Where should I put the dish (see picture) ?

[nagard]

The house that I'm having built is like the one in the picture above. As you can see, the person had the dish installed on the roof with 4 wires getting in under the roof (back of the house). I'm affraid it could eventually damage the roof.

I'd rather have mine put on the side of the house. Line of sight with the satellite is good. I want to wire the cables before they complete the house and of course the dish company will not have passed yet, so I don't know where's the best location for it. Is there a location on the side that you suggest ? I am thinking of drilling holes in the brick. Is that a good idea ? At what level should I do that ? Any suggestions ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[vegassatellite]

From an installer perspective, here's my advice.

No one is going up on that roof with that pitch, so don't count on it being any higher than the eave. Also, few techs carry anything larger than a 28' ladder so don't intend on any location where a tech can't safely get to with a 28' ladder. Otherwise, any service appointments might go through multiple reschedules while you wait for someone with a longer ladder.

I would hate to see you destroy that red brick by drilling into it. I also think you might want to try and keep the shell of your home intact so I recommend a pole mount. They are the easiest to service in case you get snow or ice on it, or if a part needs replacement or if they upgrade the dish itself.

In any case, put the prewires near the electrical panel so the tech can ground your system. If you don't want it there, then make sure to have your electrician install a #10 ground wire to that prewire location. Place 5 coax wires for good measure there as well. You can plumb for a pole mount by installing an enclosure or access panel and putting the house wires there and then have your electrician run a 1.5" non-metallic conduit from that enclosure to where you want the pole mount to go. Have him leave about 6 inches of it above the ground cover. Have the electrician put a pull-string in the conduit. You could hire a local fence contractor to put up a 1 5/8" fence pipe. Make sure its level all directions and that there's a clamp or something attached to the pipe in the concrete to prevent it twisting in the wind.

Finally, you can contact a local satellite retailer and hire him to do a site survey about a week before your electrical rough-in work is set to start. He can make sure you have a good location. Expect to pay for him to survey the site. He might be willing to come out and do it gratis if you commit to becoming a customer and he can handle it during a sales visit. Any location should give you as much of the "arc" across the southern sky to permit for the widest range of services.

 

[stimpson]

Sounds like you've installed a system or two in your day.

 

[vegassatellite]

11 years. It's a start.

 

[stevelite]

I don't see the picture, where is it?

 

[nagard]

I don't see the picture, where is it?

My Bad. I was tweaking my web server and deleted some files by mistake. Should be back up now. Just refresh the page.
Thx.

 

[stevelite]

From dish owner perspective

If you are a member of HOA, make sure to read the fine prints and follow the rules. Some power hungry HOA can make a big deal out of nothing.

I have dishes on roof of the house, but I wish I installed ground pole instead. Now I have about a dozen holes on the roof to worry about. No problems at this time.

Side of the building looks good not too high, but toward the ground level. For me drilling holes thru brick would be okay.

Order of preference for location
1) Ground
2) Side of brick few ft above ground
3) Roof
4) No ground/no side/no roof --> go Cable service

 

[charlesrshell]

Is your dish going to be located on the opposite of the house from the main home electrical ground rod? If so, and if it was me, I would have electrician install another ground rod by the dish location where the coax will enter your home. Also, have the electrician bond that ground rod to the main home electrical ground rod with #6 grounding wire. That way you won't have to worry about having to ground to water pipes or other things.

 

[nagard]

Is your dish going to be located on the opposite of the house from the main home electrical ground rod? If so, and if it was me, I would have electrician install another ground rod by the dish location where the coax will enter your home. Also, have the electrician bond that ground rod to the main home electrical ground rod with #6 grounding wire. That way you won't have to worry about having to ground to water pipes or other things.

I've decided to follow the advice of installing the dish on a pole mount in the backyard (about 70 ft from the house). I've asked the electrician to wire 8 coax cables to the outside of the house (from a location near the electrical box in the basement, where the coax home run is). The cables have a few feet of length on the outside of the house. I was thinking of grounding all 8 cables somewhere outside and then simply connect them (from the grounding block) later to my future dish.

Isn't that ok ? Are you saying I should ground inside the house ? Sorry I'm not really familiar with grounding issues.

Thx !

 

[charlesrshell]

I've decided to follow the advice of installing the dish on a pole mount in the backyard (about 70 ft from the house). I've asked the electrician to wire 8 coax cables to the outside of the house (from a location near the electrical box in the basement, where the coax home run is). The cables have a few feet of length on the outside of the house. I was thinking of grounding all 8 cables somewhere outside and then simply connect them (from the grounding block) later to my future dish.

Isn't that ok ? Are you saying I should ground inside the house ? Sorry I'm not really familiar with grounding issues.

Thx !

This is a good question for vegassatellite. I am just an amateur. Grounding your satellite system can be a touchy situation. When I designed my system I didn't even think about grounding it. I learned the hard way. I would suggest learning as much as you can about it and chat with the pros like vegassatellite. He likes to help out and is highly knowledgeable on all this satellite stuff. How far is your grounding block going to be located from your main home electrical ground rod? Here is some info for you to check out.

 

[vegassatellite]

I've decided to follow the advice of installing the dish on a pole mount in the backyard (about 70 ft from the house). I've asked the electrician to wire 8 coax cables to the outside of the house (from a location near the electrical box in the basement, where the coax home run is). The cables have a few feet of length on the outside of the house. I was thinking of grounding all 8 cables somewhere outside and then simply connect them (from the grounding block) later to my future dish.

Isn't that ok ? Are you saying I should ground inside the house ? Sorry I'm not really familiar with grounding issues.

Thx !

Sounds fine with me.

I'm of the opinion that the path to ground should take place outside. If ever the shield of the coax is hit by a large surge (>400A), chances are the ground block, coax and ground wire are going to be melted down or vaporized into hot metal slag. I would prefer that take place outside the shell of the home.

 

[charlesrshell]

Sounds fine with me.

I'm of the opinion that the path to ground should take place outside. If ever the shield of the coax is hit by a large surge (>400A), chances are the ground block, coax and ground wire are going to be melted down or vaporized into hot metal slag. I would prefer that take place outside the shell of the home.

vegassatellite, does the coax ground block need to be within 20 feet of the home central ground rod?

 

[vegassatellite]

vegassatellite, does the coax ground block need to be within 20 feet of the home central ground rod?

IIRC, the NEC states that the #10 copper ground wire for bonding the coax to the house ground can not exceed 20 feet. However, you can run that 20 feet to a separate ground rod and then bond that rod to the house ground rod with #6 copper wire. I have not seen any restriction on how long the #6 between rods is allowed to be. There's no expressed limit on the antenna ground wire.

 

[charlesrshell]

IIRC, the NEC states that the #10 copper ground wire for bonding the coax to the house ground can not exceed 20 feet. However, you can run that 20 feet to a separate ground rod and then bond that rod to the house ground rod with #6 copper wire. I have not seen any restriction on how long the #6 between rods is allowed to be. There's no expressed limit on the antenna ground wire.

That is how I see it too. Thanks