cool link
copper copper copper
and i bought many of those below
:Surge protection power strips as are sold to protect your computer area complete waste of money. They're good only as multiple outlet strips.
Lightning LNB damage
- Thread starter dwboston
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 37
- Views 19K
- Status
cool link
copper copper copper
and i bought many of those below
:Surge protection power strips as are sold to protect your computer area complete waste of money. They're good only as multiple outlet strips.
where do you put these ?
at the ground block ? http://www.satelliteav.com/p/shop/?ws_pid=690&ws_cat=429
I've been very lucky so far (knock on wood) in that I've had no damage from lightning. There is a 50-75 foot Pecan tree above and to the side of my dish farm.
I have had a couple of the DMX-741 LNB hit by lightening as well. Both times the damage was only to the switching portion of the LNB - the actual LNB portion still worked. I have grounded both dishes with an 8 foot ground rod, and knock on wood, no further damage.
Standing on a Soapbox
My belief is that if you're only grounded on the homes electrical system ground you are actually attracting lightening by providing an initial, poor, path for charges to build on. The path provided is not adequate to dissipate a near or direct strike. You may be better off by 'floating' your system. Providing no path. But in doing so, may induce other problems, such as static.
300 ft comm towers are not tied to an electricians ground. Although they put one in. The electrical and telephone ground, is tied to the 'tower ground'. As the 'tower ground' far exceeds the requirements of the electrical.
The Earth ground installed by the electricians is only good enough for 60hz power and some inconsequential static dissipation. To bleed lightening, near and direct strikes, to ground, the requirement is well in excess of what's already there by the electrical 'code' requirement.
Meaning: just tying the dish to the electrical ground via a ground block at the entry point is very little lightening protection for the connected equipment. It does, however, provide protection to the electrical grid, at the potential cost of your equipment.
You want the lightening to exit your system as close to the dish as possible. That suggests a very robust ground at the dish tied to the electrical in the home. The tie to the electrical is to equalize the 60hz powers ground, not dissipate lightening, so can be 'lighter' than the dishes main ground system.
Sharp 'corners' are also a thing to avoid. (lightening doesn't like going around corners)
I would also have ground blocks at both ends - dish and entry.
Put a loop in the coax between the dish side ground block and the connected sw/lnb/motor. (A 'corner')
Put a loop between the entry ground block and the inside connected equipment.
Getting off soapbox, Exiting left, have a good day.
My belief is that if you're only grounded on the homes electrical system ground you are actually attracting lightening by providing an initial, poor, path for charges to build on. The path provided is not adequate to dissipate a near or direct strike. You may be better off by 'floating' your system. Providing no path. But in doing so, may induce other problems, such as static.
300 ft comm towers are not tied to an electricians ground. Although they put one in. The electrical and telephone ground, is tied to the 'tower ground'. As the 'tower ground' far exceeds the requirements of the electrical.
The Earth ground installed by the electricians is only good enough for 60hz power and some inconsequential static dissipation. To bleed lightening, near and direct strikes, to ground, the requirement is well in excess of what's already there by the electrical 'code' requirement.
Meaning: just tying the dish to the electrical ground via a ground block at the entry point is very little lightening protection for the connected equipment. It does, however, provide protection to the electrical grid, at the potential cost of your equipment.
You want the lightening to exit your system as close to the dish as possible. That suggests a very robust ground at the dish tied to the electrical in the home. The tie to the electrical is to equalize the 60hz powers ground, not dissipate lightening, so can be 'lighter' than the dishes main ground system.
Sharp 'corners' are also a thing to avoid. (lightening doesn't like going around corners)
I would also have ground blocks at both ends - dish and entry.
Put a loop in the coax between the dish side ground block and the connected sw/lnb/motor. (A 'corner')
Put a loop between the entry ground block and the inside connected equipment.
Getting off soapbox, Exiting left, have a good day.
OK...for those of you who have a properly grounded system, do you have some diagrams or photos? (I'll admit...I'm floating my FTA system and haven't had a problem in the year it's been up....nor does it seem that my father's Dish installation has been grounded...he's had it for a good 10 years or more, and no problems although it's mounted high on his workshop's roof). I would like to eventually put up an OTA outdoor antenna, which would be just one more thing for static to build up on, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to ground it all -- but my thought was the same as FaT Air's...if it ain't broken, why fix it (and maybe attract more problems?). Or it could just be dangerous good luck... 
