Quote:
Originally Posted by jp2code
I have a 2-story house with the antenna on top (obviously).
There is no single point earth ground within single digit feet.
So, if I used a single coax line grounding block like below, it would have to be mounted somewhere inside the house so that I could tie into a single point earth ground (like a copper pipe).
There are vents from the bathrooms & kitchens that come up through the roof, but the bedrooms & kitchen are on one side of the house; the living room is on the opposite side and certainly not within single digit feet.
Where does that leave me?
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Virtually all of the example drawings of antenna grounding that I have come across (some I have linked to already) show the mast ground and shield ground run outside the building to the same ground point used by the electrical service. The NEC makes allowance for the coax to penetrate up to 5' inside the building to reach the grounding block, apparently as a concession to the real-world. The idea seems clear - If your antenna gets connected to a hazardous source of electrical energy, you want the current to go safely to earth and stay outside your house if at all possible.
My outdoor mast is connected to ground via a #8 bare copper wire that is run as directly and with as few bends as possible, to one of the two ground rods that are part of my electrical service grounding system. The grounding block is on the outside of the building and is connected via a #12 insulated copper wire to the same ground rod. Yes, I spent some amount of money on the grounding of my antenna system, about 2 months of cable fees, but I don't regret it.