How To Ground an Outdoor TV Antenna Per NEC 

This video is for informational purposes only. Please do not attempt to set up or ground an antenna if you do not have the skill to do so. Consult with an electrician to ensure you are properly grounding your antenna with how your house is set up. You can order the appropriate parts at the affiliate link below. www.amazon.com/shop/antennaman?listId=1ZFIHBQLCQ88W

I have been considering "cutting the cable" for a few years now, and the price just keeps going up. When I got my latest bill I complained to my wife again and she replied "IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT, JUST DO IT!" So I cancelled our service and replaced the coax going to the old roof top antenna. I feel like I've watched dozen of your helpful videos Tyler, and I must say you are one of the contributing factors to my decision. We have been retired for a couple of years and the additional $160 bucks in our pockets each month will certainly help buy the groceries. Thanks Tyler, and keep up the great informational videos!

His practices are well grounded.

An excellent video on grounding an antenna.

I work in the telecom industry and you always want to ground anything (that requires a ground) to the power company's electrical ground... they will have a ground rod in the ground below your electrical meter, ground to that ground rod if at all possible. Running your own ground rod (say, on the other side of the house from your power meter) and grounding an antenna or other device to that is a fire hazard because it creates a difference in potential between your ground rod and the electrical company's ground. It could literally burn your house down if you got a direct lightning strike. Also, it doesn't matter if your power gets shut off (like he commented in the video), the power company ground will still be in place so everything continues to be grounded. When they cut off power, the just pull out the meter, put plastic blockers over the contacts inside and put the meter back in... it has nothing to do with grounding. Excellent videos though Tyler... I have watched many and you are a big help!

I like the fact, that when Tyler delivers the information to us, he is solid & "Grounded".

thank you for informing the public on grounding for these antennas. I work for a major tv and internet company and can attest that this is the appropriate way to install grounding. It is important and I have done so on my own tv antenna setup. It makes it easier to ground the antenna when you have a shortcut by way of the grounding on the DSL copper telephone wires running into your house.

I am glad I found this video to help me with my antenna

Thanks Tyler. I just ordered one of the antennas you recommended in the email. Reviewed this video to be sure its similar/same as I do for gas piping. Great stuff, as usual.

Very good information, specially the 'star' grounding scheme to avoid induction loops

S.W. Florida lightning has entered the chat.🤣 Enjoy watching all you're informative videos , thanks..

Clear and to the point. Thanks!

Thank you so much!! much easier than expected

Before I retired I worked as an electronic tech where we had lots of facilities where most had antennas attached, in some cases multiple antennas. When the equipment was vacuum tube equipment failures due to lightning strikes were rare, but when the new solid state equipment was installed lightning strike failure was common. The facility antennas rarely took a direct hit, but close was all it took to damage the equipment. After good lightning protection was installed, those failures all but disappeared. Nothing will save your equipment from a direct strike but those near misses can be avoided.

All Users, the main Content of the video starts from 2:10. Thanks, Content provider, Coaxial grounding block was new to me that I learnt. Thank you.

Nice information. When I installed my antenna I tried it in the attic first as that is MUCH easier to access. Results were impressive, I got all the broadcast stations I expected, so that's where it is to this day. I'm only about 40 miles away from the broadcast towers in my area, those towers are on a hillside, and its a 'straight shot' view to them. Additionally my roof and roof framing are asphalt shingles and wood, no metal film-backed insulation, no fan motors or other stuff in the attic in the vicinity of the antenna, and I was able to mount the antenna away from HVAC ductwork. I did do an after-install of an LTE filter to get rid of a bit of cellphone interference, but other than that its simple and effective.

I wasn't thinking about antenna strikes, but since I live in a state with THE highest numbers for lightening strikes, I will look harder at the antenna a previous owner erected. I already turn off my tv during lightening storms, in case of an electrical surge. I always figured that properly grounding the antenna would result in optimum signal "grab". Thanks for the added precautions.

Looks like I've got my mast and coax grounded correctly. Thanks!

