You might be

in for a shock if you have cable or satellite TV service and that service

isn't properly grounded.

You say it

is? Are you sure?

Tim Gore of

Peachtree City looked inside the service box for his new satellite service

recently to find that the ground wire to his old satellite dish had been

cut, leaving his home vulnerable to lightning.

"I couldn't

believe it," Gore told The Citizen. "That's like an invitation

to lightning."

Gore said he

ordered a new satellite receiver from Dish Network when Americast, previous

provider of the service, went out of the business.

The old satellite

dish is still in place, and such devices can definitely attract lightning,

confirmed Tom Carty of he Peachtree City Building Department.

"Coax

cable, anything in the trees, or even underground cable, when it's coming

into your home it should never be disconnected from the ground,"

said Carty. "It's a lightening rod. It's definitely dangerous and

a direct violation of the code."

If ungrounded

cable connections bring lightening into your home, the result could be

anything from damaged electrical appliances to fire. And if you're home

at the time, the lightning can kill, Carty said.

In Gore's case,

Carty phoned Dish Network, and the company promptly fixed the problem,

he said.

But Gore said

he knows at least one other Fayette resident and one in Clayton who have

had the same problem, and he has urged Dish to aggressively check behind

its installers to eliminate any such problems.

Dish regional

manager Richard Larger said the company would be glad to check it out

of any customers have a problem. "I don't know how it happened [that

Gore's ground wire was cut]," he said, adding that the company briefed

the installer involved on the proper procedures.

Carty suggested

that residents check all their coaxial and electrical services coming

into their homes to make sure all are properly grounded. Look for wires

attached to the bare copper wire going from your electric meter into the

ground, he said. If you're not sure, call the company involved and ask

someone to come out and check.

"They

should be proud to show you that it's installed properly," Carty

said.

Gore suggested

also looking inside the cable service box, because that's where his ground

wire was cut. You'll need a screwdriver.

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