Faint rolling line on TV capture with ADVC100

[blank_dog]

Hi,

I have a faint line (about 1 inch) slowly rolling up my TV capture with the ADVC100, and don't know what causes it. I'm feeding straight out of the digital cable box using monster cables, so I don't think that there is interference getting in the way.

It is similar to what you see when they show PC monitors on a TV show. It starts at the bottom of the screen and works its way up and then repeats. You normally have two of them on the screen at any one time.

It's only faint, and you only really notice it when there is a static background to the program. It has always been there, but I noticed that it doesn't happen on my digital cable channels(i.e. above 55), only the analog ones.

Anyone know what causes it, and how to get rid of it ? As I've just started capturing from the TV and it gets really annoying.

Thanks,
bd.

[The village idiot]

You have a hum bar from the cable or power. Search the forum and you will find the answer. It has been discussed a couple of times, and I'm too lazy to type it all out again, sorry. But at least the fix should be simple.

[wwaag]

Have you tried capturing from another source like your VCR? If you get the same rolling effect, then your ADVC-100 might be the culprit. My suspicion, however, is that the fault lies with your cable provider or its equipment--my experience has been that cable is notorious for such artifacts, although I've had no experience with digital cable.

wwaag

[Barnabas]

blank_dog,

That is an AC "hum bar". It can be caused by MANY things, but if you have a USB printer and scanner connected, unplug the USB ports from those and see if it clears up.

Changing to a different AC plug for the computer versus the printer, scanner, or capture device can help. It's kind of trial and error to find out what's causing it, but if those suggestions don't work, just unplug the power 1 thing at a time on everything you have connected until you find what's causing it. Removing the ground from the power plug will usually get rid of stubborn cases.

[blank_dog]

OK, so I tried other sources (DVD and VHS) and they're fine. No bands at all. So it must just be the cable box. I will try changing the power points and stuff around, see whether I can make a difference that way.

I was just looking at my favourite Monster cable website and see that they have a Power Cleaner, which says that it "cleans" any noise in the AC supply. That might help I suppose. Anyone have any experience with this at all. At $100 it's a little pricey for an extension cord, but if it does the trick then hey

bd.

[Barnabas]

OK, so I tried other sources (DVD and VHS) and they're fine. No bands at all. So it must just be the cable box. I will try changing the power points and stuff around, see whether I can make a difference that way.

I was just looking at my favourite Monster cable website and see that they have a Power Cleaner, which says that it "cleans" any noise in the AC supply. That might help I suppose. Anyone have any experience with this at all. At $100 it's a little pricey for an extension cord, but if it does the trick then hey

bd.

I wouldn't spend $100 to a "power cleaner". I don't think that will help in the least, as my APC surge protector has the same thing, and it did not filter out the bars.

If you cable box has a ground plug (3 prongs) use a ground reducer on it and see if that fixes it.

[Megahurts]

blank_dog

If you have 1 bar runing through the pix then you might have a noisy AC line. Since you said you have 2 bars, it sounds like you have a power supply problem in the cable box.

Can you recieve analog channels without the box? Do the bars show up watching the TV from the box?

If you suspect interference then you could use a portable AM radio and tune it off station and walk around the room. You'll be supprised what radiates static, specially dimmer switches.

Try these before you spend the big bucks.

Chas

[wwaag]

blank dog

Since DVD and VHS work OK and your digital signals through the cable box are OK, it sounds like you need to complain loudly to your cable provider--for all the good that will likely do. Poor quality of analog signals for at least some channels from cable providers is unfortunately a fact of life. If all else fails, do yourself a favor and get a dish.

wwaag

[blank_dog]

OK, thanks for all the replies, I managed to solve the problem

It turned out to be simple! After reading around further on the net, I found an advert that said that Monster Cable Power cleaner earthed and surge protected the cable lead as well. So it got me thinking as I obviously had an earthing problem. I looked around the apartment for a powerstrip that had a cable lead surge protector on it. Found one, plugged in the cable lead from outside the apartment into the "In" side and had a cable going from the "Out" side to the cable box. Plugged in all the AV power leads to the same powerstrip and NO MORE HORIZONTAL BARS !!!!

So the powerstrip must earth the cable lead when it's surge protecting it. Problem solved and love the price....

bd.