"free" dish installation

[RickH]

Driving around my neighborhood I noticed that many if not all of the satellite dishes are not installed to code for grounding. Many are on the side of the house opposite the electrical service so there is no outdoor connection to a common ground. I dont see a local rod or arrestor box for the lead in on many. Many have no ground at all, just a dish and a wire. Is this true in your area too for satellite? Should I ask my mayor to begin a crackdown on these installs? The "free" installation seems to be cutting some corners, or are dishes not held to the same grounding standards as antennas, gas line, phone, cable, etc? It's a utility isn't it? So shouldn't it be grounded to the common electrical service ground like all the other utilities coming into your home? I'm thinking of getting DishTV but dont like "hole in the roof" installations, now bad grounding.

[jimmyDahGeek]

Go with Directv then. I have Directv and have NO holes in my roof and it's grounded.

[hallerb]

arond here the installs by DNSC are flawless, thats dish network service corporation their corporate owned install service group.

you dont necessarily need a ground rod, you unify ground with the main home ground.

my dishes is attached to my deck for ease of snow removal and general service. the last place you want a dish is on a roof or worse a chimney......

At one time I was a dish dealer but hated working outdoors in the cold

[Jim Yanik]

RickH wrote in news: [e-mail]:

a non-code,ungrounded installation would leave the installer/company open to expensive lawsuits.

IMO,dish TV service is not considered a "utility".

[HeyBub]

The purpose of an antenna ground is to dissipate static electricity generated by wind passing over the unit.

This static electricity, if not drained, not only interferes with reception, but acts as a lightning magnet. It is remotely possible that grounding the unit will also function as a lightning rod. (Lightning rods should have a pointed tip somewhere)

The worst place for a dish antenna is on the roof and a roof location should be used only if surrounding trees or buildings make access to the southern sky otherwise impossible. Concrete an 8' pole in your backyard and mount the dish on that or nail the sucker to your patio railing. You'll be glad you did.