You're Grounded

I remember when I was just a kid (not that i'm grounded), my parents would tell me that to shut off the TV and radio whenever there is a series of lightning, 'cause it may attract through our antenna (conventional antenna) and radio and TV would burn. Well, we often do that after we hear a thunder, although we know that light is faster than sound and that you may be strike by lightning even before you hear it (no use turning it off, LOL!). I thought of this because there is one thing that I overlooked on my Satellite TV set up, the satellite dish is also an antenna. There is a very small chance or even zero chance that a satellite dish would be strike by lightning, since it is not installed too high (majority is roof level, mine is not even on a roof level) there are much more higher objects than this. But lets not take that chance, there is still a possibility, it is even a strict provision or there is a regulation on grounding on some areas (yes, we do).

Grounding is a way on protecting our equipment, it re-direct any power surges (lightning or current running from Receiver to LNB) away from our equipment (in this case the receiver and LNB) to the ground. I found some simple procedures (googling!) on how about to do it on a satellite dish set-up. All you need is:

• a copper wire
• a Grounding block, this ensures a good contact to LNB, in addition to copper wire)
• and any metal or conductor type material that directly points to the ground or you can just bury some metal rod (majority of household, already has a grounding you can just attached it to various parts of your home).

The rule is to attached your ground wire to a metal or any conductor type material that will discharge the electricity into the actual ground.

Some researched pointers:

• for copper wire use#6, or higher (it can be insulated or not)
• the wire going to the ground rod should be straight as possible (Important: limit any bending and do not make an arc out of the ground wire- the electric charge may get lost!)
  

As for precaution during thunderstorm, disconnect all power cords to your outlet, since there is a large probability that an electric power line will be hit by the lightning than your Satellite dish/antenna, even from a far location it will still create a power surge or fluctuation that can damage any of your equipment at home. You see, you can't just turn the TV the off.

Note:
There is also a coaxial cable that already has a grounding wire attached to it, consider looking for that type, if you're buying one.

SatelliteTV splitting

I once wonder if my satelliteTV setup can be used in multiple TV sets, although currently I only own a single TV, it just cross my mind. I did saw some residential house near mine who has an installation of 2 satellite dish, that set-up could be for 2 TV sets, but hey! a single dish will do fine.
If you ever tried to split the coaxial cable for a cable TV for 2 TV, it is different from the satellite TV setup because we have a Receiver that needs to decode the signals. I've read in some forum that they were able to use one receiver for 2 TV's, the catch for this set-up is that both TV will have the same channel or program since they are controlled by a single receiver (I haven't try this one), at least you can leave your couch and still watch the same channel on your kitchen or bedroom and be back again without missing any portion of the shows (if it is ON). There are two ways in having a this done but you need an extra cash on this, because thre will be some modification on the set-up.
One is to have 2 receivers for 2 TV with a single coaxial cable from single LNB, this means we have to use a splitter for the receivers (this one I've already tried with my friends' receiver and a portable TV), this works just fine and different channels for both TV is viewed, I just don't know yet the pros and cons of this set-up because It is advised by some expert (this is the second one) that rather than splitting the coaxial it is best to buy a dual LNB (can connect 2 coaxial cables) for 2 receivers you will have the same result as of the first with minimal problem I guess (cause from my experience splitting coaxial cable, smells trouble). And because it is more of an advantage for a multiple TV set, cause aside from a dual LNB, there's also a quad (4) and Octa (8) available LNB (there's still some that I don't know of) , of course you have to match this with the receiver on how many TV you want. Well maybe I'll do this in the future if I'll be able to buy another TV.

RG6 coaxial cable problem

Yesterday I've Decided to relocate my TV (a little feng shui, if you know what I mean), although the plan in arranging my place is going fine but I forgot to consider the length of the coaxial cable from my satellite Dish, well it is somehow short.

First, I tried using my old splitter (although i'm not splitting) just to add another length to RG6 cable to reach my receiver besides my TV but to my surprised I did get any signal, my first guess is that my splitter is in bad shape (I can't even remember when did I used it).
So to settle the annoyance I decided to buy a long RG6 coaxial cable to solve my problem, I took the new coaxial cable and attached the connectors (can't connect it with the LNB and Receiver without them). Just as I thought that everything would be normal, to my another surprised I'm getting no signal again and worst the LED or the light on the receiver is blinking (red blinking light- it is connected to a power but it is not turned on yet) and I can't turn it on.
Well I'm already in a bad mood and hungry, I don't know what could be wrong, or I know whats wrong (it is the coaxial cable of course, that's the only thing that I've replaced) but don't know how could I've done it wrong.
I ate my lunch first, then remove the coaxial cable and check it thoroughly, It seems no problem with the cable (I was looking for a stripped cover along the cable). There must have been a problem on attaching the connectors, I used my analog multimeter then check for line continuity, there's a good line continuity between end to end center wire or conductor and end to end connectors.
This where I found the problem 'cause there is a line continuity between wire conductor (one end) to the connector on the other end where there shouldn't be, in short the wire is somewhat grounded and I found out that during my attaching of connectors, some of the aluminum braid (shielding) were in touch with the center wire (hey! at least I've got it).

My guidelines in attaching a connector to an RG6 coaxial cable:

1. Make sure that the coaxial cable has a line continuity at both ends (check it before attaching the connectors). see the picture.
2. In stripping the coaxial cable, make sure that that the shielding are cut clean (use a sharp wire cutters).
3. Double check the attached connectors visually (you can actually see the center wire if there is an aluminum wire touching it). To be absolutely sure check again for line continuity.

Satellite TV Receiver

The Receiver is whats visible inside the house (the satellite dish is located outside of course!) it resembles a small DVD player connected to the video input of the TV. It has its own remote control and special features on its own.

The main function of the receiver is to get the digital MPEG2 signal (I'm gonna check this out) and convert it to analog where the TV is most use to. It also de-crypt some encrypted signals, these are the pay-per-view thing. It has to have a decoder chip which communicates with the received signal from the satellite. I think this would be the card which I see on the receiver, this would also be the one they are all been talking about hacking (well! enough about that for now). Another function that is very helpful during set-up is the signal and quality indicator, the indicators tell us if the Satellite TV set up is optimized or needs some fine tuning (satellite dish adjustments). The last and my favorite is that is also pick up programming schedule signal which you can always check from the remote control to check the programming guide.

Some frequently ask question (that i know cause I ask them too!). Can we use 2 TV with 1 receiver (just like a cable TV)?. Normally one Satellite dish set has a receiver, if you want to split the signal ( for 2 TV's) and you only got 1 receiver this will work but both TV set would have the
same TV program all the time since only 1 receiver is controlling it ( never tried this one yet), the rule is you can't watch two different programs on two TVs hooked up to the same receiver. The only way to do this is to have 2 receivers for each TV (which I have already tried - it will work), even if there is one Satellite dish it will work just fine. I've read somewhere that there are other receivers that have upgraded its function, one example is that there are receiver already in the market that have a hard disk for recording programs, and who knows the receiver technology may improve a lot (let's check it out!).

Basic set up for Satellite TV