Sutron Corporation Satlink Operations & Maintenance Manual, Rev 8.04.2 11/3/2016 pg. 20
4.3.
Earth Ground Point
A connection point has been provided for an Earth ground on SL3-1. On SL3-SDI-1 the chassis is
the earth ground point. Always connect the earth ground to a suitable ground at the site as
described below.
Any time a sensor cable is attached to the terminal strip, the unit may be exposed to electrical
surges such as those that come from nearby lightning strikes. The SL3 includes spark gaps and
other protection devices that shunt the energy to the earth ground. If there is no connection to
the earth ground point on SL3, the energy has nowhere to go and the unit can be damaged.
Failure to properly connect the Earth ground point will lead to failures in the field due to
surges.
To install a proper ground connection point:
Use a copper ground rod driven into the ground at least 6 feet.
Attach a very heavy gauge (#4 Solid Copper) wire between the rod and the Satlink Earth
ground point. The connection point can accept up to a 4 gauge solid copper wire. If a
heavier gauge copper wire is used to connect to the ground rod, a reducer may be
necessary to connect to the terminal on Satlink.
Firmly secure the screw on the ground point firmly on the copper wire. Do not rely on AC
power ground connections as they are not always properly grounded and may introduce other
surges.
Satlink features gas tube protection on all sensor inputs.
4.4.
Connecting the GOES/METEOSAT/INSAT antenna
The transmitter must be connected to an approved antenna to operate with the selected
satellite system. Sutron offers a variety of antennae including YAGI and dome types that provide
between 3 and 11 dB gain. Satlink will adjust its transmission power based on the type of
antenna connected. As a part of the setup process, the type of the antenna will be entered into
the setup.
The typical antenna cable is 10 to 20 feet long. Outdoor antenna connections should we
wrapped with a self-vulcanizing tape to make sure they are water/weather resistant.
Users are encouraged to use a separate lightning arrestor for the antenna such as the one shown
below.