Dish Grounding Story

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dereckbc

dereckbc

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I have to share this story with the members as this is always a FAQ on the Forum with respect to SATV dish and coax grounding.

About a year ago I moved to TX in a suburb of DFW. I really got tired of the local CATV service and ordered up DishNet.

Anyway the installer (poor guy had no idea what my background is) shows up and proceeds to install the system. Naturally he has to locate the dish to southwest exposure to get a clear shot at the bird. The downside is my AC service is on the north side of the house.

I am in the house and feel a rumble of a electric hammer, so I go outside to observe. What I see is the installer driving a ground rod below the dish. So I quizzed him what the rod was for? Poor guy had no clue it was a loaded question for which I knew the answer. Just as I expected he said it was to provide lightning protection and make the receiver work properly. So I followed up with the next loaded question of how are you going that to the AC service ground? All I got was a dumb look and he looked me in the eye and said that was not per NEC or company policy.

So I immediately ask the installer to pack up and leave the premises as quickly as he possible could and have a supervisor call me. A couple of days latter I get a call from a man who wanted to come out and explain to me the contract, company policy, and NEC code. So I said bring it on.

About an hour later he shows up and does a song and dance about he is a master licensed electrician, certified SATV engineer, been doing this for 20-years, understands the NEC code, local rules, and that I am obligated to my contract. Get this, he then said he is a senior member of Mike Holt Code Forum, invited me to join, and ask how SATV dishes should be grounded if I did not believe him and his vast knowledge.

Well the TRAP was set, and he took the bait hook, line, and sinker. I then played my cards by taking out a sheet of paper and stamped it with my seal, and asked him if he knew what it was? I then gave him a quick bio on myself I then signed into Mike Holt and showed him my member name.

You should have seen the look on this guy?s face, it was priceless, and made my tomatoes jealous.

Anyway the end result was the installer spent a day and a half digging a trench and burying a #6 AWG bare, solid tinned copper bonding conductor all the way to the service AC service ground. Out of the kindness of my heart I thermal welded the bonding conductor to the service ground GES, his ground rod, and supplied him a 2x6 ground buss at the switch to connect his dish, coax protector, and switch.

Best $100 installation fee I ever spent for 16 man hours and materials. To add to Dish?s pain, I already own my own receivers and know how to test (hack to open all channels).
 
Give the guy some credit for at least knowing about MikeHolt.com and for making good the install. (Alright, you shouldn't have to use a hammer to get the job done correctly, but that does seem common these days with sat-tv/cable-tv/telco installs.)
 
My brother has been installing for them for 8 years now. He says in the 8 years he has only grounded/bonded them by the NEC 15 times and drove a ground rod 3 times. The only thing they can really do is check the # of receivers on a dish. But if you plug one up to the phone line it’s a bit different (do not do it).

He installed a system in my house a year ago (let me do the bounding) and gave me a few receivers. Since I own all of my receivers all I do is pay for the basic setup and the $10 a month for not plugging in the phone.


EDIT

zbang said:
but that does seem common these days with sat-tv/cable-tv/telco installs.)
Click to expand...

I do not think I have ever seen a cable company bond there systems. But at least there bonded on the polls.
 
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The dish people thrive on hacks and incompetent people. Why do I say that? It because of your $100 install. If you want a good job done then expect to pay what its worth. I don?t think any competent electrician would dream of doing a dish installation per NEC for $100.Consumers now expect to get things for free all the time. Dish wants to pay their installers $10 per hour or so much per completion. Its not enough pay to get a qualified installer. I?m a low voltage guy that does some dish installs as an independent to fill time. I try to follow NEC as best I can. I have a code book with me. Do I do it right all the time no. Do I install per dish standards yes. I install above dish standards. Locating the dish near the AC is always a plus. Dish pays a set commission the installer supplies all material and time regardless of what is needed. Believe me you can easily loose money on an install that you have not pre approved. Try to bid a job without looking at it. This site has help me a lot on improving my practices. Enough to think I should drop the dish stuff. It just not worth it until the consumer or dish starts to pay for a proper install. I turned down 2 dish service calls this week. 1 service call 45miles away dish would pay me $19 for the call. The other call dish would come for service for $49 parts and time. Try to live off that.
 
jacobsond said:
The dish people thrive on hacks and incompetent people. Why do I say that? It because of your $100 install. If you want a good job done then expect to pay what its worth. I don?t think any competent electrician would dream of doing a dish installation per NEC for $100.Consumers now expect to get things for free all the time. Dish wants to pay their installers $10 per hour or so much per completion. Its not enough pay to get a qualified installer. I?m a low voltage guy that does some dish installs as an independent to fill time. I try to follow NEC as best I can. I have a code book with me. Do I do it right all the time no. Do I install per dish standards yes. I install above dish standards. Locating the dish near the AC is always a plus. Dish pays a set commission the installer supplies all material and time regardless of what is needed. Believe me you can easily loose money on an install that you have not pre approved. Try to bid a job without looking at it. This site has help me a lot on improving my practices. Enough to think I should drop the dish stuff. It just not worth it until the consumer or dish starts to pay for a proper install. I turned down 2 dish service calls this week. 1 service call 45miles away dish would pay me $19 for the call. The other call dish would come for service for $49 parts and time. Try to live off that.
Click to expand...
I thank you for your efforts to comply with the NEC.
 
Another dish story.
Yesterday I arrive at a new home that I've just wired and notice that the owner has had a satellite dish installed.
The "installer" had placed the dish at the end of the house opposite the service entry (40').
He used 2 conductor co-ax, no ground wire. He ran it across the house, down the wall to a grounding block near the GEC. From there the co-ax goes thru the grounding block and into the house. From the grounding block he ran a #14 ground wire and bonded to the GEC (about 3 feet).
When I see the owner, I'm gonna tell him to call "Dish *******", cause it ain't done right.
I appreciate all of the advice and posts about dish grounding. I'm finally clear on what's right and what's not.
steve
 
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