Excellent information ! Thanks for sharing ! 5⭐

Great video. Very clear. Thanks...

Now I helped a friend of mine with his indoor antenna he had it setting on top of the old CRT TUBE TV I moved it to the window rescan he got way more channels. He was in a good area too where most signals was still strong! 💪

Great content. Very informative.

It is strongly recommended to use a surge protected grounded block for your coaxial cable ground, such as the famous Tii 215. This in theory will self sacrifice itself rather than allow the lightning or other surge to hit your equipment indoors.

Hi, Great information, thank you for the images, illustrations and explanation with video excellent ..!!

Thank you Tylor excellent video.

Tyler, you are answering the worlds most perplexing antenna questions ..... keep up your excellent work!!

Hey thanks for the great advise. Found a new winegard 7694 .. Going up on the chimney tomorrow .

Tidbit of usefull info. Most sattelite companies use a dual coaxial cable with a ground wire built in. Mine was already grounded to the mast and to the grounding block. It worked out that it was in a good location to install my OTA antenna as well.

Another brilliant video ..wow from: Ft Lauderdale.

I have an antenna out on our place in Nacogdoches, Tx. It was next to a sprinkler control box that got hit by lightning. The control box was blasted off the wall of the house, all the electric actuated valves were shorted. However, the real damage came as the lightning that also hit the antenna rg6 cable and traveled from the antenna to the TV in the house. Lightning blew the connector clean off the antenna and dissolved the copper in the cable leaving it a black spot... in the process YES it destroyed the 42" led TV.. I know, it should have been grounded better. But watching Antenna man I have corrected the situation!!

I had a small AM station years ago that had a "new" solid state transmitter. If there was lightning 40 miles away, the transmitter would get hit. We had surge protectors on the 3-phase power line, and (I thought) a decent lightning rod where the transmitter was grounded. It was only when we were adding copper strap to the building ground system, we discovered the ground rod was only about a foot in the ground. I sunk two new ten foot copper rods a few feet from each other and bonded them together, then ran 8" copper strap inside to the transmitter. Never had another problem. Yes, a good ground is essential!

Mine's connected to the 4 ten foot ground rods that protect my ham radio antennas. So far so good for 15 yrs.

Perfect. Thank You.

Good enough. The grounding at the service ground rod is more about single-point grounding; the installers will think that depicted connection at the meter box (but said as "service box") is close enough, but the connection would not be authored that way. Also, a disconnection of service will only involve the hot leads; not the ground.

Well done. You also accomplished a safety ground which will protect people in case there is an insulation fault somewhere in the system. An insulation fault happens if one of the 120 volt devices has its hotwire short out to the enclosure.The risk is that a person will touch the enclosure and get that hundred twenty volt shock to ground. It could kill them. An insulation fault also could electrocute somebody if they touch the mast if it was not grounded properly. A copper-clad ground rod driven next to the mast would be a good choice. Just tie that ground wire to the other ground wire near the AC 120 volt service. Grounding at the mast will drain electric charge that starts to form before a lightning strike when a cumulonimbus cloud is above. That could prevent the 500,000 volt lightning strike. If there is a strike it will take the direct route to the ground rod that you just drove in.

I repair commercial high power outdoor transceivers that are used on commercial satellite hubs. Believe me, that if your antenna gets hit by lightening Or even near a lightning strike, a properly grounded antenna will not save your electronics that are hooked up to it. The grounded antenna will most Likely help with interference, but your TVs tuners will probably be destroyed. The guy below using 90V gas discharge tubes is a joke to lightning, it destroys Anything electronic it hits or comes near. Great video on how to properly ground your antenna, and it will definitely help get rid of the static electricity That is in the air when a severe lightning storm is in your area. I just want everyone to understand that a direct hit will take out your TV for sure and also Probably catch your house on fire.

I always recommend a 8 foot ground rod. I am a ham radio operator and have designed up many antennas in the years of being a ham. I also redesigned the Hover antenna for the new uhf band for 2020 and works very well.

