Best Coax to use

[host0001]

Hello everyone,

I have a 30 foot tower, than 60 feet to house and another 30 feet to radio room.

What type of coax should I use for this project, which includes scanner and two way (UHF)

I would like like to bury this cable if possible.

Thanks in advance

 

[rigreference]

I always thought Pope H-100 was the best a man could get. But just checked Google and it doesn't seem to be widely used...?

 

[breadtrk]

I would strongly suggest thte the underground part be run inside PVC pipe. Direct ground contact is asking for trouble in the long run. Use a good size and leave a puller string in it.

 

[N_Jay]

Even in PVC if it is buried you MUST use direct burial cable, as the pipe WILL fill with water.

For the scanner you can probably get away with good quality RG-6 cable rated for burial.

For the UHF, we would need to know more about the system.

 

[radiopro52]

That's a total of 120 feet. For that distance, you need good low loss coax. You can go with LMR-400DB. It's a direct burial coax, it's low loss, and it usually costs less that a $1 a foot. The next step up from that would be LMR500 or LMR600, but they're more expensive and are harder to work with.

 

[breadtrk]

I have a line up to my orchard for electricity to my camper, it is 1" with upside down p-traps at each end, properly cleaned and glued together that has been in the ground on a water seeping hill for 20 years. I recently cut the traps off to pull some cat-5 up there so I can have internet in my camper. Not one trace of moisture.

If you get water in your conduit, you did a sloppy job and deserve it.

 

[DPD1]

Another choice is Davis RF BuryFlex. It can be directly buried and is also a pretty flexible cable, so you should be able to go directly to the radios without a patch. But inside PVC as well wouldn't hurt.

 

[kb0nly]

I have a line up to my orchard for electricity to my camper, it is 1" with upside down p-traps at each end, properly cleaned and glued together that has been in the ground on a water seeping hill for 20 years. I recently cut the traps off to pull some cat-5 up there so I can have internet in my camper. Not one trace of moisture.

If you get water in your conduit, you did a sloppy job and deserve it.

Agreed... I have a run of 2 1/2" to each tower here, no moisture problems in either, dry as a bone. All joints cleaned primed and glued. Also a drip loop on the outside end to keep rain out.

You shouldn't have water in the conduit unless you got a leak somewhere, PVC doesn't weep. You could get condensation if you forget to seal up the end inside the house in the winter time from the warmer air being in the conduit, but still...

 

[jack103]

Condensation !!!!

 

[kb0nly]

Condensation !!!!

Yep, as i said it can happen. I don't seem to have any problems after i remembered to close up the house end with insulation, not to say i ever had water in them, but i was noticing frost forming around the outside ends because the warm air from the house was migrating out! No temperature variation no condensation.