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TV Antenna mast grounding?

D

DXER1

Guest
A freind of mine just brought an outdoor TV antenna. The mast she is mounting it on comes from the ground up and uses an eave mount to support it to the side of her house. She has the cable grounded but not the mast. Does she still need to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the ground)?

Thanks in advance
DXER1<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm a gonna go to hell when I die!" Connan O'Brien

"yay boo, yay boo, it's lots of fun to do, if ya like it holler yay, and if ya don't ya holler boo!"

Connan O'Brien
</P>
 
> Does she still need
> to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the ground)?

Yes. Just resting on the ground is not likely to be very
effective. I don't have a copy handy, but you may be able to
find The National Electrical Code on the web or visit your
city's planning or building department and they may allow you
to browse through their copy right in their office.

Having it all kosher will make a gigantic difference if there
is ever a fire in the house regardless whether or not it had
anything to do with lightning. Some insurance companies will
seize on ANY opportunity to deny a claim.
<P ID="signature">______________
Q: Should those who teach misanthropy in public
schools be prosecuted? Or commended?

</P>
 
> > Does she still need
> > to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the
> ground)?
>
> Yes. Just resting on the ground is not likely to be very
> effective. I don't have a copy handy, but you may be able
> to
> find The National Electrical Code on the web or visit your
> city's planning or building department and they may allow
> you
> to browse through their copy right in their office.
>
> Having it all kosher will make a gigantic difference if
> there
> is ever a fire in the house regardless whether or not it had
>
> anything to do with lightning. Some insurance companies
> will
> seize on ANY opportunity to deny a claim.
>
What if she was to burry the mast like 5 ft into ground? or should she still ground it all together just to be on the safe side?
What I do with my antenna is mount it to a pole chain link fence entrance with u bolts I have a litte VU 75 XR antenna on a 10 ft. mast and take it down before an aproaching storm hits or if I am going to be out of town for a day or more. All I have to do is take the mast off of the u bolts take the antenna off the mast and lay my antenna in my storage shed in my back yard.

Thanks for all of ya'lls help
DXER1
<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm a gonna go to hell when I die!" Connan O'Brien

"yay boo, yay boo, it's lots of fun to do, if ya like it holler yay, and if ya don't ya holler boo!"

Connan O'Brien
</P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by DXER1 on 12/13/05 04:35 AM.</FONT></P>
 
> A freind of mine just brought an outdoor TV antenna. The
> mast she is mounting it on comes from the ground up and uses
> an eave mount to support it to the side of her house. She
> has the cable grounded but not the mast. Does she still need
> to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the ground)?
>
>
> Thanks in advance
> DXER1
>
Hi,

Ground the mast. 5' of buried mast is not a good ground. The best way to do this is to locate the ground stake for the building electrical entrance and run a #6 solid copper wire from the stake to the mast and use approved connectors on both ends. My local code requires a #6 wire or a conduit protected #8. A stake at the mast may not be a good idea. Good lightning protection is afforded by using a single point ground to the electral entrance ground stake. Check your local codes. Some require single point grounding.

Neil
 
> > A freind of mine just brought an outdoor TV antenna. The
> > mast she is mounting it on comes from the ground up and
> uses
> > an eave mount to support it to the side of her house. She
> > has the cable grounded but not the mast. Does she still
> need
> > to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the
> ground)?
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance
> > DXER1
> >
> Hi,
>
> Ground the mast. 5' of buried mast is not a good ground.
> The best way to do this is to locate the ground stake for
> the building electrical entrance and run a #6 solid copper
> wire from the stake to the mast and use approved connectors
> on both ends. My local code requires a #6 wire or a conduit
> protected #8. A stake at the mast may not be a good idea.
> Good lightning protection is afforded by using a single
> point ground to the electral entrance ground stake. Check
> your local codes. Some require single point grounding.
>
> Neil
>
How long of a ground rod should she use? whould she use a 4 ft. rod or go with an 8 ft. rod, or does that depend on local code as well? I said "me personally I would say use the 8 ft. rod so that you know that it is grounded. she aked me how would I ground the cable. I walked her through thoes steps as well. I just really needed advice and reccomendations/help on grounding the mast.

Thanks again for the help and tips.
DXER1<P ID="signature">______________
"I'm a gonna go to hell when I die!" Connan O'Brien

"yay boo, yay boo, it's lots of fun to do, if ya like it holler yay, and if ya don't ya holler boo!"

Connan O'Brien
</P>
 
> > > A freind of mine just brought an outdoor TV antenna. The
>
> > > mast she is mounting it on comes from the ground up and
> > uses
> > > an eave mount to support it to the side of her house.
> She
> > > has the cable grounded but not the mast. Does she still
> > need
> > > to ground the mast(even though the mast sits in the
> > ground)?
> > >
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance
> > > DXER1
> > >
> > Hi,
> >
> > Ground the mast. 5' of buried mast is not a good ground.
>
> > The best way to do this is to locate the ground stake for
> > the building electrical entrance and run a #6 solid copper
>
> > wire from the stake to the mast and use approved
> connectors
> > on both ends. My local code requires a #6 wire or a
> conduit
> > protected #8. A stake at the mast may not be a good idea.
>
> > Good lightning protection is afforded by using a single
> > point ground to the electral entrance ground stake. Check
>
> > your local codes. Some require single point grounding.
> >
> > Neil
> >
> How long of a ground rod should she use? whould she use a 4
> ft. rod or go with an 8 ft. rod, or does that depend on
> local code as well? I said "me personally I would say use
> the 8 ft. rod so that you know that it is grounded. she aked
> me how would I ground the cable. I walked her through thoes
> steps as well. I just really needed advice and
> reccomendations/help on grounding the mast.
>
> Thanks again for the help and tips.
> DXER1
>


Hi again,

Subject to local codes, an 8 foot rod is the minimum to use. I still highly recommend single point grounding to the building electrical ground rod. I have a satellite dish on my roof, and a 2 meter stick on my chimney, each at opposite ends of my roof. I also have a coax fed dipole in the trees 60 feet behind my house. Both masts and the dipole shield are grounded to my electrical service ground stake with their own bare copper runs. I had a direct strike to a tree which is located at midpoint of the roof antennas and about 10 feet from the house. Half the tree was blown away indicating a big hit, but the only electrical damage I received was to the telephone system (lost three phones and a computer modem). I don't know if or where the bridge adapter for the line is grounded since I don't mess with phone company stuff. No damage whatsoever to the radio stuff which I do mess with. Also, no damage to the cable modem equipment. The cable company had bonded to the single point system next to the stake.

This experience, and what I have read on the subject makes me a believer in single point grounding. You might consult or hire an electrician to do this for your friend according to code. Then, as mentioned by one of the other posters, your friend will not only have good protection, but also a basis to argue denied claims from insurance.

Neil
 
Would not hurt to parallel electric or cable company grounding with another 8 foot ground rod. Then tie everything to together.

We've found in our area that the utilities sometimes only use 4 or 6 foot ground rods, and not buried very deep. A single point ground is great, but only if you have a good single point ground.

For the short antenna mounted by the fence, stick a ground rod in beside the mast, scrape any paint off the mast (a lot of them are painted gold)and hose clamp the ground rod, or a couple short pieces of #10 to the mast and the ground rod. You can also use the braid from old RG-8 (if you can find the kind with good copper braid).

One day you won't get home in time to pull the antenna down. That's when you will get zapped.
 
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