How to ground an antenna?
09-12-11, 11:43 PM
#1
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
How to ground an antenna?
Does anyone here know (or know where to find, preferably online) simple and useable instructions on how to ground a TV antenna?
My searching so far has netted me squat from a simplicity and usability standpoint. Every site has incomplete, or contradictory, or obtuse information with broken links to seemingly pertinent info.
Thanks for any info.
My searching so far has netted me squat from a simplicity and usability standpoint. Every site has incomplete, or contradictory, or obtuse information with broken links to seemingly pertinent info.
Thanks for any info.
09-13-11, 10:01 AM
#2
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Re: How to ground an antenna?
I assume you mean an outdoor antenna, as anything inside the house should be ok without an extra house ground. I'm not an electrician, but I think this follows code properly:
Acquire a grounding block. Shouldn't break the bank. The coax runs through the block and grounds the antenna via the shield portion of the coax.
Install the grounding block outside, as close as possible to where the antenna wire goes into the house. If possible, locate the antenna wire entrance near the electric entrance* in the first place. (not TOO near) You may want to locate the block out of the weather somehow, or coat it in silicon after everything is attached. For example, phone and cable companies often put little boxes on your house to protect their connections from weather (and from you).
Attach ground wire from grounding block to house ground.** If you have overhead electric wires, you should be able to attach the ground wire right to the pole they go through coming down into the house, that should be grounded properly. It may be different if you have an underground connection, or there may be an obvious pole coming up from the ground in that situation, too. There are straps you can buy to do this, should also be nominal cost. Ground wires are generally identified with a green jacket or are just bare wire, but any 6-10AWG solid wire is fine. (I would use jacketed wire outside instead of bare) You may also be able to find where the phone or cable company has grounded their installations, and mimic or even attach to their work.
You should also ground the antenna mast if it is metal. Coax wires can be found with a ground wire built in as a separate wire from the coax. Or just run a ground wire with the coax. Attach one end to the mast, not to the antenna tines. Attach the other to the grounding block.
* If you have to locate it far from the electric you should still run the ground wire over to the electrical for proper grounding. Should probably use 6AWG solid ground wire in this case. Another option would be to have a new grounding rod installed for the antenna (see next footnote), but 2 grounds in one house can cause electrical issues for TV viewing, and multiple grounds are supposed to be connected by wire, anyway.
** Your house should already be grounded per building code, if you think there's an issue, contact your electric company. IIRC, here in MN Xcel Energy adds grounds for free when it is for a homeowner needing a new ground. This consists of driving a rod several feet into the ground and attaching it via wire to the electrical system, or to the existing ground rod.
Acquire a grounding block. Shouldn't break the bank. The coax runs through the block and grounds the antenna via the shield portion of the coax.
Install the grounding block outside, as close as possible to where the antenna wire goes into the house. If possible, locate the antenna wire entrance near the electric entrance* in the first place. (not TOO near) You may want to locate the block out of the weather somehow, or coat it in silicon after everything is attached. For example, phone and cable companies often put little boxes on your house to protect their connections from weather (and from you).
Attach ground wire from grounding block to house ground.** If you have overhead electric wires, you should be able to attach the ground wire right to the pole they go through coming down into the house, that should be grounded properly. It may be different if you have an underground connection, or there may be an obvious pole coming up from the ground in that situation, too. There are straps you can buy to do this, should also be nominal cost. Ground wires are generally identified with a green jacket or are just bare wire, but any 6-10AWG solid wire is fine. (I would use jacketed wire outside instead of bare) You may also be able to find where the phone or cable company has grounded their installations, and mimic or even attach to their work.
You should also ground the antenna mast if it is metal. Coax wires can be found with a ground wire built in as a separate wire from the coax. Or just run a ground wire with the coax. Attach one end to the mast, not to the antenna tines. Attach the other to the grounding block.
* If you have to locate it far from the electric you should still run the ground wire over to the electrical for proper grounding. Should probably use 6AWG solid ground wire in this case. Another option would be to have a new grounding rod installed for the antenna (see next footnote), but 2 grounds in one house can cause electrical issues for TV viewing, and multiple grounds are supposed to be connected by wire, anyway.
** Your house should already be grounded per building code, if you think there's an issue, contact your electric company. IIRC, here in MN Xcel Energy adds grounds for free when it is for a homeowner needing a new ground. This consists of driving a rod several feet into the ground and attaching it via wire to the electrical system, or to the existing ground rod.
09-14-11, 02:42 AM
#4
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
Re: How to ground an antenna?
Thanks for the info. I had forgotten it and couldn't recall where I had found out about it.
FYI, my house was moved 20 years ago to a rural area from a suburb about 30 miles away. It is grounded and overhead wires are not an issue as the power line is buried.
Back then I put up the antenna, grounded it, installed a splitter, and ran cable to several rooms throughout the house. For the past decade we were renting out the house, and over that time period a succession of tenants had DirecTV dishes installed. When the last tenants left we had to do an almost complete renovation due to the condition they left it in. We decided, after all the work and expense, to move back into it. At any rate, during the renovation, I discovered that sometime during that decade some dish installer(s) had disconnected the antenna, the ground, and pulled most of my cable. I tossed the dishes but kept their cables and splitter.
What's interesting, after all the work involved, is that my original 20 year old antenna still works fine... even though it looks like crap with a good portion of it bent up and off kilter.
FYI, my house was moved 20 years ago to a rural area from a suburb about 30 miles away. It is grounded and overhead wires are not an issue as the power line is buried.
Back then I put up the antenna, grounded it, installed a splitter, and ran cable to several rooms throughout the house. For the past decade we were renting out the house, and over that time period a succession of tenants had DirecTV dishes installed. When the last tenants left we had to do an almost complete renovation due to the condition they left it in. We decided, after all the work and expense, to move back into it. At any rate, during the renovation, I discovered that sometime during that decade some dish installer(s) had disconnected the antenna, the ground, and pulled most of my cable. I tossed the dishes but kept their cables and splitter.
What's interesting, after all the work involved, is that my original 20 year old antenna still works fine... even though it looks like crap with a good portion of it bent up and off kilter.
