Back in March ’07 we had a bit of flooding in our finished basement resulting in soaked carpeting and ruined walls. The repairs included the installation of a new sump-pump system and a larger diameter PVC discharge pipe. It was left to me to bury the PVC and I finally got around to doing the job last fall. The nearly 70′ long, 4″ diameter PVC sewer pipe snaking across my backyard was not only an eyesore, but a major nuisance. I had to disassemble most of the 10′ sections each time I went to mow the lawn.
I rented a Ditch Witch for half a day and carved a trench, 2 to 3 feet deep, from the side of the house out into the woods in the backyard. Next, I dry-fitted all the PVC sections, including a 22.5° elbow to adjust the path, made sure the slope was correct, and glued up all the sections.
With the pipe in place, all I had left to do was backfill the trench. That’s when it dawned on me that I should run another section of pipe to carry the 100′ long RG-8X coax out to the balun attached to the antenna. Off to the home supply store where I purchased 80 feet of 1.5″ diameter PVC. I placed this PVC on top of the larger pipe already in the trench. As I glued up the 10′ lengths of PVC, I ran fishing line through each section before connecting the next piece. Once I had glued the last section, I tied the fishing line to one end of the RG-8X and carefully pulled it through the entire run of pipe. Additionally, I had connected another run of fishing line to the RG-8X before pulling it through so that, in the future, I can pull new coax simply by using the fishing line currently in the pipe alongside the existing coax.
At the antenna end of the run, I attached a plastic, weather-proof electrical junction box to house the connection between the RG-8X, the balun, and the ladder line feeding the antenna. This end of the run is still a work in progress. The PVC sticks up about 2 feet from the ground at a 45° angle with the junction box at the head. It’s ugly and just waiting for one of the kids to accidently whack it with a bat. In the spring, I plan on re-working this part, perhaps extending it so that I can place the entire set up behind our shed.
At the radio side of the pipe, the end nearest the house, I sent the PVC up at a 90° angle about 18″ and attached some threaded PVC pipe fittings. This end is close enough to the side of the house that even during heavy snow falls, which are frequent here, the pipe is not buried. I did end up covering it with a large, clear plastic bag just to be safe and prevent moisture from entering. In the spring, I’ll use some of the left-over 4″ diameter PVC to build a tube that slides over the opening to better protect it and can be removed for coax maintenance.
Some pictures of the coax burial project. Click an image to see the full-size version.
