Fawken
Platinum Member
I'll bet we've met. Did you ever go to one of the SWB schools on Harwin St in Houston? I taught some of the cable fault locating and fiber-optic schools down there from time to time.
Direct burial phone line or regular in a conduit?
- Thread starter Kenneth in Texas
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kcflhrc
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No training in Houston, one or 2 in St. Louis and numerous PBX Schools at Global Knowledge in Richardson, TX
MossRoad
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He said phone line, so I'm guessing phone. But then again, people say lots of things when they mean another. :laughing:
MossRoad
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Its 300' and more like a guideline, than a rule.
OP
Kenneth in Texas
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this is for one simple landline phone.
MossRoad
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How tough's your soil? If you're going to have to go through the trouble of trenching it, VS just using a simple cable layer, you might as well put in a conduit for the future.
You asked for pros and cons....
Pro is direct burial cable is technically less work.
Cons are it's a lot more expensive than non-direct burial cable, and if it fails, you have to dig it up and bury it again. In a conduit, you'd just pull it out and snake in a new one with a string and a vacuum cleaner.
For example, just by poking around, I quickly found telephone cable for 13 cents a foot and 1/2" non-metallic conduit for 14 cents a foot, so .27 cents per foot total. On the same site, I found direct burial phone cable for .55 per foot. The phone cable was 4 pair, and the direct burial was 6 pair, so there's some difference there, but on another site I found 4 pair direct burial, but it was still .52 per foot.
So, for the price of one run of 6 pair direct burial cable, you could probably get the same run in a 3/4 or 1" conduit with fittings at each end, which would allow you flexibility in the future and you'd still have to dig a trench either way. To me, its a no brainer to allow for the future and ease of repair for the same price or less.
As others have mentioned, you could run CAT5 cable, split out two pairs for a computer jack at decent network speed and use the other two pairs for phone line. I've found CAT5 for as low as 7 cents per foot. That really lowers your price, allows for conduit, allows for computer and phone, is serviceable, etc....
Anyhow, regardless of which way you go, take lots of pictures, we all enjoy a good project. :thumbsup:
You asked for pros and cons....
Pro is direct burial cable is technically less work.
Cons are it's a lot more expensive than non-direct burial cable, and if it fails, you have to dig it up and bury it again. In a conduit, you'd just pull it out and snake in a new one with a string and a vacuum cleaner.
For example, just by poking around, I quickly found telephone cable for 13 cents a foot and 1/2" non-metallic conduit for 14 cents a foot, so .27 cents per foot total. On the same site, I found direct burial phone cable for .55 per foot. The phone cable was 4 pair, and the direct burial was 6 pair, so there's some difference there, but on another site I found 4 pair direct burial, but it was still .52 per foot.
So, for the price of one run of 6 pair direct burial cable, you could probably get the same run in a 3/4 or 1" conduit with fittings at each end, which would allow you flexibility in the future and you'd still have to dig a trench either way. To me, its a no brainer to allow for the future and ease of repair for the same price or less.
As others have mentioned, you could run CAT5 cable, split out two pairs for a computer jack at decent network speed and use the other two pairs for phone line. I've found CAT5 for as low as 7 cents per foot. That really lowers your price, allows for conduit, allows for computer and phone, is serviceable, etc....
Anyhow, regardless of which way you go, take lots of pictures, we all enjoy a good project. :thumbsup:
k0ua
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36 years here. Back at Windstream now selling Data bandwidth for the most part. But 21 years as a tech, and 14 as an engineer. I practically cried when Nortel went belly up. But worked on a lot of other brands too.
MossRoad
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We've got skids of Nortel phones in our basement. 
k0ua
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Now a couple of things...yes 10/100 only uses two of the 4 pairs in a cat5e cable. BUT BUT.. if you "split them out" for voice.. they wont' pass specs. Near end cross talk etc. Have I done it? um... guilty your honor. Do I recommend it?.. uh no. Pull two wires.. One for voice and one for data...
Also, putting inside wire in a conduit in the ground... hmm. Does it work.. yeah for a while. Maybe for a long while in low humidity areas. But any conduit I ever saw was full of water after a time. The ground is cooler than the air, the air is full of water... water condenses in the conduit, drop by drop, the conduit fills with water... Inside wire is not filled with "icky pic" and it will have water migration right thru the PVC jacket.. yep. it will. and it will corrode. Maybe not if you live in a low humidly area. But my experience here in Missouri and Arkansas.. is ... they are full of water. Maybe if you got the ends really really sealed. But every time I stuck my fish tape in one, they had water in them.
The conduit is not a bad idea, but if you pulled the direct burial cable into it, you will have an installation that will last a very very long time. Just don't forget the lightning protection.
Do it any way you want, but this is what I think.
Also, putting inside wire in a conduit in the ground... hmm. Does it work.. yeah for a while. Maybe for a long while in low humidity areas. But any conduit I ever saw was full of water after a time. The ground is cooler than the air, the air is full of water... water condenses in the conduit, drop by drop, the conduit fills with water... Inside wire is not filled with "icky pic" and it will have water migration right thru the PVC jacket.. yep. it will. and it will corrode. Maybe not if you live in a low humidly area. But my experience here in Missouri and Arkansas.. is ... they are full of water. Maybe if you got the ends really really sealed. But every time I stuck my fish tape in one, they had water in them.
The conduit is not a bad idea, but if you pulled the direct burial cable into it, you will have an installation that will last a very very long time. Just don't forget the lightning protection.
Do it any way you want, but this is what I think.
MossRoad
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Good thoughts for sure.
I put some drain holes in mine at the low spots. We have sandy soil and no high water table to worry about. They've been in for 15 years. Perhaps I should inspect them for water. Thanks. :thumbsup:
I put some drain holes in mine at the low spots. We have sandy soil and no high water table to worry about. They've been in for 15 years. Perhaps I should inspect them for water. Thanks. :thumbsup:
