Does my DISH Network Satellite protect my house from lightning, or act as a lightning rod?

Question

I have a DISH Network Satellite dish at the top of my house, actually there are two. Will these act as lightning rods?

Answer 1

If your house is struck by lightning and the lightning happened to hit the dish, you would likely have some damage as a result.

The dish's LNB (antenna) would likely be rendered inoperable.

There is also a good chance your receiver and possibly other A/V equipment would be damaged.

The best way to protect yourself is to use proper grounding on your coaxial cable when installing the dish and to locate the dish in a lower area if possible to lessen the chance of it being hit.

Lightning will hit where it hits whether or not there is lightning protection at that point. More often (but not always) it will hit a high point. From the point it hits to the ground it will generally follow the path of least electrical resistance. The more resistance in this path, the greater the heat is generated along its path. A large copper pipe will offer low resistance and stay much cooler that a tree with much higher electrical resistance.

Answer 2

I have one of these also. I have seen the installation and I believe that It could act as a lightning rod, and the ground system that is installed is not capable of diverting all the energy of a lightning strike to "ground" so there could be considerable damage if this happened. Good question, not something I had thought about until now!

Answer 3

The sharp point on the end of the conducting rod enhances the electric field in the air around it when the air becomes charged. This causes the air there to be more likely to break down electrically. That, and the fact that it is higher up, greatly increases the chances that a lighting strike in the vicinity will pass through the rod and, therefore, safely to ground. Being a good conductor with a high melting point means that the rod itself is unlikely to be damaged.

Answer 4

When ours was installed, the guy grounded the dish to the metal power conduit, so ours is grounded.

If it is building "code" in your city/county/parrish to ground roof installed antennas AND the installer did it according to code, then it will act as a lightning rod. If the installer was lazy, or it is not in your local code, then your dish is not a lightning rod, but instead -- if lightning were to hit it you'd probably lose your dish and your receiver.

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Answer 5

May not

Answer 6

no it does not