[Antennas] Suggestions Hardline Feedline Run

[Eric Lemmon]

Ed,

Regardless of your feelings about burial, it definitely is the way to go.
First of all, there are minimum heights for running wires of any kind across
a roadway, whether it is a private driveway or a public road.  Usually, 12
feet is the minimum, but some jurisdictions require 18 or 24 feet.  All it
takes is one transit-mix truck, or similar tall vehicle, to tear down a
too-low cable crossing or to refuse entry until you remove or raise it.
Secondly, it's not your job to locate any buried telephone or power
services.  Look in your phone book for any listing in the front that says,
"Call Before You Dig."  There is a toll-free number that you call to have
each utility come out and mark with paint or stakes the exact route of their
respective utilities.  This must be done at no charge to you.  Once you have
that done, you can trench across the road in any clear area.  If you fail to
call for utility tracing, you become liable for all damages, repair costs,
loss of service charges, and some severe penalties.  On the other hand, if
you cut into a utility service that is not where the owning utility said it
was, you are blameless.

I strongly suggest engaging a backhoe to dig a trench at least 24 inches
deep but preferably 30 inches, and wide enough to lay two 3" or 4" schedule
40 PVC conduits under the roadway and at least five feet each side of the
road edge.  Normally, three 10-foot sections of pipe, properly cemented,
will suffice for each run.  Once you have made this pathway, you will never
have to worry about burying cable under the roadway again.

I don't think the "speed bump" idea will fly, since many fire departments
have rules that they will not serve homes that are blocked by obstructions
that may damage their fire trucks.  Many moons ago, I lived in a community
where the homeowners association- without first coordinating their idea with
the fire department- installed speed bumps at various locations to curtail
hot-rodding.  In a very short time, each resident received a notice that
fire protection would not be available or might be delayed in certain areas
where speed bumps impeded access by fire trucks.  The bumps were removed
immediately.  That may not apply in your case, but it might be a good idea
to check into it.

73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY


-----Original Message-----
From: antennas-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:antennas-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Charles E. Pitts
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 4:32 PM
To: antennas at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Antennas] Suggestions Hardline Feedline Run

Hello all K5OF, Ed,  here in NC, Recent new subscriber and past subscriber
from few years ago.I relocated and I am in the process of building a new
home and station here in NC. New station will require hard-line feedline run
to go across 15ft to 20ft dirt/gravel roadway/driveway to shack. This
roadway has electrical and telephone line feeds to my property and a
easement right of way to other property owners on adjacent land right down
the middle of said roadway.So burial is out of the question to cross roadway
or running through pipe or culvert due to unknown depth of electrical or
telephone and possible damage to mine or my neighbors feeds. (buried more
than 30 years ago!)  Looking for any ideas other than what I propose here to
get feedlines to shack. My idea was to place large landscape timbers similar
to RR ties across road laying parallel to each other across road with a wide
enough space to accommodate feedlines required and eventually covered with
earth to form a sort of "speed bump" like effect for lack of better term and
visual to get feedlines to the shack. Lining the trough between the timbers
with sand and/or small rock for drainage and the feedline laid on top of the
sand or rock eventually covered with earth. This would permit any
maintenance or replacement of feedlines to be accomplished without a lot of
effort. This area is the only area of all the feedline run where I have a
problem. Feedlines will be laying on ground or supported slightly above
ground through woods for the rest of the run approx. 300-400 ft of feedline
run. Sorry for long post but I felt being as descriptive as possible might
save for repeats or misunderstandings Any and all ideas would be
appreciated. Thanks, Ed
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