[TowerTalk] Coax above ground

[David Robbins]

I have hundreds of feet of elevated feed and control lines here, I try to keep them 6-8' up so I can walk and mow under them.  in one spot I have a drawbridge where I can pull up the wires to about 12' to get trucks and backhoes under it.  a 10' pressure treated 4x4 here is only put down about 2' in the ground and does just fine.  I use eyebolts on each side at the top to get 2 runs where needed with usually 1/4" guy wire as a carrier... just because I had lots of left over pieces after putting up the towers.  It does last much better than aircraft cable but isn't as easy to work with obviously.

While others will insist on using wire ties and other stuff all mine is suspended with the cheapest electrical tape I can find.  Usually I end up cutting it off when adding new cables before it has to be replaced because the tape failed... though recently I have had to go around on some of the older runs and add a few more layers here and there where some of them were stretching a bit or dried out and cracked.

I wouldn't worry about birds, they are unlikely to cause anything more than a few droppings here and there.   the biggest threat around here are porcupines that are known to like the taste of aluminum hardline for some reason.  one cable company engineer gave up and started putting scrap pieces at the bottom of his poles to save them from having to climb to chew on the stuff at the top.  Porcupines are also known to eat car brake lines, plastic bumpers, car tires, and have even gnawed on the t-111 on my house and garage.  Creating a good open area around the house and garage and towers seems to have kept them away from edible stuff for many years now.


David Robbins K1TTT
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