Direct Buried

• 1). Locate the existing underground coaxial cable (and all other nearby underground utilities) with an underground cable locator. You must locate both ends of the existing coaxial cable and the complete route between both ends before you start digging.
  
  It is very important that you locate all other utilities that are adjacent to or nearby this existing coaxial cable. Locating all cables is more than just a safety issue; it will help prevent damage to the other utilities in the area. Underground cable locating tools are very expensive; you can either hire somebody to do this job or rent a locating tool to do it yourself.
  
  
• 2). Decide if you want to follow the same route as the existing coaxial cable or take a completely new route which may be shorter, easier, cosmetically better, or have some benefit over the existing route. If you choose to use the existing route, you may or may not decide to remove the existing coaxial cable. If you choose a new route, you will simply abandon the existing coaxial cable and leave it in the ground.
  
  
• 3). Disconnect the existing coaxial cable at both ends from its system. This will cause a service interruption but will also ensure there is no signal and no power on this piece of coaxial cable while it is being replaced.
  
  
• 4). Hand-trench, using a trenching type shovel, the complete route for the new fiber-optic cable. This trench should be 6 to 8 inches deep on private property. Depending on the terrain and type of dirt, there are two ways to dig the trench. One way is to "cut" the route into the dirt with the trenching type shovel by pushing the shovel into the ground and then rocking it back and forth to create an open "V" the width of the shovel itself. Repeat this every 6 inches to create a 6- to 8-inch deep "V" route. The second way is to actually dig a 4-inch wide, 8-inch deep trench route.
  
  
• 5). Remove any coaxial cable that is easy to remove. In some cases, you may use cable cutters to cut sections of the coaxial and pull it up from the ground. You will simply abandon difficult-to-remove coaxial cable and leave it underground.
  
  
• 6). Place the new fiber-optic armored cable in your new trench, leaving at least 6 feet of tail available on each end of the trench.
  
  
• 7). Close the "V" type trench by simply stomping your foot on either side and pushing it back together over the new fiber-optic armored cable at the bottom of the "V" type trench. If you hand-trenched a 4-inch wide trench, with the new fiber-optic armored cable lying in the bottom of the trench, replace the dirt you had earlier removed.
  
  
• 8). Restore any landscaping that you disturbed while trenching.
  
  

Existing Conduit

• 1). Locate the existing conduit route and all adjacent and nearby underground utilities. You want to locate the existing conduit route so you can measure the length for the new fiber-optic cable to replace the existing coaxial in the conduit. Locating all of the adjacent and nearby underground utilities is a safety measure.
  
  
• 2). Disconnect the existing coaxial at both ends so that it is free to be removed from the conduit.
  
  
• 3). Choose which end of the existing coaxial will be pulled out of the ground and attach the new fiber-optic cable to the other end of the existing coaxial. Make sure the new fiber-optic cable is free (with the entire length lying on open ground or on a reel) and ready to be pulled.
  
  
• 4). Attach the new fiber-optic cable to the existing coaxial cable by forming a hook on each cable, hooking the two together (like hooking one finger from your right hand to one finger from your left hand) and then folding the hook down onto itself and taping everything with electrical tape. Use additional tape if you are concerned that this connection may pull part while you are replacing these cables.
  
  
• 5). Pull out the existing coaxial cable, which has the other end attached to the new fiber-optic cable. Don't forget to wear gloves and make sure to have a second person at the other end of the conduit to hand-feed the new fiber-optic cable into the conduit as you pull the existing coaxial cable out of the conduit. Continue pulling until all of the coaxial cable is free of the conduit and you have at least a 6-foot fiber-optic tail outside of the conduit after cutting the coaxial fiber hook splice off the fiber-optic cable.