[rabbit73]

I did not see a seperate wire so I'm assuming he did not utilize a rod up by the dish itself

If you did not see a separate wire, I'm assuming he did utilize a rod up by the dish so that the coax would not have to carry the high current induced by a nearby strike.

If the dish mount is in contact with rebar or wire mesh in the concrete, that can serve as a ground.

I was under the impression that a dish for internet service uses multi-conductor coax to carry upstream and downstream data plus power and grounding wires.
http://www.dbsinstall.com/diy/Grounding-5.asp
How's that for a very complicated description?

You will just have to look up there and see what he did. It's hard for me to imagine that he didn't provide a ground for the dish at either end of the coax. If that is the Hughes way because they feel that their lower resistance coax can do both grounding jobs---OK, but I'm not convinced it's the best way for you.

At least he did ground the coax down by the house.

Is there any way you can ask him?

As you previously said to me:

Why string a long strand of copper and bring electricity closer to my home as opposed to discharging it into the hillside on a seperate rod?

Didn't you?

I thought you had decided on the best way for your installation. A long strand of copper is no more likely to bring electricity closer to your home than the shield on your coax. That's why the NEC requires BOTH to be grounded your house electrical system ground.

Can the coax accomplish the joint task of carrying signal as well as grounding the mast?

Maybe that's the Hughes way, but I'm not convinced that's a good idea for you, unless the coax has an attached 17 gauge copper coated steel grounding wire.

But, then, I'm not a Hughes, grounding, or NEC expert.

I've told you everything I know about grounding, and am tired of talking about it. It's your responsibility, not mine, to decide how your antenna installation should be grounded.

Your antenna project is not a simple one. If you are having trouble deciding how to do it, maybe you should hire someone to do it for you.

Whenever I'm faced with a complex project, I try one of the easy options first. This keeps me from being paralyzed by indecision. The results of that test usually tells me what to try next, which gives me the confidence to continue.

You already have an antenna, some coax, and a location on the hill.

I think it's time for you to see what kind of signals you can get down to your house by setting up a temporary test, before the FCC auctions off any more TV channels.