Grounding your Dish!

Discussion of large prime focus satellite dishes used for C-Band signal reception.
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HappySatellite
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Grounding your Dish!

Post by HappySatellite » Mon Jul 15, 2019 9:53 pm

Where do you recommend grounding your dish?
Do you have to run the wire to the top of the dish or to the mast?
I have a copper ground rod in the ground but do I need some kind of copper clamp for the mast?

I have been researching where to ground a TV antenna and a lot of the online instructions recommend to get a copper clamp for the mast.

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Re: Grounding your Dish!

Post by tvroadmin » Tue Jul 16, 2019 12:18 am

Yes, use a copper clamp on the dish pole. Run a #6 or #8 wire to the ground rod.

The whole dish is a conductor, so the point is to shunt unwanted electric currents to ground (as close to the dish as possible) and prevent any such currents from reaching your indoor electronics. Grounding may even improve the performance of your dish!
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Re: Grounding your Dish!

Post by Arion » Tue Jul 16, 2019 9:53 am

I drilled a hole about a foot off the ground in the pole and then used a one step bigger self tapping screw and attached a #8 stranded wire run to the service ground as you don’t want a ground loop potential as that can cause nasties using a separate ground rod. I then used JB weld to cover the self tapper connection. That weather proofed it permanently.
10' Tek C-band dish, 1.2 meter KU band dish, ASC1 mover, Octagon/Zgemma/Edison dual band STB's. Running OpenPli on all.

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Re: Grounding your Dish!

Post by belter-one » Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:58 am

Hello,

Here is what I did. The grounding rod is hammered in the ground, all 6 feet of it, and connected to the pyramidal mount assembly by one of its bolts. A related question, should we put our satellite dish cables in conduit, to protect them from the weather? Please see attached photos. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Rainy and beautiful here,

belter-one
Attachments
Grounding-hardware.jpg
Grounding hardware
cables.jpg
cables from the dish, a top a roof, under a deck and in the home.

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Re: Grounding your Dish!

Post by fatso » Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:09 am

belter-one wrote:
Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:58 am
A related question, should we put our satellite dish cables in conduit, to protect them from the weather?

It helps, but isn't necessary. I always add a drip loop around the actuator housing to drain away any rain or melting ice. Make sure the actuator housing is sealed good, especially where the cable enters. If water gets in, it can cause the reed switch to malfunction. You will get controller errors until the water evaporates. If you have rodents around, they may chew through the cables, so a direct burial might be a good idea. Most cables can be buried without using a conduit. It looks neater too, and if a bear emerges from the forest, he won't trip over your wiring and get all angry with you. :lolsign:
12ft Mesh Dish
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Re: Grounding your Dish!

Post by belter-one » Fri Jul 19, 2019 12:16 pm

Thank you,

For a very detailed reply. We have bear, cougar and deer around here. Time to start digging. :bananna:

Merci beaucoup,

belter-one

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