Do I need to ground a dish that is sitting on the ground?

wagar2

New Member
Original poster
May 9, 2014
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Canada
I have read many posts about the importance of grounding a satellite dish. But I'm wondering if a satellite dish mounted to a tripod sitting on the ground needs to be grounded? At my house I can get a good view of the sky from the ground and I'm thinking about just buying a tripod for my dish or getting a Winegard Carryout that sits on a tripod. Do either of these setups need to be grounded?
 
While grounding a satellite dish my major concern is always marking the GND correct. While wiring I always keen to make sure of running the ground wire down through ground block, from that point all the way back to ground at the house electrical services.
 
Unless your dish is sitting on top of a hill some distance from your house all by itself, I wouldn't worry much about grounding one that's tripod mounted. I sure don't ground the portable tripod setup for my RV every time I relocate it.
 
I believe that codes suggest that a pole mount or similar dish installation requires either an 8ft deep ground conductor bonded to your service ground or a 10 gauge wire running to the service ground. I think it is also acceptable to use the carrier wire outside of the coax if available.
 
A tripod sitting the ground is not properly grounded. An eight-foot ground rod is required for you to have a proper ground. The power meter box at your home has a wire grounded to one of these rods. If you can easily ground it before the cable enters the home, then do it. If not, don't worry about it. Dish Network has millions of ungrounded satellite dishes sitting on tripods on apartment balconies and next to RV's all around the country and they are all functioning well.
 
Sitting on the ground is not a good earth bond. A copper or copper clad electrode needs to be connected. Local codes usually dictate.


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Sitting on the ground is not a good earth bond. A copper or copper clad electrode needs to be connected. Local codes usually dictate.


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Thank you...This drives me nuts... Do we need grounds? No!... Why do we use them? FOR SAFTY!....of course it will work without them....but why we use them is the key...I cannot imagine this thought proses in other parts of out lives'?
 
To be realistic for a ground level tripod dish, grounding is not a necessary item.

The main purpose for grounding items in the air is to dissipate electric difference in the air that can lead to lighting. A dish on the roof of a house can easily be the highest thing around. It is smart to ground a dish on a house.

It is difficult for a ground tripod to be the highest thing around. The RV tends to be a better target than the tripod.
 
Yes and no.

If your an installer, then absolutly you need to ground.

If your doing your own install, then I would say that grounding is really not necessary.

I'm an installer and there are many many installs I do that I do not ground. The ground distance to the block would normally exceed the shortest cable run from the ground block to a receiver so at that point its not worth it or viable. I've NEVER, EVER had a single issue from a system not grounded when I've had many issues from many that were grounded. I've seen a dish hit by lightning before and never cause a single issue aside from signal drop cause the heat from the strike shrunk the reflector lol.
 
IHe's talking the cable run from the ground block to the receiver would be shorter than the ground wire run to the ground point. Which , from training, nullifies the ground since electricity will travel the shortest distance thru a system to ground....

So dish is on over hang 20 feet from receiver location. Ground point is on opposite side of house. Installer goes in sees its a super easy super short cable run, doesn't ground system because routing a cable 150 feet ( from dish to ground and back) is out of the question. Ain't nobody getting paid enough to run extra cable.........

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Continue the discussion on how those that don't do a job Upto standard aren't professional....:)
 
To be realistic for a ground level tripod dish, grounding is not a necessary item.

The main purpose for grounding items in the air is to dissipate electric difference in the air that can lead to lighting. A dish on the roof of a house can easily be the highest thing around. It is smart to ground a dish on a house.

It is difficult for a ground tripod to be the highest thing around. The RV tends to be a better target than the tripod.

I am not saying you are ignorant....But your statement is completely ignorant! transient lighting strikes are the most common problem and having 3 points of contact on wet ground would greatly increase the problem....

99.9% of the time electronics don't get fried by direct hits....without the ground increases the possibility of damage 100 fold!
 
Ignorant of lighting I am not. It is ridiculous to believe that a ground wire will redirect the travel path of a lighting. Lighting will follow down a sailboat mast and then go straight through the fiberglass hull without any metal to follow.

Grounding of items in the air is so reduce the possibility of lighting by bleeding off electrical potential between the ground and the air.
 
I laugh every time I hear someone think that a ground wire is going to stop a lightning bolt.. LOL.. Grounding serves one purpose.. LIABILITY.. You dish will work the same WITH or WITHOUT a ground.. It might bleed off some static buildup.. But again, It's all about LIABILITY.
 
Again please go educate your self on my statement.. please! A transient lightning strike is a near by tree, house, flagpole, ect... it gets dissipated through the ground... hence if the dish is not grounded at all that 40, 50, 100, or more volts goes right down the coax! this is how 99% of electrical home electronics get burned up.... Use all your silly analogy's to justify a hillbilly install.... If they didn't matter we wouldn't use grounds at all...correct?

WE USE GROUNDS FOR ONE THING S A F T Y...! get it?
 
I laugh every time I hear someone think that a ground wire is going to stop a lightning bolt.. LOL.. Grounding serves one purpose.. LIABILITY.. You dish will work the same WITH or WITHOUT a ground.. It might bleed off some static buildup.. But again, It's all about LIABILITY.

wrong, wrong wrong... please read the NEC or the NFP... Why do it if its a waste of time or money?????...
 

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