I need to run coax about 15m to my garage. I was assuming that I would need a catenary wire support but then I saw my telephone cable! So, the question is, do I need the catenary wire? Many thanks.
Whilst asking dumb questions, is there a visually more appealing way of tying a cable to a catenary other than cable ties?
The old school method was a few wraps of tape and then a couple of loops of copper wire with the ends twisted together - repeated every 8 or 10 inches. Actually that probably satisfies the fire support requirements of the current regs - unlike nylon ties or tape alone.
Or run it without a catenary, and be ready to change it after 5 years. Coax is not that dear. Grey is less visible against the sky than black. Allow a reasonable droop, so the tension does not exceed the spec. CT100 and WF100 are copper core, RG6 is steel coated with copper, and is better in tension, but has higher RF loss.
RG6 is used by cable co's in the USA as a direct overhead drop with no catenary, but they use some kind of compression 'anchor' that wedges the cable rather than the 'curlywurly' dropwire clamps that BT use on their o/h stuff. (I Imagine they'd screw up the RF impedance somewhat)
If you can get a decent 'anchor' at each end (maybe threading thru a hole or similar then clipping) i'd not worry about RG6 overhead. But anything with a solid copper rather than CCS centre core is going to need support for any run of more than a couple of metres
Thanks for all your replies. It's cheapo coax from my store - it's for me after all! The cost of failure is insignificant, I'll just replace it. Catenary it is then. Whilst asking dumb questions, is there a visually more appealing way of tying a cable to a catenary other than cable ties?
Lacing cord ?
As has been suggested, self-amalgamating tape, as suggested, probably better than tiewraps, as it won't deform the coax. Some wire-wrapping at occasional intervals will help protect against "premature collapse" if anyone is worried about that - for example someone reading this thread in the future, and planning for a catenary in a very large building or public infrastructure installation for some reason
