I got the feed line buried today that runs from my antenna switch behind the house down to the tree in the back yard. This tree is only 35ft tall, but before winter it will grow a 1/4 wave 80m vertical out the top. I’m planning on purchasing a Unadilla 80m trap and adding it with a horizontal wire to make a resonant and hopefully effective vertical for 80 and 160m.
Digging here is no joke, and I kicked my butt getting the cable buried before the lawn ninjas come and chew it up with their lawn mowers.
First of all, I jump on the shovel with all my weight, to cut through the roots of the grass. Move 6 inches, and repeat. Once I get 30 or 40 feet, I go back and run a small pick through the slit to deepen it. The ground here is mostly broken pieces of coral of various sizes with a small amount of red clay in between. Not easy to dig into! Once I get it dug out, I insert the cable and cover it back up.
Of course I did this during the heat of the afternoon, and I was soon drenched. It took a couple hours to bury the whole 150ft run of cable out to the base of the tree.
It will be impossible to bury 60 radials with this method, so hopefully I can staple them down just after it’s mowed. I’m not sure this will work – they cut the grass here very short.
Assuming I can staple the radials, I still have almost 450ft of RG6 to lay out and bury. This will be the feed line for my beverage antennas. The cable needs to be well hidden as it will extend out of the fence line, which is patrolled by security. I don’t want curious cops pulling it up!