My internet line is grounded before it enters the house, so is it still necessary to ground this device if installed inside?

Each year, I was losing modems and routers to lightening through an underground coax cable to my house. The cable guy claims lightening is a bigger issue with underground lines than aerial. A few years ago, I installed this lightening arrestor inside the cable box on the outside of the house and grounded it to the electrical meter grounding rod. It's very important to connect to a good earth ground. Since then, no more damage. I do not ground the coax cable inside the house. But, the power cord to the modem and router are through an APC battery back-up with 50,000 volt surge protection. That's important, because surge damage can sneak through the power line side, too. If you have frequent thunder storms, you may consider changing this device out every few years. Basically it's a spark gap device. When the voltage exceeds a threshold, it jumps the spark gap to ground. But, every time it does that, the gap gets a little wider. Over time, the protection voltage rises depending on how many times a spark has jumped the gap.

I'm planning on installing these in-line with a terrestrial over-the-air antenna system that is mounted on a mast high above my house. I also have a mast mounted pre-amplifier near the feed point of the antenna system, which is powered by a DC power injector in the attic of my house where it enters my internal distribu…

Mine works with an old Radio Shack pre-amp. 6 years later I got hit by lightning , blew the electric meter , blew both line fuses at each end of my power line, 1100 volt line, killed a big pine tree by my house. Then my tv would not receive signal. This protector shorted to ground I guess because the pre-amp power source inside the house led would not light up when connected to the antenna feed line. So put a new protector in and problem solved. Did not even have to replace the mast mounted amplifier. They don't build pre-amps like they used to or I got lucky. But that is how my protector made me aware it was defective.

Does this surge protector, when properly grounded, also serve as a grounding block for a TV antenna?

The antenna itself must be grounded separately. There are many websites which describe how to do it. The TII 212 Broadband Cable TV ground device only grounds the coaxial cable.

what gauge bare copper wire will this unit take?

From the manufacturers website for the Series 212 which is what this is: Strip and insert a #12 (minimum) ground wire into the hole provided on the surge protector. (Figure 3-1). Turn screw until wire is compressed and tight connection is made.See page 2 on the installations instructions on the following link. Once again, it is the Series 212:http://tiitech.com/repository/installationsheetlibrary/92219901-tii_210&212_InstNt.pdfAlso as far as the operation of the device if you have RG59 coaxial cable, you may need to change to RG6 coaxial cable "to ensure proper operation" of the TII 212. "Suitable adapters must be used that have center pin conforming to .040 inches requirement (eg. RG6, RG11)."

Number of Items	1
Item Weight	2.4 ounces
Unit Count	1.0 Count
Shape	Round
Color	NICKEL
Indoor Outdoor Usage	Indoor
Specification Met	CSA, UL
Recommended Uses For Product	Modem
Data Transfer Rate	1500 MHz
Number of Pins	1
Additional Features	UL Listed
Connector Gender	Female-to-Female
Connector Type Used on Cable	F Type
Cable Type	Coaxial
Compatible Devices	Modem

TII 212 Broadband Cable TV and Satellite Lightning Surge Protector 75 Ohm 5-1500MHz, Modem

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