There oughta be a rule....

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
....That the satellite guys should have to bury their cable more than 3/4" deep. Especially where I want to plant a tree.

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Are you sure that's for the satellite? That looks like two wire direct burial electrical cable. The satellite guys - at least in my area - use RG-6 coax.
 
You know things like this make me feel double my age and cranky.
Can only agree, what a dumbass would just string a cable across the grass essentially.

I agree with Jim, looks like a strange cable to use for cable. Looks like what i saw used back in SA as telephone cable (two wire) strung on exterior telephone poles in aubdivision.
Dont see no shielding like one has with co ax . Whats your cable signal quality like.
 
I've watched the Cox Cable contractors run cable to my house twice now. They just spaded it in at about 6" deep. Stick the flat bladed spade in the ground, pry back on the handle and drop the cable in the slit. Fortunately the soil was wet or the cable would have been down 2".
 
The military does have rules for that..lol...back in 2000, I was in Bosnia at an Army base were we had a small office inside the intell center compound. Basically what we did was download live video from aircraft over flying areas of interest..CIA, NSA all the alphabets basically needed the video..at any rate when I got there they were putting this stuff on video tape and running it across the compound for the Generals and staff to view, several times a day, which was really stupid, every one else just needed to study it, which could be done later, but the General really didn't need it time late, he should have it right now, at least in my mind So one day I grab a few guys standing around doing nothing, said I want you guys to dig a trench a few inch deep from this building to that one, about 100 feet or so, I dropped in a coax cable, and there you go, now the Generals have live feed, they see it when I see it, every body is happy, as I patted myself on the back...WRONG...yes they liked the idea, but the base commander lost his mind because they had a contract with Brown & Root for all base related projects, so they were mad, then there was the security folks who were mad at me because I ran an un-secure cable, un-shielded which was a security breach. Then there was the Sergeant Major who was mad at me because I used his men without his permission (Me Navy, they Army...lol) So that is reason to this day I have no butt, because that day standing in front of the base Commander I got most of it chewed off, that was after the Sergeant Major had a go at me....long story short, B&R came in pulled the cable, re-buried it in a steel lined box about 3 feet down using shielded cable at a cost of about five grand...lol...gotta love military contracts
 
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You know things like this make me feel double my age and cranky.
Can only agree, what a dumbass would just string a cable across the grass essentially.

I agree with Jim, looks like a strange cable to use for cable. Looks like what i saw used back in SA as telephone cable (two wire) strung on exterior telephone poles in aubdivision.
Dont see no shielding like one has with co ax . Whats your cable signal quality like.


I did a little more investigation. The 'ridge' on the side of the cable is a ground wire. The cable is coax. The dish is grounded to the connection block on the side of the house via this ire.
 
I did a little more investigation. The 'ridge' on the side of the cable is a ground wire. The cable is coax. The dish is grounded to the connection block on the side of the house via this ire.

You beat me to it, Rennie, but you're correct. It's coax with a separate ground. I've seen it used a lot by the cable and satellite companies in LA.
 
Rest assured the cable companies aren't the only ones that do that. Last week I cut through the power feed to our barn while digging a drain for some guttering on a new building (previous owner did it). It couldn't have been more than 1" down in the soil. I expected it to be in that area, but though it would be quite a bit deeper. Thank goodness for those really nice "underground splice kits" you can buy.
 
There are rules that do cover things like that, I believe.
One party that governs them is the state part that licenses them as a monopoly. The other part you would have to contact, may come back to bite you, would be codes enforcement (aka did you have a permit).
Plus the phone number you have to call before you dig.


But multiple companies due that stuff and hope they get away with it. I worked for an asphalt company once, and when we milled the street, we took up the top two inches of pavement and heard a hissing sound. The gas company had brought up the plastic line in the middle of the street, across and down into the yard of a homeowner, and the knew it as they tried to beat the city inspector there. They didn't make it.
 
Now that I know exactly where it is I can avoid it. I did call digline some months ago whaen I laid the new feed for the shop. They ID'd phone (power is overhead) but no one ever came out to locate the cable.
 
Take it from an old cable TV feller: That's called messenger coax, among other things. That type of coax is normally used in aerial applications and the small wire is tied off to a pole, then the side of the house. It could be the dish company uses only that type of coax so it reduces their inventory, or the tech was out of whatever they would normally use for underground applications.
 
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