Robert11 wrote:
Hello:

Have started running cvoax from a receve-only antenna to the house.
The coax has a Polyethylene (PE) Outer jacket.
With this PE jacket, it's upposed to be buriable.

It's becoming a real job for me at my age to dig a slit trench, even a
shallow one.
But, I can easily just lay the coax on the surface, without any reql danger
of anyone
stepping on it, etc. It's in a pretty out of the way area.

I realize that burying it is undoubtedly best, but in a practical
sense, how well does a PE outer jacket stand up if just laying on the ground
?
Would be subjected, of course, to rain, and also buried in snow during the
winter.

Again, it's receive only.

Thanks,
Bob

Other than being damaged by ground traffic in the yard, the main issue
is exposure to sunlight which can age the coax faster than being buried.
If you can't find a way to get it buried a few inches down, install the
coax in some kind of protective tubing. This could be a hose or several
sections of plastic PVC tubing, like the kind used for domestic
plumbing. You don't have to glue the sections together. I like to
install the coax in PVC tubing before I bury it. The tubing protects the
coax from being damaged by objects in the ground which can cut the outer
jacket, allowing water to get inside. This is particularly a problem in
climates where the ground freezes in the winter. It's called frost
heaving. I've had rocks come to the surface in the lawn from frost
heaving. There's a lot of pressure involved with this process and coax
can be damaged if it's in contact with a sharp rock or other object in
frozen ground.