Does this antenna have to be grounded? I hear claims that it's lightning protected & grounding not necessary, can I use lightning arrestor instead?
1830596
You can ground it if you want but its not necessary. Mine works great ungrounded.
1830597
Nothing is really lighting protected especially an antenna but a lighting arrestor certainly helps .Grounding usually helps the receive signal and helps to eliminate white noise and other interference in the air. Hope this helps ....JB
1830598
It does not have to be but grounding is always better when you can do it. Mine is mounted to 15ft of metal TV mast attached to the house with a lightning arrestor inline with a wire going to an 8ft ground rod at the base of the mast. Lightning is very unusual here although built up static can "kill" preamps and rx. My main concern is man-made noise which is severe here. All my other rx only antennas have common mode chokes at the antenna with a ground and a choke at the rx. Nothing is perfect but the extra protection may save your equipment. I wouldn't cheap out on it. Just my humble opinion. It does not have to be but grounding is always better when you can do it. Mine is mounted to 15ft of metal TV mast attached to the house with a lightning arrestor inline with a wire going to an 8ft ground rod at the base of the mast. Lightning is very unusual here although built up static can "kill" preamps and rx. My main concern is man-made noise which is severe here. All my other rx only antennas have common mode chokes at the antenna with a ground and a choke at the rx. Nothing is perfect but the extra protection may save your equipment. I wouldn't cheap out on it. Just my... » Read More It does not have to be but grounding is always better when you can do it. Mine is mounted to 15ft of metal TV mast attached to the house with a lightning arrestor inline with a wire going to an 8ft ground rod at the base of the mast. Lightning is very unusual here although built up static can "kill" preamps and rx. My main concern is man-made noise which is severe here. All my other rx only antennas have common mode chokes at the antenna with a ground and a choke at the rx. Nothing is perfect but the extra protection may save your equipment. I wouldn't cheap out on it. Just my humble opinion. « Show Less
1830599
It's best to ground any antenna that is on a mast. The local hardware store sells 8' ground rods. Connect the mast to the ground rod. Lightning strikes can travel down the coax cable into your radio. It's best to over engineer your base station antenna system. All an lightning arrestor will do is let you connect the coax shield to ground, and that's good too.
1793640
Everything I read on it before i got mine said that u dont need arrestor. But i did ground mine. But i also have it at the top of a steel pole but if i was u i would still ground it to be save
1400670
It's a three prong plug, so if concerned about safety; yes it needs a ground (three prong outlet). As far as dedicated circuit, its powerful, but not like an big industrial motor, so dedicated circuit is not needed.
959119
No. It's taken care of by the coaxial cable. If your location is susceptible to lightning strikes, it would be good to have a lightning rod to ground set up, or a special "anti-lightning" fusible link between the cable from the tv to the antenna.
2130485
I was confused by their response as well. I have seen some surge protectors with a light "not grounded." If the light was on in that situation, it would show there was no ground. They must have misunderstood your question. If it says "protected" and "Grounded" and the lights are on, it should be working properly. Maybe you should contact Belkin again and maybe you won't get Nick.
168108
They are designed to protect against moderate voltage spikes. A direct lightning strike will haveNo trouble jumping over to the equipment side of the unit. The only sure way is to unplug everythingOr make sure your insurance will cover any lightning damage. I was stationed at a LF transmitter stationAnd saw a lightning strike in the helix house while disconnecting the transmitter from the antenna. ThatBall of lighting dancing around the copper shielded room is permanently impressed in my memory?
1499775
No. The copper wire is not the ground. This cable does not have a separate ground wire attached (not that its necessary or even useful). A standard coax such as this one has 2 lines, the center copper wire "signal" and the outer shield "ground". The shield serves as the ground line for the signal, but this is not the same ground you need if you are talking about antenna installation. Antenna's need a separate heavy gauge short straight run to an actual ground (lightning protection). In my opinion, coax wires with the extra ground attached to the side are useless.
1312896
Having installed it (at home) and connected it to use (fine) - I have to admit that I encountered no battery box or literature that suggested it was anything but a passive antenna. Please double check this, with the company! (am an EE with a lot of radio exp. from DC to daylight ... but saw nothing that suggested it was an active antenna).
1371801
You should ground it. There is a grounding kit available from the manufacturer, but you can do it yourself. Another option is moving the antenna down. Mine is only 7 feet off the ground and it works perfectly. You may not need to have it up so high. Also consider an inline coax surge protector.
302571
If you are close to an airport you shouldn't have any problem. Are you up in the air or on the ground? I am assuming the battery is fully charged! Make there is nothing wrong with the antenna.
1459327
It has a three prong plug so it is grounded. Other then that you would have to contact the company. I've seen no issues with it so far.
1076390
Mine is ladder mounted and the ladder is not grounded. My 5w HF radio attached made contact with Switzerland from Florida with ease. I would think that a perfect ground for your rig would be to the frame of your mobile home, just be sure that your connection is to BARE METAL. It would then act as a regular mobile antenna, the resulting signal will sort of take the shape of your mobile home.
2012557
Sorry I was gone for 5 days....just got back. I bought the RCA antenna and love it; I just checked all the reviews and I paid more for the RCA but wanted it to be easy to install and work great and it does! I'm not an electric person so I don't know about antenna's--I just went by the reviews. And yes you need an antenna with the converter box if it's not hooked up to cable or you won't get any reception. Pam
1062765
All antennas out doors should be protected from lightening strikes grounding is good way to do so
1382779
I have picked up from that distance, without a lot of things blocking your signal. You can put this antenna outside when you use it, but if I do put it outside, I don't when it is raining, I always bring it back inside later on. Put it up high outside. There might be something you can pick up between your house and the Library that you didn't know about. Try different directions with the antenna itself. I love mine, using it right now! Good Luck!!
1888602
It comes with grounded cord and since it has surge protection might assume the ground connection is involved that protection but I am not electrical expert.
2108975
No grounding is needed. All you do is hook up the coaxial cable and the power source can be close to your TV.
482274
Yes It Will Work, but you can hang a peice of wire out of a tree and do the same. The earth ground or groundplane are a vital part of an antenna system. For best performance you need one or the other....Antenna's in a tree are a very bad idea and generally provide for a better chance of lightning strike