How do you properly ground your antenna system?

rwilson1206 · 23-Mar-2010, 9:35 PM

I have a 40' tall guyed type tower against the back of my house. Attached at the top of the mast is an old UHF antenna, that is connected with 300ohm twin lead going into the house. It looks like it was installed professionally, so I assume the system is grounded, although my friend was tearing out wires in the basement, and may have taken out the ground wire. But Ive read somewhere that you should ground on the outside of the house anyways. Since the antenna mast is connected to a guyed tower w/ foundation. Does the antenna/mast need grounded?

Secondly, I added a phillips MANT940 antenna on the side of the tower about 10' down from the top of the mast. As of right now I have it connected to 5/8" coax going into the house.

I am concerned about frying my tv's connected to the antennas if lightning was to hit it, and burning my house down, haha, obviously. If the tower/foundation, isnt adequate grounding, what is a simple grounding solution for my situation.

Thanks for your help...

Tigerbangs · 24-Mar-2010, 2:29 PM

I have seen your posts on this subject on High Def Forum, and rest assured that if your tower is in concrete in the ground, that it IS grounded. If you are concerned about a shunt of static electricity going to your TV set, then you should ground the coaxial cable at the point where it enters the building. You accomplish this by buying an inexpensive grounding clamp, which is inserted in the coax line at the point of entry to the house. and is then connected via either aluminum or copper grounding cable to a 4' grounding rod driven into the soil. The installation manual that I have linked to you will give you good directions.

http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf

When you are ready to discuss how to take best advantage of that good old 40' tower, i will be happy to make some suggestions. Using a Phillips MANT 940 on that tower is like running the Indianapolis 500 on bald retreads.

Dave Loudin · 24-Mar-2010, 4:02 PM

We've already discussed this situation before. He has two major markets at 90 degrees to each other, so employing a more directive antenna than the MANT would lead to two antennas and difficult choices about cost. Turns out that with the way he has the MANT mounted, he gets just enough performance on UHF. His challenge was VHF, and we zeroed onto a lower-cost solution that should meet his needs.

Tigerbangs · 24-Mar-2010, 4:31 PM

I've seen his posts over at High Def Forum: he has been cross-posting between the two forums. One or two VHF stations are much easier to deal with than multiple UHF stations. I also believe that the OP is entitled to make up his own mind about how he chooses to proceed, and would probably welcome the additional input.

Dave Loudin · 24-Mar-2010, 11:37 PM

No worries. There is a two-page thread devoted to his situation already in this forum.

rwilson1206 · 25-Mar-2010, 7:06 PM

I dont remember posting much at another forum, although I may have. Is the name rwilson1206? You may be thinking of someone else.

LovesTheOTA · 5-Apr-2010, 2:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tigerbangs

Using a Phillips MANT 940 on that tower is like running the Indianapolis 500 on bald retreads.

Or like buying a 4 cylinder corvette.

5-Apr-2010, 3:03 PM

Obsessed with grounding. Keeps getting posted reposted and reposted. . Grounding articals http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/1171010.html . . . http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ .http://www.starkelectronic.com/cmig8.htm . . . .http://www.tvantenna.com/products/in...grounding.html And alot more information on the internet.