Lighting Surge help!!

[fobmbc]

My house was recently struck with a lighting surge...I have direct TV satelite..the two Sony SAT HD 300 units were OFF however the surge actually ran through the coaxial line into the Sony units and damaged them..Both were plugged into electrical surge protectors but the surge never triggered the electrical breaker..it ran directly through the coaxial..neither unit after being fried will detect being hooked up to satelite..I have sent both units back to Sony..but I'm looking for suggestions to keep this from ever happening again...Is there a quality protector for the Satelite in line??

[bubbagump]

A quick look around my neighborhood turns up a number of satellite installations that are not only ugly but dangerous. At least one isn't grounded at all. It should be grounded to a known point - a cold water pipe or 8-12 foot grounding rod for example (check your local code) . Most of these installations are done by contractors - people that probably don't have a good understanding of what they're doing. If you have any doubt about if your dish is grounded properly, have an electrician take a look. I use battery backups for my Tivo's and computers. The battery backups have surge protection but not even a good surge protector will pretoct your equipment from damage if there's a direct hit. Your only true defense against this is a good home owners policy.

[Smokey]

Most of these installations are done by contractors - people that probably don't have a good understanding of what they're doing.

That is very much correct. Two times that contractor installed my dish, grounding were never used as protection. So had to run a line my self from house ground (but as you said, water pipe or a ground rod will be more ideal).

Grounding should give some pretection, and quality Surge protector such as Isobar will add another layer of protection :)

http://www.partsexpress.com/images/125-165m.jpg

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=125-165

[westcott]

The Tripp Lite suggested has a $500,000 warranty and protection for phone lines, network, sattelite/cable connections, and OTA antenna connections. I own four of them. Great insurance and peace of mind. I use the HT10DBS models.

I check the connections to the ground pole in the backyard regularly. Even regular yard maintenance can cause loose connections so it is a good idea to keep an eye on it. I upgraded my rf cables to the Isobar at the same time and was truly impressed with the improvement in video quality.