What is this thing?

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mykl@lemmy.world

Found some temporarely mounted very shielded looking wire running across what seems to be a construction site which goes into the ground on both sides. Anyone got an Idea what its being used for? (lemmy.ohaa.xyz)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz to c/whatisthisthing@lemmy.world

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[–] jqubed@lemmy.world 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Coaxial cable can come in different sizes, somewhat related to how strong the signal you want to carry is. First time I was in a TV transmitter I saw a lot of copper pipes running across the ceiling, maybe 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter. I asked what the pipes were for and was told they weren’t pipes, they were coaxial cables. Turns out when you need to carry 30,000 watts of RF the cable needs to get a little bigger. Still 75 ohms resistance!

[–] aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com 5 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

they are copper pipes though. Copper pipe within a copper pipe, Also known as rigid coax

[–] jqubed@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes, just that it was being used as a GIANT cable. The inner piece was about an inch (2.5 cm) diameter pipe carrying the signal, and the outer pipe acted as the shield, with plastic spacers to keep the inner piece aligned.

[–] aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

yes, that’s rigid coax. It’s literally a copper pipe.

[–] WallsToTheBalls@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 2 weeks ago

I feel like “pipe” in most contexts implies something with an open interior to carry liquid or material