Grounding question

[jvfff]

I'm about to install my new two dish system. I still need to do more research to determine the best location on the house, but preliminary it seems that the best location is on the opposite side of the house to the electrical box with all the utilities. That keeps me puzzled as to how to properly ground the system. I did some research and, apparently, what needs to be done is 'bonding', not 'grounding'. One of the good links is here: Why Ground?. So, my question is this, would it be safe and proper to hang my dishes at some point on the second floor of the house, have the cables immediately enter the house and then have the messenger and the coaxial shield bonded to the ground found in the closest electrical outlet?
Thank you!

 

[Liquidforce88]

You want the ground point to be outside or very close to the entry point.

WIll doing what you describe drain the static off, yes.

Is it up to code, No.

Will it affect system performance, probably not.

When I install I want to ground outside or within 5' of entry to the house. You want as small amount of cable before the ground point in the house as possible. The wire before the ground block is the most likely to arc in an electrical surge.

 

[jvfff]

Thank you for replying. So then what are my options for the proper, by the code, grounding if I were to go ahead with installing on the opposite side of the house in relation to the utility box? It seems that the use of a grounding rod is not recommended; water pipe entrance is also on the other side of the house. Is it not possible after all? Thanks!

 

[Jared Twomey]

I don't remember the specs completely... but basically you would have to do ground rods every 20' (guess) or so, and bond them all together till you get to the utility ground...

 

[Liquidforce88]

Thank you for replying. So then what are my options for the proper, by the code, grounding if I were to go ahead with installing on the opposite side of the house in relation to the utility box? It seems that the use of a grounding rod is not recommended; water pipe entrance is also on the other side of the house. Is it not possible after all? Thanks!

To install it to code, you would put in an 8' copper ground rod. You would bond that ground rod back to the ground rod on the other side of the house with a #6 copper wire. Or you run the cable around the house and ground at the main electrical ground.

Are you sure there is no place to install the Dish on the other side of the house?

 

[Jared Twomey]

if its not possible to mount near the ground point... if it were me, I would do as you originally described, ground the system as best you can to a junction box, panel, ect.

As far as whether or not you should ground on the inside is kind of debatable, i personally normally ground on the outside (I had a job this morning that I had to ground on the inside), but for example... hughesnet wants installers to ground on the inside... go figure

 

[jvfff]

Thank you for the insights, guys! I did a more thorough survey last night and both sides present their challenges. One one side, which is the grounding-challenged and opposite to the utility box, I have partially blocking trees. The other side has a roof rising at approximately 22 degrees, which, if I understand it correctly, will be on the way of
Echostar 3, which in my case is elevated at 14.5 degrees. I'm going to do more walking around and thinking, maybe there is another place I can put my dishes at. Thank you again for your help!

 

[vegassatellite]

Sounds like your power panel is on the West side of your home. That side will probably be ok for your 61.5 dish depending on how much roof you have to overcome. That is because if you mount to the eave, the mast will put you a foot above the roof and the reflector will be around 2' above the roof. Much of your signal comes in near the top of the dish due to its LNB offset. So, you'll clear your roof providing it doesn't have a great length between its hip line and the dish. I don't know where the intersect length would be but perhaps one of our math guys here will answer that given different dish heights above roof line.

To get an idea if this will work, take a measurement along the rise of the roof along the 94* compass heading from ridgeline to mount location and post here how long that is. Measure the distance above the roof that the mast will rise (roof to top of mast). A good math person can then determine how far out the intersect point is between your line-of-sight and the roof rise. If its further than the roof measurement, you will be ok. If its less, you will need to get your mast higher.

They do sell longer masts than the standard ones included with the dish. You could also disassemble the mast and use just the bottom bracket that attaches to the wall and a piece of 1 5/8" fence pipe cut to the appropriate length.