[kwlug-disc] Grounding for antenna

Mon Jun 16 01:07:26 EDT 2014

The mast is on a fence, and the cable is a continuous length from the
pre-amp all the way to the surge protector next to the TV. In other words I
prefer not to break the cable at the exterior/interior point.

I was thinking of grounding the coax at the mast, to the grounding rod that
will be connected by a wire to the rod in the ground.

Anything wrong with this?

On Mon, Jun 16, 2014 at 12:33 AM, R. Brent Clements <rbclemen at gmail.com>
wrote:

> At the house end of the cable is the most convenient.  You are just
> ensuring that the shield is held at ground potential.  Before the
> pre-amp would usually be pretty far from ground (and literally the
> ground).
>
> Brent
>
> On Sun, Jun 15, 2014 at 11:40 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
> > Thanks.
> >
> > For the coax grounding block, do you insert it right after the antenna
> > (before the pre-amp), or do you do it after the pre-amp? Or is it all the
> > same?
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 11:27 PM, Paul Gallaway <paul at gallaway.ca>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Pretty sure I got the rod from Home Depot and the post/fence hammer
> >> was one I borrowed from work. A sledge hammer would probably work also
> >> but you'd have to go slow to prevent bending it. In this area it could
> >> range from very easy to very difficult to do depending on the soil
> >> type in your yard. The water hose/jet method should work well with
> >> stuff you probably already own, too.
> >> ~pAul.
> >>
> >> all good things, all in good time...
> >>
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 1:29 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com>
> wrote:
> >> >
> >> > Paul G,
> >> >
> >> > Thank you for the info.
> >> >
> >> > Do you recall where you got the grounding rod from?
> >> >
> >> > And where you rented the fence pounder from?
> >> >
> >> > Email from other thread below, in case someone browses by thread.
> >> >
> >> > On Fri, Jun 13, 2014 at 8:56 AM, Paul Gallaway <paul at gallaway.ca>
> wrote:
> >> > My antenna was clamped to the mast with metal clamp which in turn is
> >> > clamped
> >> > to the tripod with more metal bits effectively bonding the
> >> > three (same as your antenna to mast, mast to mast). The tripod bolted
> to
> >> > wood frame of my roof so no direct path to earth other than the wire
> (or
> >> > through my roof...). A heavy gauge copper wire is clamped to the mast
> >> > using
> >> > a grounding clamp [1], and then run to a grounding rod [2]. I seem to
> >> > recall
> >> > a separate screw tie the RG6 shielding (from the coax block [3]) to my
> >> > mast
> >> > clamp which allows for different gauge wires on the same block. My
> >> > ground
> >> > rod was a 10' (8'?) copper clad rod pounded into the ground - it will
> go
> >> > faster with a post hammer. The length to ground from the antenna
> should
> >> > be
> >> > as short as possible - in my case I had to run 20ft of cable, in your
> >> > case
> >> > you can probably do it just about on top of your mast and use a very
> >> > short
> >> > wire.
> >> >
> >> > Save and Replay uses a 4 foot rod so maybe the 8-10 ft rods are
> >> > overkill. They are also advocating 14 gauge wire for grounding which
> >> > doesn't sound heavy enough to me (seems optimistic that any wire might
> >> > carry
> >> > "100's of thousands of volts" from lightning). The fence your antenna
> is
> >> > strapped to will likely absorb a fair amount of the
> >> > lightning strike as well which isn't a bad thing (where your house is
> >> > the alternative). Sayal and Research Electronics (Orion?) may carry
> >> > some of this stuff but you probably need to go hardware store for the
> >> > grounding rod. Actually, I think 2 years ago Research Electronics did
> >> > not have it so I found myself at the HD down the street anyway.
> >> >
> >> > [1] Something like this on your mast:
> >> >
> >> >
> http://www.homedepot.ca/product/1-2-in-1-in-ground-clamp-bronze-bag-of-1/910033
> >> >
> >> > [2] Something like this on the rod:
> >> >
> >> >
> http://www.homedepot.ca/product/ground-rod-clamp-bronze-5-8-in-3-4-in/910156
> >> >
> >> > [3]Something like this for the coax:
> >> > http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/HD_Antenna_Grounding.asp
> >> > Seems HD also has the coax blocks so I would assume your favourite,
> >> > near-by hardware/DIY store would likely have all the stuff above as
> >> > well:
> >> > http://www.homedepot.ca/product/grounding-block-dual-rg6-rg59/964991
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> >> > 2bits.com, Inc.
> >> > Fast Reliable Drupal
> >> > Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
> >> > Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
> >> > Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
> >> > For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple,
> and
> >> > wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
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> >> > kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
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> >> >
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Khalid M. Baheyeldin
> > 2bits.com, Inc.
> > Fast Reliable Drupal
> > Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
> > Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
> > Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
> > For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
> > wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > kwlug-disc mailing list
> > kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
> > http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
> >
>
>
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-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
Fast Reliable Drupal
Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
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