Hi, I have a winegard 7084 with channelmaster 7777 preamp. Tree in front of antenna is hurting reception on 1 channel (10-1, real channel 26). (Oddly, it seems the reception only drops at night).
I plan to move it 70' from the house this Spring, and build a tilt-up (30'). I've also had a lightning strike at my house before (not fun. and very expensive) so I really want to do this properly. I've read quite a bit on this and have a good idea, but I still have some questions.
I have a bunch of plastic conduit leftover from another project so I plan to use that and plain old RG-6. I'll ground with #6 from the antenna mast down to a ground rod right at the base of the tilt-up, and then on to the house's ground. So here are my questions:
-I've read that the ground should be continuous wire, and that I should install a ground rod every 25-50'. I've also read every 10', and then another that said 10' is code but 25' is more practical. which is correct?
-How should I attach the coax lightining arrestor... I know it's supposed to be 2 separate ground wires to the house ground, but over that distance I don't know if that would make any difference? I'm wondering if I jsut clamp it to the ground rod at the tilt up base? So both the mast and lightning arrestor would be going to the same ground rodand then that ground rod is bonded to house's ground with a single 70' run?
-should I route #6 solid ground wire in a separate conduit, or just bury it bare?
-should I try to waterproof the acorn clamps somehow, on each ground rod? If so, how? The ground wire and the rods will be buried in the lawn... I'd really like to avoid digging it up later due to corrosion.
-For a 70' run should I be considering #4 wire?
-this is sort of a dumb question, I think I know the answer, but here goes...At the house, I'll be connecting to the house's ground rod. I know where the ground wire exits the house, but haven't located the rod itself yet. It's a long story as to why it may be problematic, but if I can't get to it or find it, is it ok to clamp the ground wire to the house's ground wire, outside of the house? Or, in that situation, maybe I should jsut install a new ground rod for the house... for $20 it's probably worth it.
I really appreciate the help!
