dish grounding

hairybadger

Bricoleur
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
1,377
Reaction score
778
Points
113
Location
46.1N 6.4E
My Satellite Setup
see sig
My Location
near Geneva, Haute-Savoie, France
Hi,
I was wondering what general opinion was on grounding dishes. My dish is wall-mounted well below roof-level. I'm not sure if I should be grounding it or not. I'm also not sure if I should be grounding the cables via a grounding block, and if I do ground them if I need to ground them via a dedicated earth spike or to bond them to the electrical system's earth. I don't understand the physics well enough to make an informed decision! Thanks :)
 

DishDick

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Messages
772
Reaction score
27
Points
28
My Satellite Setup
.
My Location
Gran Canaria
This crops up now and again and there are many interesting views! Grounding anything can make it more likely to be struck by lightning. Grounding a metal satellite dish will not make the satellite box in your home safer as the dish is isolated from the cable (the lnb holder is no doubt plastic and the lnb cover itself is plastic). As for putting a grounding block on the cables I will leave that to our part P qualified electricians (think thats the reg that covers this).
 

DishDick

Regular Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2006
Messages
772
Reaction score
27
Points
28
My Satellite Setup
.
My Location
Gran Canaria
DishDick said:
This crops up now and again and there are many interesting views! Grounding anything can make it more likely to be struck by lightning. Grounding a metal satellite dish is unlikely to make the satellite box in your home safer as the dish is isolated from the cable (the lnb holder is no doubt plastic and the lnb cover itself is plastic). As for putting a grounding block on the cables I will leave that to our part P qualified electricians (think thats the reg that covers this).
 

hairybadger

Bricoleur
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
1,377
Reaction score
778
Points
113
Location
46.1N 6.4E
My Satellite Setup
see sig
My Location
near Geneva, Haute-Savoie, France
DishDick said:
This crops up now and again and there are many interesting views! Grounding anything can make it more likely to be struck by lightning. Grounding a metal satellite dish will not make the satellite box in your home safer as the dish is isolated from the cable (the lnb holder is no doubt plastic and the lnb cover itself is plastic). As for putting a grounding block on the cables I will leave that to our part P qualified electricians (think thats the reg that covers this).
Yes - it was the "many interesting views" that made me ask :)
 

pgh13

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Age
72
My Satellite Setup
XTrend ET8000, Dr HD 15, PC/twinhan combination. 80cm dish. GBPVR with 2 DTTV cards +hauppauge Media MVP +Raspberry Pi running XBMC
My Location
Midlands UK
DishDick said:
This crops up now and again and there are many interesting views! Grounding anything can make it more likely to be struck by lightning. Grounding a metal satellite dish is unlikely to make the satellite box in your home safer as the dish is isolated from the cable (the lnb holder is no doubt plastic and the lnb cover itself is plastic). As for putting a grounding block on the cables I will leave that to our part P qualified electricians (think thats the reg that covers this).
You could always ask a s*y installer!!! :-rofl2
 

A nonymous

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
3,586
Reaction score
913
Points
113
Or you could ask a tree, you would probably get near enough the same answer :D

Personally i don't think its a good idea to bond it to the buildings main earthing terminal (MET) myself. Last time i looked lightening can in theory jump to take the least resitant path to earth. There is a possibilty that the 1.21 Gigawatts or so could jump into the houses wiring circuit causing all sorts of problems.

Thats what Doc Brown told me anyway :D

I don't see the problem in using an earth spike but i personally wouldn't earth a dish or an aerial to the buildings MET.

Nano
 

hairybadger

Bricoleur
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
1,377
Reaction score
778
Points
113
Location
46.1N 6.4E
My Satellite Setup
see sig
My Location
near Geneva, Haute-Savoie, France
nano said:
Personally i don't think its a good idea to bond it to the buildings main earthing terminal (MET) myself. Last time i looked lightening can in theory jump to take the least resitant path to earth. There is a possibilty that the 1.21 Gigawatts or so could jump into the houses wiring circuit causing all sorts of problems.

Thats what Doc Brown told me anyway :D

I don't see the problem in using an earth spike but i personally wouldn't earth a dish or an aerial to the buildings MET.
OK, understood. Since the dish is on the wall well below roof-level I guess I have little to gain by earthing it, anyway. Thanks!
 

hairybadger

Bricoleur
Joined
Jul 20, 2012
Messages
1,377
Reaction score
778
Points
113
Location
46.1N 6.4E
My Satellite Setup
see sig
My Location
near Geneva, Haute-Savoie, France
pgh13 said:
You could always ask a s*y installer!!! :-rofl2
Fortunately I don't have to deal with the French equivalent :)
 

A nonymous

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
3,586
Reaction score
913
Points
113
Qu'est-ce que tu racontes. Je n'ai aucune idée de ce que vous essayez de me le dire. Je suis désolé, je ne parle pas français :D
 

Analoguesat

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Messages
50,739
Reaction score
11,220
Points
113
Location
Scottish Borders
My Satellite Setup
TM 5402HD
Sky+ UK.
My Location
Scottish Borders
Any strike near a satellite dish and earthing or lack of it is going to be the least of your problems.....
 

A nonymous

Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
3,586
Reaction score
913
Points
113
Do you mean the rather large hole in your house caused by the plasma from the lightening vaporising the satellite dish, the mount, the cabling, the sat box connected to the cables and the TV connected to the sat box and not forgetting the surrounding brickwork near the dish :-lmao
 
Top