Can anyone point me to a good site that would prepare me for the task of
burying about 50' of video, audio and power cable? Long. and lat. about
the
same as the President's (as in near Wash, DC) so the soil is rocky clay.
Gas lines and water lines are below ground, everything else is above
(power,
phone, CATV). I want to run a 12V power cable, two or three RG59U CCTV
cables and some 18ga speaker wire for the intercom box..

Ground is nice and wet and good for digging, but I've never run any cable
outside. I susect the best tool would be to rent a trencher and dig,
troglodyte, did. Anyone able to tell me what it's going to cost and if
it's even reasonable to consider a post hole digger (which I have) instead
of a trencher to do the job?

Am I going to have to go deep enough to have to call MISSUTILITY (if she
hasn't been laid off along with everyone else!)?

I assume that anything over a few wires needs to be run in conduit. Is
that
correct? Are there different kinds of conduit for burial? Do I need to
run
burial grade cable in conduit or will conduit protect normal interior use
cable?

Can I calculate the voltage drop just by observation? (Measure battery
voltage at one end and then through the run of wire to see how many volts
remain and how much more than 12VDC I need to push through the wire to get
12VDC at the front gate?)


*Call 811 to request a utility markdown of the property before digging. I
would run the conduit at least 18" deep. In order to measure voltage drop
you would need to put a load on the wire. If possible I would run 120 volts
out to the location and step down the voltage there. Separate power and
communication cables. Use wires rated for wet location use. Oversize your
conduits for ease of pulling. Keep your bends to four 90's or less. Use at
least PVC schedule 40, but schedule 80 has a thicker wall.

I can't imagine digging a trench with a post hole digger. A backhoe does an
excellent job of digging a nice deep and wide trench. When that is not
available I use a landscape contractor. They are use to digging holes and
their labor charges are quite reasonable. Call around to rental companies
to get an idea of trencher costs. It should only take a few hours, but you
will spend an entire day picking up the machine, trenching and then
returning it. Get a bigger machine then what you think you need. It will
come in handy when you hit rocks.