I currently have Dish and the installer never grounded the equipment. The plan is to switch to Directv in a few weeks. Our house was built in the mid-50s and the only ground I see is from the Fuse box going to the Cold water line in our basement under the kitchen. When we switch I will ensure the Direct guy grounds the install, but what options do they have to ground the equipment in the scenario?
A cold water pipe for electrical service is OK, as long as the ground connection is within 5' of the service entrance. A lot of old homes were only grounded this way. New homes always have a ground rod, although there may be a tie from the ground rod to the cold water piping under the house.
Are you sure that is the only ground and there is no ground rod near the panel? Look at your telephone box on the side of your house. There should be a ground from there that ties to your home ground rod if there is one. It might also go to the cold water pipe.
The 5' rule for cold water bonding is for the service panel, not for an antenna connection to the ground circuit. So, you could connect to the ground via any cold water pipe that is copper and exceeds 10' in length and is underground. It also needs to be tied to the house bond, which in your case it would likely be. DirecTV no longer supports the cold water pipe method even though the NEC allows it in article 810.
So, the installer could ground to your fuse box if it's outside. The metal housing is an acceptable connection. He could ground directly to the cold water pipe where the existing ground is, although he likely will not. The installer can also install a new ground rod, but that MUST tie into the main house bond. You will get ground loops and potential hum in your electronic equipment if not tied to the house bond. The options are:
"Connect to the nearest accessible point on the building's grounding electrode system, which is described in detail in Article 250 as including:
Metal underground water pipe at least 10' in length including any metal well casing bonded to the pipe.
Metal frame of a building that is connected to earth.
Concrete-encased electrode -- typically steel reinforcing bars bonded together by commonly-used steel tie wires.
A ground ring encircling the building consisting of at least 20 feet of bare copper wire 2 AWG or larger.
Rod or pipe electrodes at least 8' long, either pipe or conduit 3/4" minimum or listed copper clad steel ground rod 1/2" diameter minimum.
Plate electrodes consisting of 1/4" thick steel (or .06" thick nonferrous metal) with two square feet of surface exposed to exterior soil.
Other underground metal structures such as underground piping systems, tanks and well casings.
Not permitted to be used as ground electrodes are aluminum structures and gas piping. These items should be bonded to the grounding system but may not be counted as ground electrodes.
Concerning electrode spacing, it is provided that grounding electrodes must be at least six feet apart. If they are closer, they lose effectiveness and it is better, if possible, to have them farther apart than the six-foot minimum. Ground rods should be driven into the drip line from a roof where the soil is damper and more conductive. Beware of well-drained gravel soils where additional measures may be needed."
If you want to read more about grounding of communications equipment look at these two web sites:
http://www.electriciansparadise.com/communications2.html
http://www.mikeholt.com/technical.p...atellite&type=u&title=Satellite Dish (1-12-2K)