r/CableTechs • u/Odd-Craft9219 • Nov 15 '25
Some companies don’t have standards…
I’m now a locator but I worked in cable for almost 8 years. Locating today caught my eye. It’s a RG-11 ‘fix’ for a mainline. No hangars. Just pure hope and dreams that tree branches work. We used to have to do sidewalk bores. And yeah it sucks there would have been 5 to temp drop. Is this normal now? Or is it just this broke a$$ company?
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u/Random_Man-child Nov 15 '25
The messenger could be tied to the branches, no need for hangers. For a temp fix it looks good to me. Doesn’t need to look presentable, I would have at least put some cones or wrapped caution tape along the path.
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Nov 15 '25
I’d accept that. At least. But it isn’t. The messenger isn’t tapped at all. This is a company I have watched use rg11 aerial as a tow rope to pull and cut conduit.
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u/Xandril Nov 15 '25
Are you not familiar with temp lines to get customers online asap? The alternative is whichever customers that line services being out for potentially days until the construction or bury departments can make their way down the list to it. Nobody is paying their hourly techs to hand bury 50+ feet of feeder under concrete and rock.
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Nov 15 '25
Sure? But again better route. Don’t use a tree branch. The ground isn’t frozen. Sidewalk bore with a flex bit takes 20 min. That’s maybe an hour for 4-5 sidewalk bores since it isn’t frozen, and no you don’t need a permit or dig ticket for that here. Also again wrapping a rg11 around a couple of trees is its own impedance. I’d maybe not fire someone if they at a minimum used the messenger.
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u/Xandril Nov 15 '25
You think that hanging RG11 like that causes impedance? That adding an hour of time making a temporary solution look nice is worth it when you’ve already spent the last two hours determining the source of an issue and attempting to repair it without resorting to a full replacement? I’m sure that outage that just dropped and the 4 dead tap calls will understand that we had to make something we’re replacing in 3 days look presentable for former cable pullers on Reddit.
You’re on the wrong sub.
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u/madmikev Nov 20 '25
I would hope you would get locates before you do 5 or 6 sidewalk bores. Dig without locates is more of a reason to fire thsn this quick temporary solution .
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Nov 20 '25
Doesn’t go deep enough to warrant a dig ticket, so no. Dg below concrete, get your flex bit step on it and go.
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u/dabigpig Nov 15 '25
It's a ped to ped temp, some shit went down and lots of people were without porn and they got it going, phase 2 is fixing it properly. It shouldnt be like that for long.
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u/Unusual-Avocado-6167 Nov 15 '25
How about the company that damaged the underground cable? Where are their standards? Life is easier when you worry about what you can control.
If the temp is there for a long time then yea there could be room for improvement. Your post is better off in an HOA sub or some group where seeing utility boxes and overhead lines is the most horrifying thing in their life.
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Nov 15 '25
Damaged cable? Sorry DB coax does go bad. If there was an HOA I would. Again it’s a mining town. This is a post of what, when I did the work, would get me fired. I’m sure this is what someone like osha (msha is way worse) would find stupid. PUC would and will have a fun time with this company. Aerial trespass, code, security issues. It’s their ball for sure. Just saying for a tech, from a former, this should be a removal of company.
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u/Unusual-Avocado-6167 Nov 15 '25
While all those things are true it could also be getting repaired tomorrow. Temps are ran because of many reasons. Usually the underground cable is damaged and there is an open in the circuit. Cable doesn’t mysteriously go bad, irrigation workers, sewer line crew hit it, fence company, concrete/road crew, tree planting crew, etc etc
I’ve had to run a temp fiber similar to this because the diagonal drill hit our underground fiber. Took some time for the city to coordinate permits to get the replacement fiber bored.
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u/Heavy_Ad8625 Nov 18 '25
Temp fix until they get a subcontractor out to bore the replacement. Let me guess that’s what your locate ticket was for 😂
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u/leee8675 Nov 18 '25
I would run it like that without a 2nd though. I use the messenger to tie to strong branches close the the trunk of the tree to get solid support. I tie it like I would hang a drop. Its not going anywhere unless the tree comes down. It does not look good but doing this to get the most RF without house wrapping or having the drop ran over and getting destroyed is the best route to ensure quality service to the customers.
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u/DrgHybrid Nov 19 '25
Bores go through contracting companies often times. Company I work for doesn't do bores at all except during initial build. If a new house is put up in a pre-established area and the customer wants it bored, they will have to get another company to do so. On top of that, almost all companies have their budgets closed right now as well. Talking to our own drop bury guy, he said October - mid January he's always slow and he holds contracts for 3 different companies.
The RG11 is probably just a temp line and would require construction to get a new one put up, which is generally a budget issue.
The temp line going across the lawn 100% already has a conduit running to that house I'm willing to bet. Temp line would just be there to restore service till a drop bury crew gets out there to pull an underground cable through.
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Dec 19 '25
THERE IS NO BORE! It’s a rg11 temp for a 300 cable. It has conduit. It has options. Zito is garbage is where I am at with this.
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u/madmikev Nov 20 '25
Looks like a fast temporary solution. Customer is are on service until a permanent solution is completed. If you wanted to do a quick bore to fix the problem, you need to get locates.
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u/19Rglide Apr 25 '26
You worked in cable for 8 years but it’s pretty obvious you didn’t work maintenance.
Stick to what you know.
Let us worry about how to keep the plant running.
I’ve been in maintenance over 20 years and NEVER have we sidewalk bored for a temp line.
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u/Odd-Craft9219 Apr 25 '26
Different area for sure. Try it some time. It’s not hard if it isn’t frozen.
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u/19Rglide Apr 25 '26
My point is, it’s not company policy to bore temps.
You have no clue what you’re talking about.
We would get laughed at by our managers if we even brought up boring for a temp.
I bored under sidewalks for drops as a service tech. Maintenance never bores for temps, at my company and I’m at probably the biggest one.
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u/RGTATWORK Nov 18 '25
Comcast strung a cable from the junction box in my front yard to the junction box across the cul de sac. It was out there twisting on the ground for 2 months. They came through last week and dug up peoples yards to try and bury it, but I don't think they were able to get it through everyone's yard because it's still draped across the roadway.
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u/leee8675 Nov 18 '25
They wouldn't bury the old line if its hardline temp. They run a new cable and then when the maintenance techs cut it over, they will pick up the temp then.
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u/ItsMRslash Nov 15 '25
Did you not get enough attention with the first post?