Grounding Satellite + Antenna

[iTurbo6]

In my original DTV install, I noticed the coax and the dish weren't grounded. My roof at the time had nowhere really to ground it to. It's a flat roof - house was built a couple years ago.

At that time, I was canceling directv and I put up a Televes antenna. I added grounding to the mast and coax by connecting to the ground for my solar.

My new directv install used that same ground for the directv dish and coax.

I recently tried to use the s-center connection from my Sony AVR to my Sony tv - it's a 3.5mm stereo cable. When turning on the center speaker mode, I got a 50hz buzzing sound indicating a ground loop. After testing everything I found that the issue was the ground wire on the coax of my antenna. Disconnecting that wire removed the buzzing.

How important is it to have this grounding installed. DIRECTV's original installer didn't use it and the new installer told me that for all the installs they do, they don't ground anymore - maybe it's a California thing?

 

[Tom Speer]

A ground loop is just that, a loop. The correct way to ground a DirecTV dish is to run a single ground to the electric system ground that is connected to the main electrical panel. That is what the National Electric Code requires for an outside antenna. That is what the ground wire on the coax is for. If you have one ground through you solar system ground, the ground on the coax should not be connected, because you are creating a large open loop, that can pickup the 60Hz magnetic fields from the power system and affect certain audio amplifiers, especially inadequately engineered ones. Grounding through two paths negates much of the safety aspects of grounding.

 

[iTurbo6]

thanks for this info. I went ahead and removed the ground going to the solar. Though now I’m not exactly sure how I’ll be able to ground the system at all.

 

[slice1900]

thanks for this info. I went ahead and removed the ground going to the solar. Though now I’m not exactly sure how I’ll be able to ground the system at all.

Don't remove the ground to your solar panels! That's way more important than whether your Directv is grounded or not!

What you want is to have everything sharing one ground - your solar, your antenna, and your Directv. If that's not practical based on where the solar is grounded versus where your Directv is installed then leave the ground off your Directv. That's generally not going to matter much unless you have some lightning in the area, which doesn't happen all too often in California. In other parts of the country an ungrounded satellite system is a bigger issue...

 

[iTurbo6]

I meant that I removed the directv ground that went to the solar. Solar is still grounded.

 

[FTA4PA]

I went ahead and removed the ground going to the solar. Though now I’m not exactly sure how I’ll be able to ground the system at all.

You do not want your antennas or satellite dishes left ungrounded. NEC code requires that all antennas/satellite dishes be grounded. If you are experiencing hum then it is because of an improper grounding setup. Despite what some 'professional' installers do they are in actuality going against NEC code and creating a potential hazard when they don't ground the systems they install. Also keep in mind that if a lightning issue does occur and you have deliberately removed the ground connection from devices and a insurance claim needs to be filed your insurance carrier might well be justified in denying it based on that. Even though the following is fairly old it still gives a basic overview of proper grounding. Take a look. I would suggest hiring a reputable electrician and consulting them regarding your options rather than leaving things in their present state. Good luck!

Grounding Satellite Dish and Lead-In Cables

 

[iTurbo6]

So I found pics of my original DIRECTV install - roof: no grounding. FWIW - my outside of my house is cement - 1 story home and the satellite is mounted to a cement wall. Outside COAX, no grounding.

The coax lines come inside to a tech closet with my rack and all kinds of stuff. There is a green grounding screw in the wall panel and the original coax line was grounded to that.

So today I grounded both the antenna and directv coax to that green screw. each coax has those grounding screws so I figured daisy chaining those 2 would be fine....hopefully.

 

[harshness]

Satellite and TV antenna grounding is usually done at the point of cable entry into the house.

You should NEVER use some other device's ground but instead, make an independent run to an established "bonding point".

The ground in the case of satellite dishes and TV antennas is mostly about bleeding off stray currents caused by static electricity as a result of wind blowing across the antenna.

 

[iTurbo6]

Satellite and TV antenna grounding is usually done at the point of cable entry into the house.

You should NEVER use some other device's ground but instead, make an independent run to an established "bonding point".

The ground in the case of satellite dishes and TV antennas is mostly about bleeding off stray currents caused by static electricity as a result of wind blowing across the antenna.

I read that. With my house there isn't a place to ground the wire at the point of entry. Grounding it to the satellite ground was bad and caused the ground loop hum. Grounding it in the house where it comes into the closet using the panels green screw results in no hum.

 

[harshness]

Grounding it in the house where it comes into the closet using the panels green screw results in no hum.

That's why I used the phrase "at the point of entry". The grounding can be done on either side of the entry point with a preference for outdoors.

 

[iTurbo6]

so I thought I had this resolved and it turns out that grounding the antenna in the house still has buzzing. its just a lot quieter than the outside the house version. right now I have no ground connected since its SoCal and rain/storm season is gone for a while. I purchased a coax ground isolator to test that should come in today. it also provides 6kv of lightening protection. it seems the ground loop hum is caused from having the coax cable grounded and connected to the tv - where the tv is taking a different path to ground - the sound is made when connecting the tv to the avr using a non-digital cable (I use the sony s-center connection to add the tv speakers as an extra center channel.)

 

[harshness]

so I thought I had this resolved and it turns out that grounding the antenna in the house still has buzzing. its just a lot quieter than the outside the house version.

It sounds like you have some faulty electrical wiring -- perhaps a bad neutral since most consumer electronics pieces don't feature grounded plugs.

 

[iTurbo6]

It sounds like you have some faulty electrical wiring -- perhaps a bad neutral since most consumer electronics pieces don't feature grounded plugs.

no - this is specifically because I have my receiver and tv in different parts of the house using different outlets and then connected together using a non-digital cable. then there is a coax using a ground connection from a different area. all the makings of a ground loop.

 

[harshness]

... and then connected together using a non-digital cable.

Define "non-digital".

Perhaps there's a non-conducting analog to this cable.

 

[iTurbo6]

Define "non-digital".

Perhaps there's a non-conducting analog to this cable.

if I disconnect the 3.5mm stereo cable that is used for s-center, the buzz stops. connecting it, it buzzes. its not the cable. I can use any 3.5mm and it will buzz. the only ways around a ground loop like this is with an isolator or removing ground. having 2 connections like this with different paths to same ground creates a loop. my electrician confirmed this too. my only other connections to the tv directly are fiber hdmi.

 

[iTurbo6]

finally problem solved. I bought a ground loop isolator that connects to the coax that goes to the tv. no more buzz and both the antenna coax and directv coax are grounded.