Thank you!

What I did is that some of the RG6 cables comes with a groundcable attached, so I put a groundlug in the mast of the antenna and run it into a groundblock, from the groundblock I installed a green ground cable to the electric meter.

Excellent!!

Great video, clear and concise information. Your installation grounds the antenna mast and the coaxial braid but omits the antenna itself which is connected to the center conductor of the coax into your home. You may also need to add a Lightning Arrestor (or Spark Gap) is required. It looks just like your coax ground, but allows the center conductor to short to ground in case of a lightning or static discharge.

As always, clear and specific. Thank you!

Thanks Tyler.

great advice! how far apart does the coax ground wire need to be from the mast ground wire or that doesn't matter?

Are there any special considerations where a pipe mast touches the actual ground? I am replacing a pipe mast that rusted out and sank into the ground (dirt) over the course of many years. I’m planning on using a flat concrete “paver stone” with a pipe flange mount to hold the bottom of the mast. Maybe a little axle grease in the flange would help if the mast needs to be turned. Is there a better “standard way” to deal with mast-on-ground installs? Obviously, I will be electrically grounding the mast as recommended.

I might sound a little paranoid but I grounded my mast with 6 gauge and didn't put any sharp bends in it. I also screwed a gas discharge tube on my coax grounding block. Because lightning can strike wires inside buildings we soldered in gas discharge tubes in the HVAC building controllers we manufactured and they do work.

Got a $4.00 grounding block at my local electronics store and setup a CM Stealth Antenna with a AD VHF Retrofit Kit on the peak of my roof eve about 50ft high. Your spot on about the difference about an indoor and outdoor setup. I'm now pulling in 84 channels all with crystal clear reception from both the Chicago and South Bend markets. There isn't a channel on the spectrum that I shouldn't be receiving. I'm in a sweet location right on the South Shore of Lake Michigan with the towers just 40 miles in each direction.

I live in central Florida, we ground everything!

📡 Do you have reception problems? You may need a better antenna. Consider a custom antenna recommendation from me at the link below. I run a reception report at your location and determine what antenna would work best for your area. www.antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html

I have my tower grounded to the electrical ground and my well casing. I thought it was good enough. With a couple of channels there signal would be all over like interference. I installed a grounding block and it really helped the signals stabilize. I guess the rotor must kept the ground from being complete. I've read the wind causes static on the antenna. One comment thought, regarding your video. If the power company shuts off your power, you won't lose your ground. They don't disconnect the neutral or your earth ground. They disconnect the hot wires only by disconnecting the transformer fuze, or pulling the meter and installing a cover.

Thanks for the info, antenna man. I have the clearstream 4 max antenna, mounted on my roof using a short pvc pipe mast. So in my case all I need to do is ground the coaxial cable, correct?

Thank you

Hi! About the ground block for the coaxial cable... Q1) Doesn’t the addition of this block reduce the signal? My next question is more general. Q2) Can I use a combo ground clamp that clamps onto the mast which has a coax female part for the in and for the out, and therefore only use one AWG 10 wire to go to the ground rod?

The first week after I cut the cable and installed an outdoor antenna on my roof there was a rain storm. I watch this video and decided that I might as well ground it. I never even knew that I had to do that. I drove a ground rod into the ground by my house. Then I connected the 10 gauge wire to the antenna mast and the rods. I really didn't think that this was necessary. But what the hell I'll do it. A couple nights later during a storm, my whole room lit up like it was daytime. I could hear the crackling of the lightning as I assumed it was striking my new antenna. This lasted about 15 seconds or so. Then a there was a second strike. Same instant daylight. In the morning I wondered what my antenna looked like. When I got up on the roof I was surprised to see that the antenna was fine. No scorching at all. I know that the odds are small that lightning will hit a tv antenna. But I learned very early that it definitely can. And grounding your antenna is a MUST! Thank for your videos. They were very helpful and gave me the confidence to finally cut the cord. It has been a couple years now since I did it. I have to admit since those first lightning strikes, when there is a storm in my area I take my antenna off the roof and set it up on a three foot mast on the ground. I still run a ground wire to it. I only lose about 20% of my stations and signal. I hope that this makes it less of a target during a storm. Does it?

