Grounding an Antenna Mast

[Dennishp]

Can someone tell what I need to ground my antenna mast?

I'm putting it's base on a small concrete pad next to my house and attaching the upper portion to the fascia with a mounting clamp. I will be bolting the lower portion of the mast on to a steel pipe sticking out of the concrete pad.

Should I buy a grounding stake and wire and attach that to the mast also?

The mast is a Channel Master telescoping model and will be approximately 18-22 feet high.

Thanks

A list of the items I need to buy would be useful also

 

[satmaster]

You need to ground it by the electric code.
Never install a second ground rod without bonding it to your existing ground rod with #6 wire. Same rule for cable,phone & satellite.
Falure to do so will create ground loops that could destroy your equipment.

 

[Dennishp]

Thanks for the answer. I will be calling my local electric company and see what they say.

I have been doing a bit of research and found the following clip:

Grounding the antenna by wendell carter


The National Electric Code requires that the antenna structure be grounded to protect the installation from lightning. A 6AWG copper conductor may be used to connect the Antenna Metal Structure to the building ground system, if it is less than 20 feet. Keep the run as straight as possible.

If the distance exceeds 20 feet, a UL listed ground rod may be installed near the antenna, but the ground rod must be bonded to the building ground with 6AWG minimum copper conductor. A 10AWG copper conductor or larger may connect the antenna to the driven ground rod.

Where the coaxial cable enters the building, a coaxial grounding device must be installed to ground the shield. It must be connected to the building ground with a 14AWG or larger copper conductor.

It is strongly advised that a quality surge protection device (listed by UL1449 Revised) be used to terminate the coaxial cable at the satellite receiver. The surge protector should provide for the power connection, telephone connection, and local antenna connection, if needed. If a local antenna is used for TV reception, it must be grounded in the same manner as the satellite dish.


That being said.....My mast is located 160 feet away from where my electric meter is located and where I assume the main ground is. From what I gather, I can put a grounding rod near the mast..but have to run a wire 160 feet to the main ground near my meter...does that sound correct based on the clip? I'm contecting my Electric company, but want to know if I understand the clip correctly..hehe The coax is already grounded with at bock before it enters the house.

 

[Dennishp]

As a follow up to my post for anyone else who is interested in this issue I found out the following:

Called Local electrical company...guy told me they have no codes concerning antennas or masts. He told me to contact my antenna manufacturer for guidance.

Called Antenna manufacturer and was told the following. Make sure the coax entering the house is grounded to the house ground at the meter.

Don't worry about grounding the mast as you probably wouldn't be able to ground it properly anyway. He mentioned a 6 to 8 foot copper coated ground spike buried into moist earth (not under the eaves of the house..but in the yard)...and then he said that the issue would be the electrical spike entering the house via the coax...not the mast. He further mentioned that Lightning is an act pf god event and he has seen lightning hit homes that had antennas and the strike was no where near the mast. He has also seen homes with no antenna get hit while a home with a roof antenna is spared. He said as long as you can eliminate static electricity build up (via the coax ground) you've probably done all you can do to lower the risk of a lightning strike. He also went on to say that most roof installs only ground the coax at the meter.....not the actual mast. His reasoning was if they don't ground the mast on a tripod mount on a roof...what's the difference with a ground up mast. I couldn't argue his logic.

There are two ground up TV masts in our neighborhood...and I looked at each one....neither has a ground for the mast....just the coax.

Hope this helps others with the same question I had.

 

[dougruss]

http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmig8.htm