I do a large number of outdoor CAT5 runs for my Wireless ISP, both at
the customer's premise and my towers.
Standard riser rated cable will quickly breakdown due to UV, crack,
and leak water every place you don't want it. The best stuff to use
is gell-filled UV resistant cable such as:
http://www.shireeninc.com/products/cables/gel-filled-outdoor-cat5e/
It will prevent moisture from condensing inside the cable and
deteriorating connectivity.
Graham
KC5VQD
On Nov 14, 2007 8:37 AM, George Gorsline VE3YV <ve3yv@pathcom.com> wrote:
> Let me add to Pete's comments. I use 2 CAT5 cables in parallel for the rotor
> cabling and use thicknet Ethernet cable (Belden 89880 orange jacket, triple
> shield, 50 ohm) for feedline, with a short piece of RG-213 for the rotor
> loop. The cable specs are reasonable and price is usually right - free. If
> it's used - pulled to put in fibre - there may be vampire tap breaks in the
> jacket to work around. UV resistance is unknown as the orange fades (not a
> bad thing - ugly and obvious), but have yet to see signs of water ingress
> from jacket deterioration, other than from improperly sealed coax connectors.
> I do replace cables - Ethernet or RG-XXX - every 5-7 years whether they need
> it or not given the amount of acid rain we get. Also I throw the analyzer on
> the feedlines to see if things "look different" an ohm meter on the rotor
> lines before an annual inspection to determine how much work may be needed.
> Of course, YKMV (metric version)
>
> Pete - can you post the URLs?
> --
>
> 73, George VE3YV / K8HI
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 10
> Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:31:28 -0500
> From: Pete Smith <n4zr@contesting.com>
> Subject: [TowerTalk] network cable outdoors
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Message-ID: <6.2.0.14.2.20071114071948.09cf4420@mail.comcast.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
>
> I just saw an item in the ARRL Contest Rate Sheet recommending a couple of
> URLs on this subject. Both say that ordinary indoor network cable will
> deteriorate quickly outdoors.
>
> That's probably true for fast data, but I have been using both 4-conductor
> indoor telephone cable and 8-conductor indoor CAT3 networking cable for
> connections between my shack and my tower some 200 feet away for the last
> 7-8 years. I control two TopTen 6-way relay boxes, an array of A/B
> selectors, and a homebrew 80m array switchbox through these cables. I had
> to boost the shack-end voltage to about 14 volts to get reliable relay
> switching at the tower end, but in terms of reliability I'm quite
> satisfied. The cables are simply laid on the ground in brushy woods, and
> the only reliability problems I have had result from squirrels or chipmunks
> chewing on the cables - and that has only happened once. Of course, the
> cables fairly quickly become covered with leaves and grass, which no doubt
> helps with UV, but so long as the outer jacket remains intact, no problem.
>
> Strangely enough, 14-3 UF-B "Romex", which I use for rotator power, has
> been far more of a problem. One of my rotator cables has developed some
> leakage between the motor and indicator lines, causing some indicator
> errors when motor power is on. Looking at the jacket, there has been some
> fairly serious deterioration from UV. With the current price of copper,
> buying 1000 feet of 14-3 fills me with terror, but I may be approaching
> that time.
>
> I just thought others might find this information useful.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> The World HF Contest Station Database
> Full details on 3300 contest stations
> Updated 5/5/07 http://www.pvrc.org/WCSD/WCSDsearch.htm
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
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