Tyler, great video about grounding outdoor antennas man. Though you did miss a couple things my man, you didn’t mention about antenna poles mounted to concrete pads or actually mounted in the ground. Pad mounted antennas still need all the grounding methods you talked about. Although, poles mounted in the ground I.E. digging a 3ft X 1ft hole and placing the pole into the ground. Additionally, driving the pole down another foot or two then filling the hole using cement for minimum 12-18 inches then topping it off with some of the dirt from the dig. Please remember, all water pipes, natural gas pipes, antennas, phone or cable service entrance conductors need to be bonded to the homes electrical grounding system. Plus, if your antenna is grounded to the home grounding system, if your power is turned off you do not loose the ground. If the electric company completed the wiring correctly, the incoming neutral terminal is solid and not interrupted by meter removal. Also, the ground rod should be bonded to the neutral terminal inside the meter box prior to all other panels. Another way of bonding an electrical service is at least bonded inside the panel to the neutral bar of the first means of disconnecting power. The ground rod if accompanied by a ground distribution block outside the panel is used, it makes it easier to bond natural gas pipes & water pipes to the homes electrical grounding system as well. This is so that ALL other panels, cable services, phone services, satellite services, above & in-ground pools and OTA antennas can be grounded to the homes main or sub panel and actually be grounded. In-ground poles don’t need the mast grounded to the homes grounding system as they are already in the ground 3ft-4ft but, it wouldn’t hurt to still ground the mast to the home grounding system just to connect the antenna ground to the existing grounding system. Plus the coax does still need to be grounded in all mount cases as you described to protect digital or sensitive equipment in the home that the coax is connected to. Love your videos Tyler, myself and I’m sure many others are very grateful for the Over The Air antenna knowledge you’ve talked about in previous videos and hopefully many more to come.

Thanks for the grounding video. Question, what diy antenna do you think is better, the Gray Hoverman or the 4 bay whiskers? Also, do you think it's an added benifit to add a reflector? Maybe my questions would be good content for future videos? Thanks!

Is the ground block an isolation transformer?

The above method is ideal for protection, but If you add a separate ground rod for the antenna then connect this added ground rod to the electrical utility service ground with a section of the AWG 10 gauge wire, and then ground the antenna to the wire that connects the two grounds. This will minimize any possibility of creating a ground loop. Ground loops occur whenever there are two or more independent electrical paths of unequal impedance and can cause unwanted electrical noise.

Is there a follow up to this with a diagram for if you're using a power inserter and pre-amplifier? I would guess with the coaxial grounded while using a power inserter + pre-amplifier that you'd basically be making a dead short?

So you're grounding both coax and antenna?

In regards to coax ... assuming you have a ground block, a surge protector, and a pre amp ... would the order look like antenna to ground block to surge protector to pre-am to TV?

