# Did you know that in the satellite age they are still making undersea cables? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 19, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790 "2006-12-19T16:22:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/21 "2006-12-20T13:23:52Z")
Apart from the Stephenson article linked above, this book, [The Victorian Internet](http://www.amazon.com/Victorian-Internet-Tom-Standage/dp/0425171698/sr=11-1/qid=1166620862/ref=sr_11_1/105-6571933-3137219) has got interesting details about undersea cabling and much else… ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/22 "2006-12-20T13:36:08Z")
I read [this](http://www.amazon.com/Thread-Across-Ocean-Heroic-Transatlantic/dp/0060524464/sr=8-1/qid=1166621473/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-8068201-4248113?ie=UTF8&s=books) book last year about the first transatlantic cable. It was amazing that they could do it given the technology available to them. They were also damn persistent. I think of this book when a rocket blows up and some folks say the builders should give up. [Blind Man’s Bluff](http://www.amazon.com/Blind-Mans-Bluff-Submarine-Espionage/dp/006097771X/sr=1-20/qid=1166621654/ref=sr_1_20/102-8068201-4248113?ie=UTF8&s=books) has a chapter on how the Navy used a sub to tap a Soviet underwater cable during the cold water. Facinating stuff. ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/23 "2006-12-20T13:43:25Z")
I moonlighted loading cable on a cable layer back in '65. This obviously before fibre optics, but the cable was about as Sublight describes, 4-5 inches in diameter w/ a repeater about every 20-25 miles. The holds were cylinder shaped and there were about 10-12 guys to lay the cable. It was pretty slow work and they would often stop the cable. Each time we loaded a repeater, they would run a test to assure it hadn’t been damaged. The pay was great, we got about $5.00 an hour, excellent for the times. This was near Portsmouth, N.H. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/24 "2006-12-20T16:11:03Z")
[QUOTE=LateComer] How are the repeaters powered? [/QUOTE] Basically, they have to be powered from shore through the cable itself. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/25 "2006-12-20T16:31:08Z")
Would a RTG supply enough power? ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790/26 "2006-12-20T17:30:57Z")
Some interesting artifacts from the [Bamfield Pacific Submarine Cable Station](http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/radiomuseum/bamfield.html). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-know-that-in-the-satellite-age-they-are-still-making-undersea-cables/384790.md?page=1)