Antenna setup

Status
Not open for further replies.

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
Hello everyone, I am a noob and need a bit of assistance in how to properly ground my TV antenna. Hopefully this is the right forum.

I purchased an Antop plastic type saucer antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/ANTOP-AT-414B-Smartpass-Amplified-Omnidirectional/dp/B01CTY6VW0

It comes with a plastic mount that can be either mounted to a pole or screwed into the side of the house. The located I discovered that gets the best reception is on the side of my chimney above my roof line. Therefore I won't be needing a mast of some sort, I will just screw it to the side of the wood siding on the stack.

The coax is currently running about 7 feet or so down the chimney, then about 12ft. horizontally, and then another 7feet or so down. Unfortunately the site that is ideal for it to enter the house is not anywhere close to the main house circuit box ground.

The plan:

Buy an 8ft. 1/2" grounding rod and place it close to where the coax will enter the house.
The coax that is near the new grounding rod will be spliced with compression f connectors and then connected to a coax grounding block. 10guage wire will then be connected to the grounding block to the rod. Do i also need a coax arrester like the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Coaxial-Lightning-Arrester-GHz-N-Female/dp/B01E2URC8G

or

https://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadban...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JHDF79RVQMPTMY0FFVC3

Any help would be appreciated please!
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,224
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
This and similar explanations of NEC Article 810 should answer all your questions: http://www.mikeholt.com/download.php?file=PDF/Radio_and_Television_2014NEC.pdf

One thing to consider is any additional ground rods you add must be bonded to the main electrical panel ground with no less than #6 copper wire.
prcguy

Hello everyone, I am a noob and need a bit of assistance in how to properly ground my TV antenna. Hopefully this is the right forum.

I purchased an Antop plastic type saucer antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/ANTOP-AT-414B-Smartpass-Amplified-Omnidirectional/dp/B01CTY6VW0

It comes with a plastic mount that can be either mounted to a pole or screwed into the side of the house. The located I discovered that gets the best reception is on the side of my chimney above my roof line. Therefore I won't be needing a mast of some sort, I will just screw it to the side of the wood siding on the stack.

The coax is currently running about 7 feet or so down the chimney, then about 12ft. horizontally, and then another 7feet or so down. Unfortunately the site that is ideal for it to enter the house is not anywhere close to the main house circuit box ground.

The plan:

Buy an 8ft. 1/2" grounding rod and place it close to where the coax will enter the house.
The coax that is near the new grounding rod will be spliced with compression f connectors and then connected to a coax grounding block. 10guage wire will then be connected to the grounding block to the rod. Do i also need a coax arrester like the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Coaxial-Lightning-Arrester-GHz-N-Female/dp/B01E2URC8G

or

https://www.amazon.com/TII-Broadban...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=JHDF79RVQMPTMY0FFVC3

Any help would be appreciated please!
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
Just so that I understand, if I were to install a new grounding rod that is near the location to which the coax will enter the house, and then ground the coax to this new grounding rod, what will happen if I do not bond the new grounding rod to the house electrical panel ground? Will the new grounding rod some how destroy my TV equipment since it is that is tied to the house electrical panel ground while the antenna coax isn't?

The reason why I ask is because it is all the way on the other side of the house.
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,224
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
I can't say what will happen if you don't bond your new ground rod to the house electrical panel, but here's what happened to me.

In the mid 1970s my family moved and I had to set up a new radio room on the far side of the new house from the electrical panel. I had a giant mast attached to the chimney and a separate ground rod below it only connected to the mast and antenna.

Every time I connected or removed the antenna cable from the radio it shocked the crap out of me. The radio was grounded to the main house ground via its three prong power plug. I measured the voltage between the antenna and house ground at around 90 volts. Ouch.

It turns out my new ground rod was much closer to my neighbors electrical panel, which was fed from a different group of power poles in the neighborhood. My ground rod for the radios was at a different potential than my house ground and it was dangerous. The only option back then would have been an expensive and difficult to hide run of large copper cable back to the electrical panel, which I probably could not afford at the time.

You can follow the National Electrical code and do things right or don't and possibly experience what I did years ago, your choice.
prcguy

Just so that I understand, if I were to install a new grounding rod that is near the location to which the coax will enter the house, and then ground the coax to this new grounding rod, what will happen if I do not bond the new grounding rod to the house electrical panel ground? Will the new grounding rod some how destroy my TV equipment since it is that is tied to the house electrical panel ground while the antenna coax isn't?

The reason why I ask is because it is all the way on the other side of the house.
 

Ubbe

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
8,944
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
.... I measured the voltage between the antenna and house ground at around 90 volts. Ouch.....

The old TV sets at that time often had "hot" chassis that could output some voltage from its antenna connector.

I had the same problem with someting like 50-100v that would tingle the fingers when working with the antenna connectors to scanners and receivers. It was the same problem with another TV set that replaced the first one but when that one was replaced by a LED TV 10 years ago the problems dissapeared completly.

/Ubbe
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
Thanks everyone for the input, I am certainly learning a lot.

In addition to, would i need to also install inline after the coax grounding block a coax lightening arrester or is the coax grounding block the same thing? What about a coax surge protector?
 

