Problems grounding a long run (Zeus:3 Kulakovich:0)

[kulakovich]

Hello again!

Ok. I have a 7.5 primefocus for c and ku band analog and fta.

The dish is on a schedule-40 steel mast, ~7 feet off the earth.

The run to my house is very long. It goes up the side of the yard, then over to the back of the house, to the grounding block, into the house via conduit to the com closet. It has to be about 100'.

The grounding block is proper, I believe. It has thick copper wire of diameter x, same as the house ground which was NEC compliant, it's massive. The grounding rod is purchased as a 'grounding rod', it's copper clad and goes down at least 5'. What I mean to say it isn't some hillbilly knot of coat hangers, drain pipe and a tv tray leg. It's a real grounding rod.

I am still losing LNBs. Getting tired of it.

With a run this long, should I put another grounding rod at the dish end? Is this problem caused by not burying the cable?

?

Any hints would be greatly appreciated. I did search before posting, don't see a lot of long line out there.

kulakovich

 

[kulakovich]

Ok, here's the deal. I rod at the dish as well as the house, but need to tie them both together with at least gauge 6 copper as per NEC. Since my coaxes/coaxi don't have a built-in lead, I need to include one.

I also need to bury the conduit because the charge spreads out over the surface when there is a strike, which is probably half my problem.

thanks,
kulakovich


ps - I totally get that no one would want to answer this because of liability, and there is also data scattered throughout the site/web. Ultimately it needs to be my decision, and my pile of smoke.

 

[dishjockey]

Grounding isn't done to protect your equip. it's done to protect you, if you are losing lnb's to lightning dissipating the charge that builds up at the dish during a storm might help reduce the # of strikes.
Are you sure lightning is what is frying your lnb's ?

 

[kulakovich]

Aside from correlating bad weather with LNB toast, no I am not sure. I don't touch them, and have enough sense with tiny bits and electronics not to do anything particularly dumb.

I have suspected 'other' things, like radar detectors, overflying military helecopters (hey, who doesn't?) or cell towers. I don't have any cell towers in my line of site though, or around me. Anything else cook an LNB?

kulakovich

 

[dishjockey]

Yes your reciever can fry your lnb's if it is putting out to many volts it should be 19.2 volts max.

 

[kulakovich]

Whoa!!! Hey now. Hold on a minute. I should only have 19.2 v going out the coax to the LNBs then? yikes. I haven't a clue. I know one thing - my receiver tends to 'twitter' the polarizers constantly. reet-root. ret. ret. reet-root. Not as much as a full polarity channel change, but they seem nervous. And that's over the polarizer's line. I have no idea what is going out to the dish from this ancient receiver, or how much is getting there considering it is a 100'+ run of RG-6.

Thanks for the info.