PLEASE READ this 3 or 4 times. It is probably some of the very best advice you will see! I put a layer of 6 to 8 loops around an empty 1L bottle, and tape it so it will not unwind, at each end of my co-ax runs. Even with 2 foot coronas of "St. Elmo's Fire" coming off my buildings I have not lost any EQ. when those loops are there. Plenty of wind damage, though. AND, my ground system is bigger that many.
If you are grounding both locations, please do not rely on the co-ax shield to "equalize" the power companies grounding. Run at least #14 wire (bare if possible in the earth) (where code is enforced, they usually say #6). When I do my hook-ups, I usually check for AC voltage between the co-ax and EQ before I join or bold the grounds -- one at a time. I have measured as high as 70VAC -- That will burn out switches!
The way pizza dishes are grounded and the code reads - 17 gauge steel wire ground for the mast. There is no way this is protective from lightning! (see this link: http://www.dbsinstall.com/diy/grounding-2.asp)
In my (humble) opinion, I think you are better off with a floating ground than one written for the electrical code. When the cost of proper protection greatly exceeds the cost of the protected equipment one must weigh the cost vs the risk.
Bob
In my (humble) opinion, I think you are better off with a floating ground than one written for the electrical code. When the cost of proper protection greatly exceeds the cost of the protected equipment one must weigh the cost vs the risk.
Bob
I've seen a couple of "professional" Dish or Direct installs with their ground wire going around 3 sharp corners before it attaches to the houses earth ground.
The Electrical code (grounding) was written by electricians, for the sole purpose of protecting the electrical system from an internal failure causing a 'domino effect'. Lightening was only an after thought, if actually thought of at all. IMHO
http://www.swssec.com/grounding.html written by someone who's developed and installed 'hardened' systems for lightening. By far the best 'read' on the subject I've seen.
In case your 'floating' it, I'd still put a turn or more loop*, in the wires, as it enters the building. Acts as a choke , high impedance, to the induced EMP from a near strike.
*not too tight, ~6 inch dia.
So do I, and so did an electrician, who worked at the Pwr Company I did the direct installs for. It's only good enough to attract lightening and protect their pwr grid. Protect your stuff from lightening or a near hit? (EMP) nope.
The Electrical code (grounding) was written by electricians, for the sole purpose of protecting the electrical system from an internal failure causing a 'domino effect'. Lightening was only an after thought, if actually thought of at all. IMHO
http://www.swssec.com/grounding.html written by someone who's developed and installed 'hardened' systems for lightening. By far the best 'read' on the subject I've seen.
In case your 'floating' it, I'd still put a turn or more loop*, in the wires, as it enters the building. Acts as a choke , high impedance, to the induced EMP from a near strike.
*not too tight, ~6 inch dia.
OK now guys, I was NOT asking for this... Direct or very near hit, so strong the florescent lights came on for a few seconds -- generator was OFF so NO AC power. One CFL cracked at the base and is toast. All satellite equipment still working - all 7 LNBFs and three receivers that are hooked up and the switches! Geosat DVR1110c still programed and did not even lose timers.
The front furnace in the motor home locked out for several hours but is back on - OK! The ham radio equipment was disconnected from the antennas. All still work. The internet went down, but I unplugged the receiver and routers for 20 minutes and when I plugged it in, had no signal. 2 to 3 hours later I had signal, so possibly was on ISPs side.
Grounds and coax chokes (loops) (some call those un-ums vs. bal-ums) get the credit in my book.
The front furnace in the motor home locked out for several hours but is back on - OK! The ham radio equipment was disconnected from the antennas. All still work. The internet went down, but I unplugged the receiver and routers for 20 minutes and when I plugged it in, had no signal. 2 to 3 hours later I had signal, so possibly was on ISPs side.
Grounds and coax chokes (loops) (some call those un-ums vs. bal-ums) get the credit in my book.
I'm starting to think you live on the moon Titan! Why you'd keep a home base living in a place that you constantly describe as horrible storms, weather, etc, etc is making me wonder about you....
