[rescue] Power question...

[Carl R. Friend]

   On Sun, 11 Jan 2004, Nathan Raymond wrote:

> I realize this is somewhat off-topic, but I figure you folks are some of
> the most experienced people to ask this question: what would cause
> computer monitors (any monitor, hooked up to any computer) to jiggle at a
> refresh other than 60Hz?  I'm talking serious jiggle, and at any refresh
> above 60Hz.  This has been happening since I moved to an apartment in
> Cambridge, MA a few months ago, and it happens to all my monitors (four
> different ones, three different brands), hooked up to any computer.  I
> only get a stable image at the eyestrain causing, headache inducing
> refresh rate of 60Hz.  I've tried outlets on either side of room, no
> difference.  I don't have any sort of UPS, just some high quality power
> strips (and this happens on more than one power strip, so I know it's not
> the strip).

   This is going to sound completely off-the-wall, but there are a
couple of office in the building I work in where conventional CRT-
based monitors are just about useless and just for that reason.  We
know that there's a UPS (to power our telephone switch) just adjacent
to one of the rooms, and suspect that there may be a power feed in
a conduit near the other office.  My suspicion is that you've got
a large source of magnetism somewhere in your close vicinity (are
you near the main A/C compressor motors?).  Take a quick squint
around your environs.

   How did we fix the problem at work?  We installed flat-panel
displays for the folks in question.  As an aside, the problem
isn't a _flicker_ per se, but rather a "wobble" in the display.

   Cheers.

+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:crfriend at rcn.com                        +---------------------+
| http://users.rcn.com/crfriend/museum           | ICBM: 42:22N 71:47W |
+------------------------------------------------+---------------------+