New reel

In the entrance to the RF-container, there are the ends of the cable ducts, where the signal cables emerge from the ground and go into the patch panel. Although the signal path is from outside to in, we actually feed the cables the other way when installing them. As the ducts are getting more and more crowded, we have had to improvise with the installation equipment that we use to do the work.

In this particular case, this meant designing and building a new cable reel. The cables are place on the reel side-by-side (cables for the X and Y polarisations). Although this may not seem like much, it makes a big difference to the work that we do.

The new cable reel, made from scraps of timber, left-over cardboard
and offcuts of agricultural drain. In the background, you can see the
duct entry points and part of the patch panels. (Photo: D. McKay-Bukowski)