On Aug 27, 12:34*pm, windcrest wrote:
On Aug 27, 12:02*am, "Robert Green"
wrote:





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?)

Thanks in advance for any help,

--
Bobby G.

I have no idea how 18GA speaker wire is gonna work for an intercom, no
intercom made in the last 40 years works on 8 ohm speakers.

Additionally there are better ways to do the video than modulating a
camera onto what, RG59U? *For all that work you should just use RG6
quad shield.

I would seriosly just look at getting AC power out to there above the
priority of the LV wires. *Is there a lamppost nearby to tap off?

If you do insist to make a run out there then I'd use the 1.5 inch
black coiled stuff with no joints in the run (what the sprinklers
use). *No need to trench, just rent the machine that pulls it through
the ground at an 8 inch depth (Google how sprinklers are installed).

Pulling wire/coax through any plastic tubing is a hassle, its sticky
and binds up easily especially on a run that long. *Especially that
speaker wire you speak of, that will bind up so tight you'll be lucky
to pull it the first 15 feet, believe me speaker wire will bind up
solid even on a straight pull, forget a curve. *Additionally you wont
be able to grease the wire enough with pulling silicone, so you may
want to consider installing a valve box at the half-way point as a
pull box or even two valve boxes.

I still think you would be better off just running power with UF alone
then go entirely wireless with intercom, video, gate control, motion
sensors, headlight sensor, vehicle sensor, etc. *The reliability/
security of wireless is greatly improved over the last 5 years.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you just want to get something below the surface fast and cheap use
a gas edger. It will dig a trench a couple inches deep. There are no
depth requirements for low voltage. Everything else will be way down
so you don't need to get the utlities marked if you just go down a few
inches.