Question about Grounding the satellite

[calex]

hello,i just bought fta stationary system from sadoun and i will install it by myself,all my problem now is about grounding the satellite,i dont know where is the central building ground to my house, i live in house and i have a direct tv satellite, so i looked in the direct tv dish i found there are two holes in the arm of the dish,they attached the messanger wire to one hole and the other hole they attached a grounding wire to the metal mast over the ceiling who the main electic wires coming to the house from the electric company,and then the other side of the coaxial cable attached to the ground block with the messanger wire,so my question is ,is this mast over the house is the central building ground who i should grounding in it,please answer me i am very confused,thank you so much

[calex]

i mean they run the copper wire from the 2nd hole in the dish arm to the mast over the house ceiling that all the electric wires come to the house throught it,they put a copper grounging strap around this mast and then they place the ground wire in it,so is this mast should be the building's central ground??

[pmb1010]

Without physically looking at the configuration I can't guarantee that power company mast is truely grounded.
But if the other installers used it as a common spot it's either grounded OK or they were sloppy in their install.

The building's "central ground" would be a water pipe in the basement and/or a copper rod driven into the physical soil outside.
That mast outside might not be connected to that ground.

If it's somehow connected only to the power line's NEUTRAL (3rd uncovered wire from pole to house) that would be bad as that is not a guaranteed ground wire.

I hope this makes sense to you - if not get somone else there that can look at your situation and help you. I'd rather see you have ungrounded equipment than risk a problem from a "hot neutral" line somehow.

[Jim-S]

Grounding Satellite Dish and Lead-In Cables

See if this will help you.

[calex]

thank you so much for the help,thats really helped me now i found the central building ground in the water pipe,but i have another question please do i need to ground the coaxial cable separate from the satellite mast ,i mean do i need to connect the messanger wire to the mast and then connect the messanger wire to the ground block and then the ground wire to the central building ground and do i should after that connect a ground wire directly from the satelite mast to the electric company mast ?doi i should do that,thank you so much

[calex]

i simply like to ask do i should ground the satellite mast and after that ground the coaxial cable seperate or just ground the coaxial cable by attach the messanger wire to the hole in the dish arm,and then attach the other side to the ground block, and then attach the ground wire from the ground block to the central building ground,and another question please i have RadioShack Aluminum Ground Wire 8 Gauge is this fine for grounding,thank you so much

[Vitruvius]

Yes, ground both the mast and coax. See:
Grounding your satellite dish and system

It talks about gauge of cables and it is different for where you plan to put the wire, and what material. You may be ok with the #8 aluminum depending on which line. The thicker the better....

Jim's reference above to grounding diagrams also shows both the mast and antenna coax grounded.