Grounding Shore TV

[FlyMeAway]

All --

I'm in the process of adding an external Cable TV (RG6 / F-Connector) jack to my Catalina 36. The marinas I frequent around the Pacific Northwest (including the one where I live) tend to have free or cheap cable TV dockside, plus at my home dock I plan on getting a cable modem on-board for real Internet.

I've identified a jack to use on the exterior of the boat (Furrion Telephone / TV Inlet Square, because it is cheap) and I have a decent amount of experience running cable in indoor/outdoor settings for the crimping, etc.

What I don't understand (really at all) is how to properly ground this connection in a marine environment, or even if I have to. My boat has a galvanic isolator, if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

[David M]

You don't need to ground it to Earth at the boat. The shielding on the coax coming from the dock will be your ground. It's the same as if you were on land.

[FlyMeAway]

Interesting, but I'm not sure about this.

Cable TV on shore should always be grounded outside your home (last time I did this I used a grounding rod). Outdoor-use cable frequently includes a grounding wire to aid in this purpose. I don't think the cable coming on to the boat is property grounded...

Anybody have a different perspective on this?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by FlyMeAway

Interesting, but I'm not sure about this.

Cable TV on shore should always be grounded outside your home (last time I did this I used a grounding rod). Outdoor-use cable frequently includes a grounding wire to aid in this purpose. I don't think the cable coming on to the boat is property grounded...

Anybody have a different perspective on this?

You don't want to ground it to the boat ground, you'll destroy the function of you galvanic isolator.

Unless your tuner is 30+ years old, the coax connection floats, meaning your tuner won't ground it either.

Leave it float.

[FlyMeAway]

Originally Posted by DotDun

You don't want to ground it to the boat ground, you'll destroy the function of you galvanic isolator.

Unless your tuner is 30+ years old, the coax connection floats, meaning your tuner won't ground it either.

Leave it float.

Got it.

Since the ground on coax is the exposed, screw-on piece of the connector, I just need to make sure it doesn't touch any metal on my boat that might eventually lead to the ground?

For $15 I can get an in-line coax ground loop isolator. I'm thinking of installing one of these very close to the jack inside the hull, and just ensuring no exposed grounding between the isolator and the outside.

Probably overkill, but it will help, right?

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by FlyMeAway

Got it.

Since the ground on coax is the exposed, screw-on piece of the connector, I just need to make sure it doesn't touch any metal on my boat that might eventually lead to the ground?

For $15 I can get an in-line coax ground loop isolator. I'm thinking of installing one of these very close to the jack inside the hull, and just ensuring no exposed grounding between the isolator and the outside.

Probably overkill, but it will help, right?

I don't think it's needed, but it certainly wouldn't hurt anything. Cover the twist-on with rescue tape.