A couple of thoughts I like some feedback on are- I like to scrape down to bare metal before using only the exterior type, non corrosive ground clamps. Then I cover connecting and threaded surfaces (the whole clamp) with conductive grease This also helps prevent paint that you know someones going to get on it some day from sticking. What about grounding metal roofing either for lightning protection or establishing a ground plane (for better reception?)? Is a sloped metal roof an appropriate ground plane or does a ground plane have to be parallel to the earth or the antenna elements? I've heard some crazy lightning strike stories over the years. I ran 400' of PVC to a customers house from a new water meter. A few years later lightning struck a big oak about 10' away from the meter. It wiped out a bunch of electronics in my clients house and some of the neighbors as well. I wondered if I had made the first 20' of pipe at the meter be L copper instead of the insulated PVC, if it would have given the electricty a path to ground at the meter rather than (possibly) making it through the water in the pipe to the house. A story (that I have a hard time believing) is that lightning doesn't like to go around sharp bends in the ground wire. This sort of implies that the electricity has mass and it's inertia doesn't like to bend away from a sraight line to Earth. I have to believe this story was generated from a poor connection at the rod or ufer (either of which may have not had a solid connection to Earth). I remember grounding diagrams showing standoffs being used, I still have some but I never use them and never see them used (anymore- really old systems, sometimes). I picture the absolute best ground to be an exterior, plumb wire from the mast to Earth, and bending it and attaching it to things to make it pretty just increases the risk of a fusing ground wire frying part of the building. I always try to get the antenna signal and conrol wires into the structure asap up high for aesthetics, but I feel it's just good practice to keep the ground wire as far away from the building as possible (inside the barge rafter, and then down an outside corner). I feel if I really was going to be anal about it I'd use standoff's, but I I just have to draw the "too ugly to be worth it" line somewhere. Wouldn't it be slightly better to have the coax ground be as close to the antenna as possible? I would think that anything you could do to separate the lightning from the system wiring asap would be a good thing.

I have a steel mast that is set in concrete and is about two feet into the soil. Do I need to ground the mast to the home's ground rod? Also, can't I just attach the coaxial grounding block to the steel mast? (BTW, the mast extends into the soil about 6 inches further than the concrete I set it in. In this way, the mast makes direct contact with the soil.) Thanks a Million!

But do we use all the same grounding protections on an attic antenna as we do the outdoor antennas?

Do you need to use Copper rod or can it be something different?

How do connect the antenna to the coax cable? What is the 75 ohm barrel do? Are there better ones than others? It looks like there are some antennas that have a assembly directly on the antenna that you feed the coax cable into.

Excellent advice! I use an 8ft copper rod pounded in the ground behind my back deck where my Sweet spot is... And a Good Ground Block. which I replace every year.

Thanks

My electric box has two grounding rods directly connected to it. So would I be able to ground to any electric light switch or outlet box ground wire in the house? Or does it need to be connected to the grounding rod line outside of the house?

Thanks.

Thanks Tyler. How do tou know of someone who install knows what they are doing? Will this mounting an antennae raise house insurance?

Tyler: "Have they been struck by lightning? No" A more appropriate answer would be, "NOT YET".

There is one error. If the power company pulls the electric meter the grounds are still grounding the house and phone lines. The meter only affects the two hot lines, the neutral and grounds are unaffected. Most neutrals are tied together with the ground in the breaker box.

My question is a simple one... can the ground wire extend from the antenna mast to the coax grounding block on the way to the grounding rod or should they be separate wires?

My old antenna is mounted right on the chimney. Is it already grounded? But how do I hook it up to my TV??

Hi There Tyler - Nice videos (very helpful). I'm an older retired Licensed Electrical Inspector looking for a coax grounding block made for specifically the mast (just like a mast grounding clamp) except that this will be a clam shell clamp - any such item? Thank You!

Hi antenna man thank you for all your tips. I was confused there was no video on how to setup with televes preamp through your link. But I got it except for the ground. where do you put ground when you use a preamp. I do have 2 25ft coaxal maybe between them. Then I just need ti get piece to go to ground rod. Thank you

The side of my house with the service ground so happened to be a bad location for the antenna so I had to mount it on a 25' mast at the rear of the house. I drove a ground rod near the mast and bonded the mast and antenna surge protector to that ground then bonded that ground to the main service ground rod using #8 solid copper wire which was buried.

I'd like to see how one is to ground their antenna in an apartment complex. I live in a newer apartment with underground wiring, Elec. meters are not outside the bldg they are some where inside the bldg. There is no way to ground to their elec. grounding. What do suggest for grounding in this scenario?

What do you think of the Moho sky 60?

Hi antenna man I have a question about grounding my antenna. My situation is that I have a outdoor antenna That I installed it nside my attic due to the fact that I didn’t like the look of an antenna on my roof I tested it on my roof and in my attic and had no significant difference in my reception I get about 15 channels sometimes 18 and that’s good enough for me. My question is since my outdoor antenna is mounted in my attic do I still need to ground it? I hope you can help me and if you do thank you for your time I appreciate your channel there’s a lot of good information and have been a subscriber for quite some time.

