I just installed a OTA antenna on my roof and am faced with a bit of a dilemma on grounding it.
The internets tell me I should run a continuous #6 ground line from the mast to the grounding rod of my house service. Problem is I have underground service and I see no evidence of a grounding rod outside the house by the meter - a 2-4" conduit simply drops out of the bottom of the meter base and disappears underground.
So questions -
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How critical is it to tie the ground into the rest of the house ground?
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Can I tie the antenna ground to my water main in my basement and be OK or would it be better to install a new grounding rod?
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Does it matter if my ground line touches things like my aluminum gutters on its way down?
Thanks guys!
ground to outside of conduit.
ok ok
the water pipe will be OK.
Conduit is PVC.
My only concern with grounding to something other than the house common is creating some kind of difference in path where the least resistance might be thru the coax and my TV to the house ground instead of thru the antenna ground. Of course I know nothing of electricity (if that isn't apparent) so my concern could be unfounded.
Hal
Dork
8/26/10 9:00 p.m.
fastEddie wrote: My only concern with grounding to something other than the house common is creating some kind of difference in path where the least resistance might be thru the coax and my TV to the house ground instead of thru the antenna ground.
A #6 from the antenna directly to a properly installed ground rod will definitely be a lower resistance, more direct path to ground than down the cable thru the TV to ground.
Do it as you described, just make sure you get a good ground rod and install it properly.
A proper ground rod is the preferred method. Pour some salt water around the rod after you drive it into the ground. Now, if you don't want to do that, then you can ground to a metal water pipe, but you have to ground to the pipe on the street side of your water meter. Grounding to the house ground will probably be just fine.