New Install: how long can the ground wire be

[ZandarKoad]

Funny, I do the job right because I want the customer to have a good experience. You should go find another line of work.

Glad the rest of you guys are now running safe with clean signal.

In my experience (and in the opinions of my co-workers) "proper grounding" has nothing to do with the customer's viewing experience. Heck, a ground may be giving problems, but that doesn't mean it was done improperly. Like they say, "IT ALL DEPENDS."

To imply that I don't do a "good job" just because I find grounding to be unpredictable is just plain mean. You know, there's ALOT more to an installation than grounding.

And I just found out that the duration of my responsibility for my installations is far less than I had expected. So I take back that part. I thought I was responsible for 24 months. Turns out its only 9 months or something. I'd sure be pissed if an installation only lasted that long.

 

[SimpleSimon]

You miss the point (and I'm not surprised).

The picture is only a part of the "experience". In the context of grounding, avoiding a service call - or even keeping his gear, house, or even himself, from being fried is also part of it.

Someone that worries about how long they're responsible for their installation, or worried about some QC guy, is NOT doing a good job.

I never think about EITHER, and my installs last, well, I've never had one fail - and that goes back to the BUD days over 10 years ago. I KNOW I do top-notch work - because it's the RIGHT thing to do, not:

#1 So the system works for the duration I am responsible for it
#2 So it passes Quality Control

Ya get it yet? I read you as: "Well, if it lasts until I'm outta town, I won't get charged back." And THAT attitude is straight out of the DNSC hack book.

 

[TheForce]

"A million volts at a million amps is the same thing as trying to tell the 600 pound gorilla where to sit. If you stack bananas where you want him to go, he just might do it - but if he doesn't, there's not a dang thing you can do about it."

Simple Simon- You should write the NEC chapter on this!

The main thing people need to understand is that direct hits are rare and extremely damaging when they happen.
Static buildups happen all the time in ungrounded systems, are quite common, resulting in small damage to receivers, LNB's, and other electronics. The stuff just stops working properly but having the system grounded will "reduce" the likelihood that this silent electronics killer will happen.
The electrical power system ground is not required to be bonded to the antenna / dish system grounds to work. Most homes today use a load center(Circuit breaker panel) central point ground where the neutrals (white wire) and the ground (green wire) are bonded and a second ground point at the meter if over 8 ft away. The goal here is to be sure the ground potential and the neutral is not at different AC voltage potential. This power ground system has nothing to do with lightning or static buildup protection but may aid in the reduction of static buildup as a side benefit.

Another thing- If you have a Dish system that uses a multi coax switch, mounted on the outside of the house, you don't need to use a coax ground block on each coax too. Grounding the switch to an Earth ground Rod 8 ft long should do as long at the coax enters the house right after the switch. Bond the switch to the Dish(s) as well using a #8 ga aluminum wire. One of my Dishes (61.5) is located over 8 ft. horizontal distance from the other two. Therefore, I have a second ground rod below that dish and have the two ground rods bonded to each other at ground level.

Layout of my home Grounding system-