Great video, Man. This is very helpful. Do you have a video on converting a dish setup into a satellite setup? I see more and more people doing this after they cut service with Dish or DirectTV.

Can you insert the coaxial grounding block up by the mast and connect to the same ground wire as the mast, or should you do this lower using a separate ground wire to the rod? In my case I might want to take the coaxial cable into the attic up by where the antenna is mounted and not even have it coming down the side of the house.

The many pictures/drawings of placement of grounding hardware and correct grounding practices are not shown to scale. The reason is so is easier to understand what is being done and is required to be done.

Off topic bought antenna you said is junk on amazon, after a bit of work and of adjusting it worked perfect 30 miles away from big city have all channels

I have an old stardust CB antenna still on my house can it be rigged up as a tv antenna?

Um. Your electricity getting turned off does not interrupt grounding. The chassis of the service panel (if it's up to code anyway) will be attached to a grounding rod directly outsider your house via a grounding lug on the inside of the panel. And don't forget that if you install a separate ground rod for your mast or antenna, you must use a bonding wire to connect the new ground rod to the utility panel safety ground rod in order to comply with the NEC.

My Winegard antenna guide said to keep the coax ground and mast ground five feet minimum from eachother. Not sure if that’s from the respective connection points?

GREAT presenter and topic. I'll join as time permits...Thx for your help and experience.

Have a question, when I ground the coax. Using the grounding device you show I go from 38 channels to 18. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do?

What is the best way to mount a tv antenna with a metal roof? Or how high off of a metal roof do you have to be?

Good video, thanks One question though does grounding an antenna effect the reception at all?

Thanks for the short and to the point video. 3:56 - so if the power goes out during a storm and the electric is not 'active,' your antenna will still be grounded, correct?

That mast looks painted, does it have continuity?

The power service meter and the homes safety ground is required to be grounded at all times. The utility doesn't disconnect the ground, but they do disconnect the 2 phase wires coming from the grid feed, usually by removing the meter from its plug or turning off the service entrance switch at the meter if there is one. Then they put on a anti-tamper tag. If they removed the houses ground connection, then they are legally responsible for any lightning damage caused by ungrounding your house wiring! This includes being electrocted while taking a shower due to a lightning strike to your house...

Lightning hit my outdoor antenna and now I have no channels. Do I need a new antenna? Do I need to run new cable? The Antenna does not look damaged.

I need a grounding block for my WiFi LTE router (MoFi 4500) w a Yagi antenna. They have SMA connectors which are smaller than the regular coax connectors. Any idea where I can find one? Also I’m using a fiberglass antenna mast. Do I just attach the ground wire to it w a clamp at the base then to the ground rod Or do I attach the ground wires to the antenna and directly to the ground Rod?

Lightning strikes to the house are so costly nowadays. My tree got hit, cost $800 to remove the tree, and $6k worth of gear sautéed. It even boofoo’d the garage door opener.

Since my ground rod for my Electric Service Meter is on the oppozite end of my house/garage I installed a second ground rod for the antenna. Can't have too many rods right! I discovered a total of four.

Does an indoor antenna need to be grounded as well? Does the wire have to be run outside into the ground or connected to an outside utility cabinet? Is there a way to ground it inside? I do have a Channel Master 4 port line amplifier inside my house and it has a ground connection but I am not using it. I have the amplifier plugged into a outlet surge protector. I live in Florida and you have to have just about anything electric protected from lightning surges! I do have a cheap antenna like the one you showed in your video in the attic and it is plugged into a surge protector as well. I will be getting a larger Channel Master 100 mile antenna this fall probably with a preamplifier since it is suggested for my area. Some of the channels I want to get are about 47 miles away in VHF high. I have the antenna indoors mainly because of hurricanes. We get some pretty high winds here when they come by and I just don't want to risk destroying the antenna!