2nd Line Installation into dual tuner

[kykernel123]

Just purchased the Direct TV Hughes DVR-80 receiver yesterday at Best Buy and yes I now know that I have to run TWO lines into the back of the receiver to get full functionality of the Tivo/DVR service (ie. taping two things at once). I have a triple LNB receiver with 3 receivers in the house, therefore since the triple LNB satellite has a built in multiswitch with 4 ports, I have one that is not currently occupied.

Here is my problem. The sattelite is located on the very opposite corner of where my other cables enter the house and are grounded. The TV that I want to go is literally 8 feet from my sattelite just inside the outside portion of the house where the sat. is. My other cables are buried going to the other side of the house and I would rather just drill into the side of the house right by the satellite to feed this second cable to the receiver. Question is can I just run it into the house and into the receiver or do I have to run it all the way to the othe side of the house, ground it and then run it all the way back for my second line? This delimma really comes down to grounding. Do I need to ground this additional line? If so, can I ground it independantly from the other line and not have to run cable all the way over just to ground? I have a huge steel support beam that goes across the house just inside the crawl space right by the satellite, it would be cool if I could just attach to it if I need to ground this second line or I guess I could put a grounding rod in. The easy way would be to just run the cable into the house right there and not ground it, but I'm afraid of the issues. I need some advice please.

 

[Neutron]

Welcome to Satelliteguys!!

You can run the cable for your second tuner straight from the dish. As long as your dish itself is grounded you don't have to worry about grounding each coax line by itself, provided they are hooked into a grounding block.

I've got 4 lines running from my multiswitch near the dish to my two Dtivo units up on the 2nd floor, and I have 2 lines running from the multiswitch (one coax is connected to the power source for my multiswitch) to my living room for my HD receiver. The grounding block is on the outside before my external multiswitch.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Tivo!

 

[CablerMN]

As long as your dish itself is grounded you don't have to worry about grounding the coax lines.

That may be bad advice. The NEC says quite the opposite, as may the local building codes for the area where you live.

 

[Neutron]

I'm going off how mine is set up. Mine coax lines go to a grounding block and both it and the dish are grounded.

Let phrase what I said earlier better. Provided his was installed properly he should be able to install the coax that he needs and not worry about having to ground it. Depends on if he has a spare hookup on his grounding block.

Here's a picture of mine.

 

[CablerMN]

The edit looks much better.

I got a couple of PMs regarding my post (why not just post?) and while I am sure it has been hashed over and over and over again, in a nut shell (NOT A DIRECT QUOTE OF THE CODE) this is what the NEC says:

+ The mast of the antenna must be grounded to the common ground of the structure.
+ Each cable must be grounded to the common ground as close as possible to the entry of the structure.

 

[kykernel123]

Ok, I just checked my set up and it appears to me that my satellite guy never grounded the actual dish, just the coaxial lines that are attached to the ground block. So now I'm assuming that I will need to run a ground wire 60 feet around the house all the way to the ground block that is attached to the home ground rod. I will also need to plug in my coaxial cable to the existing vacant LNB port on my triple LNB dish and run it all the way around the house as well to the ground block and then all the way back to the receiver for my 2nd line into my dual receiver (DVR).

This seems pretty straightforward, but it will just be a pain because of the amount of cable I am going to have to run to get the job done.

 

[Mike500]

The system needs to be grounded!

Ok, I just checked my set up and it appears to me that my satellite guy never grounded the actual dish, just the coaxial lines that are attached to the ground block. So now I'm assuming that I will need to run a ground wire 60 feet around the house all the way to the ground block that is attached to the home ground rod. I will also need to plug in my coaxial cable to the existing vacant LNB port on my triple LNB dish and run it all the way around the house as well to the ground block and then all the way back to the receiver for my 2nd line into my dual receiver (DVR).

This seems pretty straightforward, but it will just be a pain because of the amount of cable I am going to have to run to get the job done.

The system needs to be grounded. Adding a new ungrounded cable is not the answer.

First, I ditch the cable connection from the dish to the place where you are putting the DirecTivo. Run two new cables for the 8 feet or so directly to the Tivo from the dish with the cables going through the wall. Use a dual grounding block mounted horizontally (with drip loops). Run either a 10 or 8 ga. copper wire to the big metal beam that you mention. As a professional, I have special UL clamps for beams on mobile homes, but you can use a 1/4" machine bolt and nut, if you drill a 1/4" hole within 1/2" of the edge of the beam. Run the ground wire through the old and the new grounding blocks.

At a point on the beam closest to the electrical panel, run 10 or 8 ga, copper conductor to the main panel grounding and connect it with a "split bolt."

This might not comply with NEC 2002, but it does comply with previous versions and makes the installation much safer. If the original installer grounded the cables to a separate grounding rod, this would bond the ground to the house system ground.