Greetings,

I'd like to run electrical and telephone service to my storage shed, which is located 40'
from my home. I'd appreciate any advice that the experts in this group can provide.

I am planning on a 20' 4x4" pole at the shed, buried 5', with a pair of Par-38's near the
top of the pole for general yard lighting. There will be a single 15A outlet inside the
shed, which will supply handheld power tools and low-voltage lighting around the shed.

The entire electrical circuit will be three-way switched, similar to a stairwell, with one
switch inside the house and the other inside the storage shed. See
http://www.lightingfacts.com/psls.JPG . I'll use a single-gang digital timer inside the
house, if such a beast exists for three-way circuits @ a full 15a (doubtful).

The voice cable will terminate inside the shed.

I cannot bury the cabling because the roots of a very large, very healthy oak tree lay in
the most obvious path of a trench. I do not want to risk killing the tree, so trenching
is out of the question.

However, the lower limbs of the tree are at least 15' above ground, in the direct path
between my service entrance, and the storage shed. If the overhead cable was carefully
strung, it could easily maintain 2-3' of clearance under the lowest branches. Judging
from some of the other electrical work around my neighborhood, it appears that you are
allowed to have wire suspended underneath a limb.

Questions thus far:

1 What type of electrical cable, and voice cable, are required for overhead suspension,
given the application (note the 3-way switch requirement)? Is the cable self-suspending,
or is some type of separate weight-bearing carrier required?

2 Can the electrical and voice cables be run in close proximity?

3 Is a service disconnect required on the house end of the run, or can I simply use a new
breaker in my 200a panel?

4 Should I use a 15a GFCI inside the shed, or a circuit-breaker type GFCI in the 200a
panel?

5 What gauge electrical wire is appropriate? I estimate the entire run, from the breaker
to the farthest point, at 115'.

6 How high for the suspension points? How high for the lowest point on the overhead run?

7 For safety and durability, I want to conduit the runs at both ends, from the suspension
point to the entrance point. What kind of junction is appropriate between the pipe and
the overhead cable? Between the pipe and the interior cable? Can Romex be run through
conduit, or must THHN be used?

Best regards,

Tim ==
(substitute 'tcsys.com' for 'nospam.co.uk')
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