Cabling ?

[ACD]

What Cable should I use to connect the dish to the house? Any recommended places to purchase it for a decent price, and not online? It doesn't need to be ready made either, I have crimping tools.

 

[Mr Tony]

RG6 quad or RG6 would be the best

I use RG6 with no issues

 

[ACD]

How about grounding? IIRC when I hooked up the Directv dish there was a wire molded into the jacket of the cable that came with the kit for grounding. Should I use cable like that, or run a seperate ground wire and what gauge?

 

[PSB]

Both the cable and antenna MUST be grounded......

http://dbsinstall.com/Whatis/Whatisgood-5.htm

 

[cralt]

How about grounding? IIRC when I hooked up the Directv dish there was a wire molded into the jacket of the cable that came with the kit for grounding. Should I use cable like that, or run a seperate ground wire and what gauge?

The cable with it molded in is called "messenger" cable. You can also get it with 2 RG6 cables and the ground messenger wire molded all together. Thats called double messenger. (Im sure you could also get 3 and 4 also)

You will also need a UL approved ground block that has lugs for the messanger cable as well as your ground wire. The ground wire in CT has to be 10 gauge. The messanger wire is only 16gauge...if you use non-messanger cable then you have to run the 10g all the way out to the dish. Again...this is all Connecticut rules. Im sure in this sue-happy state they meet or are stricter then the NEC rules. If you want to do it by the book thats how its done here.

 

[ACD]

Thanks Guys, the dual cable with ground sounds like a good idea if I can find it around here, would sure save on time dressing the cables.

I just replied to another question regarding the Pansat 3500s. If I have a Dual feed LNB, one for FTA and the other for the DSS, can those be combined into a singe cable withthe switch? I havent received the stuff yet so I have no idea yet how all this goes together, but the more I learn now, the easier the install will be for me and knowing how to cable it makes it easier(and cheaper) if I know how I want to cable it. Eventually I may want to go back to Directv since all I would need for that is the card, I have a full setup for that sitting in my basement, and purchased the second LNB mount for the kit I bought from FTAdirect. If the Universal already receives the DSS signal, then I wouldnt need to mount the second LNB for directv.

Thanks

 

[Tron]

Depending on how much you're willing to spend on an LNBF, the new Invacom circular/linear QPH LNB would also be a great solution if you want to receive both linear and circular signals from the same dish from the same orbital position at the same time.

The linear side of the Invacom QPH is standard (L.O. 10750), so you can use a 4 x 4 22k switch and get four outputs that can be switched to either side of the LNBF...

Very sweet indeed

 

[Stefan]

For a grounding wire larger diameter wire works better and also not having any sharp bends, kinks, or loops in the ground wire is better. The reason for this is because of surges from lightning strikes. If lightning strikes nearby surges of current can travel outward in the ground from the location of that strike. If such a surge happens to come to your dish you want it to travel down the ground wire instead of traveling through your LNB and down your coaxial cable. If your gorund wire is really small or has kinks, loops, or sharp bends in it, the inductance (and thus impeadance) of it will be higher and the pulse from the lightning strike may find it easier to travel through your LNB and down your coaxial cable than to travel down your ground wire. Inductance of the grounding wire is important because a pulse from a lightning strike will have a very fast sharp rise time and inductance is kinda like electrical inertia in that it opposes very rapid changes in current flow. So, if the inductance of your grounding wire is too high the pulse will look for easier paths to follow.

 

[ACD]

Depending on how much you're willing to spend on an LNBF, the new Invacom circular/linear QPH LNB would also be a great solution if you want to receive both linear and circular signals from the same dish from the same orbital position at the same time.

The linear side of the Invacom QPH is standard (L.O. 10750), so you can use a 4 x 4 22k switch and get four outputs that can be switched to either side of the LNBF...

Very sweet indeed

I was considering it when I placed the order, but it wasnt available from FTAdirect.

 

[ACD]

For a grounding wire larger diameter wire works better and also not having any sharp bends, kinks, or loops in the ground wire is better. The reason for this is because of surges from lightning strikes. If lightning strikes nearby surges of current can travel outward in the ground from the location of that strike. If such a surge happens to come to your dish you want it to travel down the ground wire instead of traveling through your LNB and down your coaxial cable. If your gorund wire is really small or has kinks, loops, or sharp bends in it, the inductance (and thus impeadance) of it will be higher and the pulse from the lightning strike may find it easier to travel through your LNB and down your coaxial cable than to travel down your ground wire. Inductance of the grounding wire is important because a pulse from a lightning strike will have a very fast sharp rise time and inductance is kinda like electrical inertia in that it opposes very rapid changes in current flow. So, if the inductance of your grounding wire is too high the pulse will look for easier paths to follow.

A few things regarding this, I may be installing the dish on my barn which is a metal pole barn, huge grounding platform if you ask me. I also have a tower that is well grounded that I can mount it to. If I determine that the dish will work on the house roof where I am thinking of mounting it, there are two ground rods for the house electrical directly below the peak where a smooth path to ground can be run. I also found a spool of uninsulated 10 gauge copper wire that I can use for this.

Also I forgot to ask, is wrapping the connectors in waterproofing a good idea or not? I know that getting the connectors apart afterwards is a real PITA.