Saw a really old cable setup in a historic building downtown

I was working in that old bank building on Main Street that got turned into offices. They had me run a new line to the third floor. Behind a wall panel, I found the original coaxial run from the 1970s, still in place and looking like it was installed yesterday. The shielding was this thick braided copper, way heavier than what we use now. The whole thing was secured with these metal clamps every two feet, no zip ties in sight. It made me wonder how much longer that old stuff would have lasted if they left it alone. Has anyone else come across vintage installs that were built to last forever?

4 comments

4 Comments

flores.mark10d ago

That old bank building is a perfect example. @max_schmidt77, calling it overkill misses the point. They used those metal clamps because the cable was heavy and they wanted zero sag over decades. Today's plastic clips fail after a few years and the whole run droops. We don't build things to last anymore, we build them to be cheap and fast. That old copper cable will probably outlive the new stuff I just put in.

sandra_moore3010d ago

Honestly, it makes my own work look pretty lazy. I found a zip tie from one of my installs that had already snapped after maybe five years. Guess I'm part of the problem now.

max_schmidt7710d ago

That bank on Main Street is the one with the marble lobby, right? Metal clamps every two feet is insane overkill by today's standards. We just slap a plastic clip on it and call it a day. The idea of someone taking that much time and material just for a cable run is wild. They really did build stuff to outlive everyone back then.

dianawilson10d agoMost Upvoted

Funny how we call it overkill but then pay extra for "vintage" and "heritage" stuff now.