I wonder about me, too! The first two years we were here were hot and dry. No real storms -- or at least that we knew of. Then Global Warming caught up with us.... you know, 19 days of ice and snow so deep the county could not plow our road, so we got to stay home. Global Warming... have not had a day above 90 this summer and down in the low 40s at night! (Usually lows in the 70s this time of year).
And the sale of our Everett WA house fell through, and we are stuck here. That and we have a ministry here - and some thing does not want us here.
Our only "damage" has been 3 C band sat dishes, 2 roofs and one "recycle" shed. And because of the fires in last two years, we bought 2 cords of dry pine, cut to 16 inch, split and delivered for $120 -- not $165 a cord!
And in all of this - we still get wonderful KU band. If it flooded here, hmm, water would have to be at least 1500 feet deep for us to notice!
Ham location rather good... I worked (confirmed) all 50 states in 58 days, 96 countries with 36 confirmed. I wonder about me.
Neighbor brought us 2 dozen FRESH organic eggs - free!
Yeah, I wonder about me, too..... But 42 deer in the herd at our South side window a few months ago, watching a doe have twins 30 feet SE of the back door on Monday... Steadying myself, my hand on the back of a 8 point buck (Western Count) last fall, as I went out to start the generator, and then having to walk around him again on the way back inside... NO HOA! Non complaining Neigh----bors (x3) and human neighbors that can not be beat! Yeah, I wonder about me.
And the sale of our Everett WA house fell through, and we are stuck here. That and we have a ministry here - and some thing does not want us here.
Our only "damage" has been 3 C band sat dishes, 2 roofs and one "recycle" shed. And because of the fires in last two years, we bought 2 cords of dry pine, cut to 16 inch, split and delivered for $120 -- not $165 a cord!
And in all of this - we still get wonderful KU band. If it flooded here, hmm, water would have to be at least 1500 feet deep for us to notice!
Ham location rather good... I worked (confirmed) all 50 states in 58 days, 96 countries with 36 confirmed. I wonder about me.
Neighbor brought us 2 dozen FRESH organic eggs - free!
Yeah, I wonder about me, too..... But 42 deer in the herd at our South side window a few months ago, watching a doe have twins 30 feet SE of the back door on Monday... Steadying myself, my hand on the back of a 8 point buck (Western Count) last fall, as I went out to start the generator, and then having to walk around him again on the way back inside... NO HOA! Non complaining Neigh----bors (x3) and human neighbors that can not be beat! Yeah, I wonder about me.
pop that sounds rustic but wonderful, I bet you can't even see the nearest Walmart parking lot lights, lol. Thanks for the story!
I've heard something about Walmart...(72 miles - 0ne way). Parking lot? Lights? Four cars on the road... Why did I not hear about the funeral???? OK, not quite that bad. Both grocery stores have at least one light for the parking lots. And the (4) service stations have lights near the pumps. At least two of the (16) churches also have parking lot lights; but those are all at least 11 miles away. (We got to watch another doe have a baby this morning. Only saw one though.
Another lightning hit last night. Cat protested - thought it might have gotten shocked, but was OK today, so probably not.
Getting new neighbors, now -- 0.8 miles away... And THEY are going to have PUD electricity!
Just talked to a neighbor (1 mile East) and the near hit we had, (post #34) also got them. Blew their phone off the table, elements off their cook stove and an outlet by their wood burning furnace in basement apart! They have PUD power! Everything else in their house, including satellite & TV working fine!
edit -- their family has been on that property for OVER 100 years and no on has talked about this kind of weather - storms, wet and cold. They usually have bushels of tomatoes by now and they only have two tomatoes that are not even an inch in diameter..
not totally off topic -I did mention satellite tv!
edit -- their family has been on that property for OVER 100 years and no on has talked about this kind of weather - storms, wet and cold. They usually have bushels of tomatoes by now and they only have two tomatoes that are not even an inch in diameter..
not totally off topic -I did mention satellite tv!
Last edited:
Wow they must've not been grounded well, or got nearly direct strike! And if my vote counts, I don't care that it went off topic, lol. Maybe you should start a blog or something, The Not-Quite-Prairie Home Companion, so you can relate the latest news of your unique place.
When you hear the thunder before you see the flash --- it is close! But then inside a steel shed, with no windows in the room... Farmer had a nice, old princess phone - now no dial (T-T) and no microphone found as yet!
- Status
Similar threads