WA0CBW

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,633
Location
Shawnee Kansas (Kansas City)
The NEC code requires the coax braid or shield be grounded before it enters the building. That is the purpose of the grounding block. A surge arrestor (mistakenly sometimes called a lightning arrestor) is not required but wouldn't hurt. It's job is to shunt any excessive voltage on the center conductor to ground. It needs to be grounded to the ground rod along with the ground in block. There are devices available that are both a grounding block and surge arrestor in one device.
BB
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
Ok after reading the advice regarding the installation of a new grounding rod and potential voltage differences if i do not bond it to my house existing grounding, I have decided to scrap the second installation of the grounding rod.

so my second plan is:

From the Antenna, run the coax all the way to the side of the house where comcast cable enters the house additional ~ 20+ feet. This is also the location to where the gas meter is. I recall seeing a coiled wire that is around the gas inlet pipe from the ground. I am assuming it is ground? so I am thinking I will install a coax grounding block near this area, then run a ground 12awg from the grounding block and bond it to the wire that is coming from the inlet gas pipe in the ground. Additionall inside of the house I will install an arrester inline before it reaches my Coax tv splitters.

Does it sound ok?
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
So after a bit of inspecting the side of the house where the gas meter is, I see that there is also a grounding wire that is inside of the TV box that is inside the exterior wall, the other side is the garage wall.

My question is, if I am stringing my coax from the antenna along the exterior walls towards the TV box, is it wrong to feed the coax into the garage first (because right before the TV box there is a single gang exterior weather proof box which just allows a low voltage wire from inside the garage out to power garden lights) then run it along the inside of the garage wall towards the garage side of the TV box and ground it that way ?
Also because the TV box is recessed inside of the wall I wouldn't have to drill any holes in the exterior wall if I ran it through the low voltage gang box first.


I hope that questions makes sense.....
 

WA0CBW

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,633
Location
Shawnee Kansas (Kansas City)
Where ever it enters the building is where the ground rod should be placed. There should already be a ground rod where the cable coax enters the building (per NEC requirements).
BB
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
Hello Everyone,

OK so I finally wired coax from the antenna to the other side of the house to where the grounded street side TV box is. So just wondering out of curiosity, aside from what NEC recommends, what are the potential possibilities that can happen if i were to route the coax first into the garage then run along the interior or the garage to the grounded TV box, ground the coax, then it gets distributed through out the inside of the house? If lightening strikes near, will it affect electronics inside of the house because it the coax entered the house before being grounded?

I am no artist but I drew a rough sketch of the layout of the side of the house where i ran the coax to.
I hope it makes sense, I am just curious of the science behind it.
 

Attachments

  • exterior.jpg
    exterior.jpg
    11.9 KB · Views: 397
  • interior2.jpg
    interior2.jpg
    26.7 KB · Views: 400

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
Always ground at point of entry. A shorter cable run is always better.
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
jonwienke, the shorter cable run would be if i ran it into the garage first then to the grounded TV box. However If i were to ground at the entry point where the coax enters the garage through a weather proof box, I'd have to install a new grounding rod and that would require bonding it to the existing house grounding rod, which I believe there is one inside of the grounded tv box.

WA0CBW , so when I opened up the grounded TV box panel, I see a coax grounding block "bonded" by a green 12awg wire to a thick copper wire(i assume is ground). This thick copper wire also shows up inside of the phone box that is to the right of this TV Box. I assume this thick copper wire is tied into the house grounding?
Also, in the picture, I am not sure what is in the gray conduit pipe in the picture as the electrical meter is about 12 inches to the left of this TV box.

I attached a picture of what inside the box looks like. I plan to ground the my TV antenna coax here.
 

Attachments

  • tv1 -.jpg
    tv1 -.jpg
    35.7 KB · Views: 357

WA0CBW

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
1,633
Location
Shawnee Kansas (Kansas City)
You would need to trace the wire back to it's termination point at the ground rod to be sure. Use an appropriate clamp to the ground wire. Multiple taps are not allowed unless the ground clamp is specifically rated for more than one termination.
BB
 

jonwienke

More Info Coming Soon!
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
13,416
Location
VA
jonwienke, the shorter cable run would be if i ran it into the garage first then to the grounded TV box. However If i were to ground at the entry point where the coax enters the garage through a weather proof box, I'd have to install a new grounding rod and that would require bonding it to the existing house grounding rod, which I believe there is one inside of the grounded tv box.

Do it right, do the shorter cable run and install another ground rod where the coax enters the house. Make sure that ground rod is tied to the ground rod(s) used by utility power with #6 or larger wire.
 

genner

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2018
Messages
8
So If I was to run the red colored option 1, where the coax enters the garage from the weather proof gang box, I will have to install a new grounding rod next to the weather proof gang box. Now would I also run the #6 grounding wire inside the garage to bond to the ground inside the grounded TV box or do I need to run the #6 grounding wire outside along the the exterior of garage 2 to the grounded TV box?

My guess is if I still have to run the #6 ground along exterior of garage 2, I might as well just string the coax further around the exterior of garage 2 directly to the grounded TV box, then use a new coax grounding block and ground it to the existing thick ground wire shown in the picture above with a separate clamp.
 

lmrtek

Active Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
534
The idea is to eliminate the voltage difference between grounds.
.......
When you have a long bonding conductor, you will still have a sizable voltage difference but at least it will create a path that is OUTSIDE the house that will share a portion of the current.
..........
This is why all telephone and cable companies now require locating
their boxes next to the electrical panel ground.
.........
I can tell you from experience that any voltage difference will equalize
through the lowest impedance path so in your drawing, the coax will likely look like a better path than the bonding conductor since the coax has a short straight path.
..........
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top