[TowerTalk] Dogs and coax - chew toy?

[Jim Brown]

On 9/11/2012 7:19 AM, john at kk9a.com wrote:
> I found that some critter had chewed
> though my new cables.

I live in a redwood forest, and ever since moving here six years ago, 
I've been laying coax on the ground for long runs to antennas. 
Everything from Commscope CATV RG6 for Beverages, to Commscope 3227 
(like LMR400 but solid copper center), to 1/2-inch and 7/8-inch Heliax, 
and 1/2-inch CATV hard line.  Varmints around here include gophers, 
rats, mice, coyotes, bobcats, as well as LOTS of deer. Perhaps I've been 
lucky, but so far I've seen no instances of damage to any of this cable, 
nor to control cables also laying on the ground.  That RG6 is NOT the 
flooded variety, and it's been in for six years. In fact, the only 
issues I've had with the two Beverages are two instances of big limbs 
falling on them and pulling them off of their termination.

By contrast, my neighbor, NI6T, has had an aluminum farm on a piece of 
Rohn 25 side-armed  to the top of a big redwood for 10-15 years. No 
issues until about a year ago, when varmints started chewing coax around 
the rotator loop.  When problems like that are at the top of a tower, 
it's easy to find a climber who knows how to fix them.  But tree 
climbers don't have a clue, and they're expensive.

73, Jim K9YC