Steve Berger
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2001
- Messages
- 987
A cheater plug should be considered a temporary solution also. If you get hit by a storm, the damage will spread to all connected devices and not just the initially struck device.
The easiest source of a ground loop to solve is the one created from CATV coax connections, since it is almost always grounded to a different location than your power ground. A way to determine if a coax isolator would work is to watch a DVD (or similar source), observe the screen and remove the coax connection and see if the bands disappear. If they clear up then a coax isolator will work. (obviously you can't do this watching cable)
They make isolators for composite video also but not for S-Video, VGA, DVI, or HDMI. At least I have not found any for those other sources. You might rig an S-Video isolator with two composite isolators.
The problem tends to arise because you now have a three wire device (PJ) added to a system with two wire AC plugs. Conventional A/V devices use the coax connections as their safety ground; the PJ uses the powerline ground. (a TV has a spark gap physically connected to the tuner shield.)
Rereading previous post, you might have to just try a coax isolator since you say it does not act up on a DVD. (make sure you test the DVD with the HD box turned on and tuned in, even if you are not viewing it)
The easiest source of a ground loop to solve is the one created from CATV coax connections, since it is almost always grounded to a different location than your power ground. A way to determine if a coax isolator would work is to watch a DVD (or similar source), observe the screen and remove the coax connection and see if the bands disappear. If they clear up then a coax isolator will work. (obviously you can't do this watching cable)
They make isolators for composite video also but not for S-Video, VGA, DVI, or HDMI. At least I have not found any for those other sources. You might rig an S-Video isolator with two composite isolators.
The problem tends to arise because you now have a three wire device (PJ) added to a system with two wire AC plugs. Conventional A/V devices use the coax connections as their safety ground; the PJ uses the powerline ground. (a TV has a spark gap physically connected to the tuner shield.)
Rereading previous post, you might have to just try a coax isolator since you say it does not act up on a DVD. (make sure you test the DVD with the HD box turned on and tuned in, even if you are not viewing it)
