Monday, January 30, 2012

Video Ground Loop Isolation

If you saw my previous post on "Ground Loop Isolation" for Audio. WELL now I have it on video. My latop is connected via a VGA (15 pin) connector to my TV. When the video is on it has some small horizontal wobble and waves that move throughout the screen when displayed on my 55" Sony Bravia. I isolated the problem by UNPLUGGING my laptop and the lines go away. SO I immediately know that it is a power issue and a RF spill into the video signal disrupting the quality of the video. NOW there really isn't a DIY thing for this . SINCE the VGA connection is 1/2 inch from the power input it is hard to separate the two the minimum of 12 inches to reduce the interference. SO now I need a "Video Ground Loop Isolator". I looked online and they want from $97 to $350 for one. HOLY MOLY. thats a lot. TOO much in fact. SO I decided to try the next best thing. I will publish and update when I finish installing it but here is the solution. A FERRITE CHOKE. Yes this is a clip on round barrel that allows the cable to go through it then any spilling RF is trapped by the choke. Sounds simple BUT will it work. I will post a video and what this looks like shortly. Here is a link to what I am talking about. http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=ferrite%20choke&origkw=ferrite+choke&sr=1

UPDATE: So I purchased this yesterday and tried it out. It minimized the video disruption a little. I put the ferrite barrel on the POWER cord first then on the VIDEO cable. It seemed to work best on the video cable. I will still be looking but this may have been an acceptable solution. If I find something better I will post it.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Wanted to Play PS3 with my MOUSE and KEYBOARD

I am an OLD PC gamer and I used to play Battlefield 2 on PC with a mouse and keyboard. NOW I have a PS3 and I need to play with the controller....however this is so crazy out of hand at how fast the joystick is that I decided to buy an Eagle Eye Converter to allow me to use a mouse and keyboard on my PS3.  I purchased it on Tuesday from Amazon (Penguin United) for $54.67 with Free "PRIME" shipping. Setting it up was rather simple until I had to do the calibration in game BUT I found that if there ever was a time to "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS" this was it. After reading the instructions I was able to use my mouse and keyboard with my PS3.

2011-2012 NFL Playoff What Ifs - here is a Playoff Scenario

My wife and I were trying to figure out WHO would play the Green bay Packers. SO we started talking about NFL Playoff What If's. Who plays the Number 1 Seed in the NFL Playoffs in the Divisional Round? Who Plays the Green Bay Packers If the Saints Win? Who Plays the Green Bay Packers if Detroit Wins? Well here is the answer.....I hope. it is still muddy but it comes down to the winners of the wild card games obviously. In no scenario will the SAINTS play the packers in the divisional Round. Maybe the NFC Championship but not now. SO here is what I came up with.
 So it looks like in the Divisional Round it will be Detroit or Atlanta or New York playing the Green bay Packers. GO PACK GO!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Need to Post to both Facebook and Twitter....

I stumbled onto this App that allows you to post to your Twitter Account any tweet you make and then add the TAG #fb and it will also post that to your Facebook wall as a status update. SO updating both your Twitter Account and Facebook at one time is possible using this simple Facebook App. Selective Tweets. https://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter/