Home Antenna Sanity Check

[MUTNAV]

Hate to make this more complicated than it already is, but before you drive a new ground rod, especially in a condensed space like town-homes, you may want to make sure you wont puncture or hit anything... (wires, gas lines, water lines, sewage lines, etc...). A few minutes making a telephone call can make a big difference.

Thanks
Joel

 

[KevinC]

Hate to make this more complicated than it already is, but before you drive a new ground rod, especially in a condensed space like town-homes, you may want to make sure you wont puncture or hit anything... (wires, gas lines, water lines, sewage lines, etc...). A few minutes making a telephone call can make a big difference.

Thanks
Joel

To add to that...

Doing a 811 or Call Before You Dig will only get the companies that participate to mark their stuff. Customer owned (sewer line, fresh water, whatever) or companies that don't participate stuff won't be marked, you'd have to hire your own company to get everything marked.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

So thankfully, the Anteanna Farm actually called me because I made a mistake on my order (that's what I get for doing it so late at night/early in the morning). We talked grounding, and I added in a Polyphasher, and some grounding equipment. I mentioned I have a bunch of concrete sidewalk outback on my property in between houses and I was told that would make a nice grounding solution, drill down, and get the wire in there.

The antenna would be mounted out of my second story window, and I could run a ground wire directly down the side of the house right into the very end of the sidewalk that abuts the house in the rear.

Sounded like a pretty good plan of attack to me, all told, added $84 to the order. Even if I spent extra money buying everything at direct retail it was nice to be able to pair the feedback from this thread with a company specializing in this equipment and talk to a real live human being with experience who added additional shared experiences with their own setup.

 

[prcguy]

So thankfully, the Anteanna Farm actually called me because I made a mistake on my order (that's what I get for doing it so late at night/early in the morning). We talked grounding, and I added in a Polyphasher, and some grounding equipment. I mentioned I have a bunch of concrete sidewalk outback on my property in between houses and I was told that would make a nice grounding solution, drill down, and get the wire in there.

The antenna would be mounted out of my second story window, and I could run a ground wire directly down the side of the house right into the very end of the sidewalk that abuts the house in the rear.

Sounded like a pretty good plan of attack to me, all told, added $84 to the order. Even if I spent extra money buying everything at direct retail it was nice to be able to pair the feedback from this thread with a company specializing in this equipment and talk to a real live human being with experience who added additional shared experiences with their own setup.

Antenna grounding should be connected to the building main AC entry panel ground or ground rod, installing a lone ground rod is not good practice and does not meet NEC requirements. If you get the lucky lightning strike a lone ground rod usually causes more equipment damage than grounding to code.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Antenna grounding should be connected to the building main AC entry panel ground or ground rod, installing a lone ground rod is not good practice and does not meet NEC requirements. If you get the lucky lightning strike a lone ground rod usually causes more equipment damage than grounding to code.

I don't have a way to get to the building grounding rod on the front of the property from the rear, so it was determined that this was the next best course of action. I'm open to ideas, but I have no direct path accomplish this without running a wire from the rear, over the roof, and down the front of the building.

Edit: I meant to add, I was also told I could very easily unplug the antenna when it's not in use. As this radio won't be on when I'm not using it or home, this seemed agreeable to me.

 

[prcguy]

I don't have a way to get to the building grounding rod on the front of the property from the rear, so it was determined that this was the next best course of action. I'm open to ideas, but I have no direct path accomplish this without running a wire from the rear, over the roof, and down the front of the building.

Edit: I meant to add, I was also told I could very easily unplug the antenna when it's not in use. As this radio won't be on when I'm not using it or home, this seemed agreeable to me.

When the antenna is up where is it in relation to taller parts of the building, nearby trees, etc? NEC grounding is primarily for human safety as in making sure the antenna, mast and feedline are at the same ground potential to avoid shock hazard and it will also help shunt induced EMF from nearby strikes to ground. It will not protect you from a direct lightning hit in any way.

If you have nearby buildings, trees, poles, etc, that are higher than your antenna they can provide a cone of protection reducing the chances of a direct hit. In that case upsizing the ground wire for a longer run back to the AC entry panel might be an option. But large copper ground wire gets expensive.

 

[MUTNAV]

I don't have a way to get to the building grounding rod on the front of the property from the rear, so it was determined that this was the next best course of action. I'm open to ideas, but I have no direct path accomplish this without running a wire from the rear, over the roof, and down the front of the building.

Edit: I meant to add, I was also told I could very easily unplug the antenna when it's not in use. As this radio won't be on when I'm not using it or home, this seemed agreeable to me.

Even if it was a long run, could a connecting wire go around the other side of the building to get to the ground rod? Doesn't have to be buried, just connected.

Thanks
Joel

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Even if it was a long run, could a connecting wire go around the other side of the building to get to the ground rod? Doesn't have to be buried, just connected.

Thanks
Joel

Around the building would be awesome, no way to get to the rear from the front, unfortunately. I have neighbors on both sides.

 

[TGuelker]

Are those in the eBay listing legit or knock-offs? For that price it has me wondering...

They are the real deal.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

My mount came in today that I will be affixing the antenna to, would it be better to affix it to the brick, or to the siding?

Siding location:


Brick Location:


This wouldn't be above the roofline, but I do have a large flat roof over our backyard patio that I could certainly put a base on with some sandbags or something with a tall PVC pole in a bucket filled with quickcrete/gravel.



I did find that there is an older, I'm assuming TV antenna on the main roof (I never really thought to look up there, had no idea it was there, can't get there without a taller ladder) that might have a grounding wire I can chase down. I had to hold my phone up, on a ladder to get that photo. My A-frame won't quite get me there.



Does any of this help?

 

[AK9R]

would it be better to affix it to the brick, or to the siding?

Is that vinyl or aluminum siding? If so, there's probably a gap of about 1/2" behind it before you hit anything solid.

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Is that vinyl or aluminum siding? If so, there's probably a gap of about 1/2" behind it before you hit anything solid.

Vinyl, and I can press it in and feel the side of the house. I have a projector mounted off the siding under that area for outdoor movies. No issues with weight.

 

[mmckenna]

My mount came in today that I will be affixing the antenna to, would it be better to affix it to the brick, or to the siding?

Brick, but use the correct type of anchors.

No telling what's behind the sheathing, you don't want to find plumbing or wiring. Plus, puncturing the siding may lead to issues if you don't seal it up well.

This wouldn't be above the roofline, but I do have a large flat roof over our backyard patio that I could certainly put a base on with some sandbags or something with a tall PVC pole in a bucket filled with quickcrete/gravel.

PVC pipe isn't a good antenna support. It will flex. If you are going to do a mount like that, use thin wall EMT conduit for stuff under 10 feet.

I did find that there is an older, I'm assuming TV antenna on the main roof (I never really thought to look up there, had no idea it was there, can't get there without a taller ladder) that might have a grounding wire I can chase down. I had to hold my phone up, on a ladder to get that photo. My A-frame won't quite get me there.

That would be an option for a small antenna. But only if you can get up there safely.

Getting your antenna up as high as you can will benefit your coverage, but falling off the ladder isn't worth it.

 

[prcguy]

Brick, but use the correct type of anchors.

No telling what's behind the sheathing, you don't want to find plumbing or wiring. Plus, puncturing the siding may lead to issues if you don't seal it up well.



PVC pipe isn't a good antenna support. It will flex. If you are going to do a mount like that, use thin wall EMT conduit for stuff under 10 feet.



That would be an option for a small antenna. But only if you can get up there safely.

Getting your antenna up as high as you can will benefit your coverage, but falling off the ladder isn't worth it.

I would go for the TV antenna spot, take that down and put up your new antenna. Who can complain since there was already an antenna there? And it is worth it if you fall off the ladder, you will have good radio while you recover and even after.