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Noise on my component cables

874 Views 7 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Derekius, Oct 3, 2006

Derekius

Discussion Starter · Oct 1, 2006

I bought an LCD TV for my basement not too long ago, and decided to hang it on the wall. Since it was goign to be on the wall, I wanted to put the A/V accessories in a cabinet in the corner of the room. I ran 2 sets of component cables, 1 S-Video cable, 3 stereo audio cables, 1 coaxial line, and the power cable for my TV. These are all roughly 15' in length. I have a dropped ceiling in my basement, and ran all the wires together. I did not see an easy way to hide the cables in the wall, so I have some black tubing to keep them together (I know it's not the most professional thing in the world, but I'm not a professional).

The problem I am having is that no matter what input my TV is set to, I have noise in my speakers. It sounds like wind blowing, and when I turn the volume up or down, the wind stays the same volume. When I mute teh speakers, the wind stops. While trying to find the source of the problem, I turned started unplugging cables one by one to see what made the noise stop. It turned out to be the component cables from the cable box to the TV (specifically the green cable...when I unplugged the red or blue individually the video distorted, but stayed, and the sound wa sstill there. When I unplugged the green, the sound and video cut out altogether).

I assume I am getting this noise because, like an idiot, I ran the power cable right along the component cables, and they are not shielded well enough. What would be the best way to eliminate the noise? I'm only assuming this is a problem between the power and component cables, but I am open to suggestions, as I'm sure the majority of the people who frequent this forum know more about this than I do.

Thanks for any help you might be able to provide.

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AV Doogie

· #2 · Oct 2, 2006

Sounds like you may have a ground loop. Do you have all of your components plugged into the same outlets at one location, with the TV in another location? If this is the case, try this experiment. " Plug your tv into the same outlets as the rest of the equipment with an extension cord and see if the noise disappears. If it does, you probably have a ground loop. You may be able to fix the problem if you use a HDMI cable to interface the reciever with the tv or try plugging the reciever or (equipment where component cables originate) into the same outlet as the tv. Good luck..

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Derekius

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 2, 2006

Since all the cables run right along one another, the power cable for the TV has been extended and it already plugs into the same surge supressor. The cable box I have has Component out and HDMI out, but unfortunately my TV doesn't have HDMI, only DVI. I checked with the cable company, and the HDMI signal has HDCP enabled, and since my TV is not HDCP-compliant, I assume that would not work. One of my friends was using a HDMI to DVI adapter to use his PC monitor as the TV for his bedroom, and there was a recent firmware upgrade that required HDCP-compliant devices in order to use the HDMI output. We have the same cable company, and exact same model of cable box.

Since the TV and all other devices are already on the same outlet, and HDMI won't work for me, how to I test for the ground loop?

(Sorry if I butchered any of the terminology, this really isn''t my area of expertise

)

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Mystic123

· #4 · Oct 2, 2006

I am not an expert either but what I did is unplug all the cable one at a time including the TV cable. I notice the issue came from my TV cable that was connected to my PVR. I bought a Monster power bar with a TV cable filter included and my problem is gone. The cheap one ($50 CDN) was enough to do the job.

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crackity

· #5 · Oct 2, 2006

yep, as the previous poster said definitely try unplugging the coax cable to see if that is the problem. It was for me. My Fix was really simple/cheap. I just grounded the splitter right where the coax cable entered the house and it fixed the problem. At least from what my buddy said, I shouldn't have to do that as it already should be grounded.... oh well it fixed my problem and I dont care

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Derekius

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 2, 2006

I have tried unplugging every cable to my TV, and plugging them in one at a time (I mean one at a time, not 1, then 1 more, then 1 more, etc). Having nothing but power and the green cable from my DVR's component output, I get the noise/hum/windy sound. It's not a constant hum, it's more of a windy sound that changes...the best way to describe it is the wind blowing, as it is not monotonous.

I bought a ground loop isolator from Radioshack, and this did not fix the problem. In fact, the video was absent altogether.

My DVR is connected to my TV with the YPbPr component cables for video, and stereo audio cables. When I have the audio cables unplugged, I still hear the sound. When I unplug the red and blue component cables, I hear the sound (although the picture is black and white). When I unplug the green component cable, the sound stops, but I also have no picture, even with both the red and blue component cables still connected.

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crackity

· #7 · Oct 2, 2006

I was talking about unplugging the coax from the back of the DVR (since this coax is the only thing coming from the outside world so to say) not from the TV.

Sounds like an extension cord running along side the video wires.... couldnt you jsut unplug that extension cord and run one not along your video cables to prove disprove your theory?

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Derekius

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 3, 2006

I tried unplugging the coax from the DVR, and that didnt make a difference. I will see what I can do about the power situation...although it's going to be a real pain in the butt to do so

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