit.  Put some plastic mesh in it along with a few mothballs to
> > >> discourage critters.
> >
> > I think this is the way I'll go, similar to what our sprinkler-system
> installers did for their junction boxes and valves, etc.
> >
> > > 2) The coax/control-cables lying on the ground will need to be buried.
> > Do you mean the ones coming out of the current conduit?
> >
> > Yes, the lines to the K9AY loop specifically, although I'd like to bury
> the 160 TX antenna feedline as well. It, however, traverses a lot of very
> inaccessible terrain (behind rocks, beside an embankment, through a narrow
> gap between the garage and a concrete fixture, etc, making that job far
more
> difficult. That ground rises and falls considerably, too.
> >
> > >> Have you considered "direct bury" cables?  Or something rugged like
> > >> Davis BuryFlex(TM) and just leave it on the surface or buried
shallow?
> >
> > I guess this is the way to go for the 160 TX, and maybe for the K9AY.
I'm
> using direct-bury sprinkler control cable for the K9AY directionality
> control and remote power so no worries there. I'm not really a fan of
> direct-bury, though, since if there is a failure I'd rather just pull a
new
> run in minutes rather than either a) dig out the old one or b) dig a new
> trench for the new one. I'm definitely interested in a conduit solution.
> >
> > [pjd] -pjd
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
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