coax cable with phone line

[lynn]

I had a contractor install coax cable and phone lines to each of the bedrooms in my home before finishing the walls. For several months now just the cable is sticking through the wall and the contractor is long gone. I decided to finish the job myself. The cable that he ran consisted of a coax line with an additional line sort of attached to the side of it. I had no problem with the coax, I just crimped and end on it. But when I stripped back the additional line (which I thought was for the phone) it was a single, solid conductor. I was expecting to find several smaller lines. Can this single conductor cable be used for a phone hook up? How?

[Percival P. Cassidy]

That single "conductor" is the "messenger wire." It provides additional mechanical strength for the cable, especially when it is suspended overhead.

If the contractor did indeed run telephone wiring as well, it's something else -- maybe alongside the coax cable. But if the end doesn't already come out through the wall, you could have a tough time finding it.

Perce

On 11/16/05 10:50 am [e-mail] tossed the following ingredients into the ever-growing pot of cybersoup:

[obo]

we called it the "carrier" because it carries the weight of the coax for overhead runs.

[PanHandler]

Sounds like the contractor used coax with a molded-in strain-relief/support, of the type used by cable companies for the drop from a pole to a building. The single 'conductor' isn't a conductor.

[obo]

actually it does conduct. if you hook one end to 120vac and grab the other end you will learn that it is a conductor.

[PanHandler]

Sure it conducts - it's metal. Could be used as a grounding conductor, but not for any kind of signal. Pee onto an electric fence and you'll find another conductor, but not intended to be used as such! :-)

[Mark Lloyd]

The first time I ever saw that (messenger wire), it was being used as ground for a satellite dish (one being used for satellite internet).

[snip]