Vm Cable detector

Hi,

I have a Virgin Media cable ( combined coax broadband, telephone and tv ) running in my front lawn which needs to be buried to a proper depth instead of the current 2-3".

Before I excavate it, I would first like to mark its location, as it does not follow a straight line, so wondered if there is a simple diy low voltage cable detector I could make up from my "junk" box and use with my multimeter ?

thanks

Is the cable optic fibre or copper?

alec_t said:

Is the cable optic fibre or copper?

Click to expand...

Through the lawn to the house its copper coax + twin wire for the telephone

You just need a metal detector.

Nigel Goodwin said:

You just need a metal detector.

Click to expand...

Pretty expensive way to go.

Mikebits said:

Pretty expensive way to go.

Click to expand...

It's something that many people on here probably have already

In many areas of the US, cable locating is provided by the states or by the cable owners. In Ohio for example, you are required by law to have the cables located before you do any digging, even if you think you know where the cables are. Once you do that, if you hit a cable outside the marked error, you are off the hook. Hit one inside the error or fail to call, and you pay the full costs for repair. The locating service is gratis. In Ohio it is called "OUPS" (Ohio Utility Protection Service) , which is an appropriate acronym when pronounced.

Don't know how it works in the UK, but my first step would be to call the cable provider or your utility service and ask whether it provides the service.

Can you rent a trenching device? They are quite common where I live and are used for laying field drains. They come in very narrow widths.

John

If the cable is only 3" down you could probably locate it with an el cheapo pipe/wire/stud detector. Failing that, you could knock up a low-power (to avoid annoying your neighbours!) one-transistor oscillator with a tank coil tuned to a (legal) frequency which beats audibly with a station received on a portable radio. Metal close to the coil would shift the pitch of the beat.