Tom,

I don't think you have to worry about moisture, but ground animals are 
another story.  I would either bury your coax, or get it up in the air 
several feet.

Bob Tinney, K8LR, [log in to unmask]
Skype, bobtinn
Life is full of challenges, that's what makes it interesting!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tom behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:50 PM
Subject: coax feedline question


Hi, again, folks.

I have a question regarding my new Alpha Delta DXCC installation, that I
need some honest feedback on.

Today, when my help installed the RG8X feedline for the antenna, they did it
in a way that makes it necessary for about ten to fifteen feet of the coax
to lie on the ground.  This portion of coax runs  between my house and the
garage, on which the center of the antenna is mounted.  This is not an area
where people walk, so I don't believe it is an undue tripping hazard.

However, having the coax run on the ground concerns me for another reason.
Am I correct in suspecting that, over time, the part of the feedline which
is lying on the ground will absorb moisture, and eventually fail?

My dilemma here is that I don't want to be ungrateful or overly demanding,
but I don't want to create problems for myself later on.  At the same time,
if running the coax along the ground is something that many people do
without problems, maybe I should just leave well enough alone.

The coax run I'm using may have enough excess coax so that we could run the
coax overhead between the house and garage, but I am not totally sure of
that at this time.

I suppose I could also get a piece of conduit and run the coax through it,
but that is harder to do now that the feedline is already installed between
the antenna feed point and my ham shack window feed through pannel.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