Lap top / cricket in monitors

Proud dad

So i have been runnig my lap top via the snake with no problems and last night a Chirp..Chirp..chirp..chirp apeared in the monitors every time i open EQ window/Cross over /limiter, Any of the windows. As soon as i closed all the windows it goes away. This drove me crazy tring to fix. Now for the real kicker. Im not even using the 260 for the monitors, Mains only and its not in the mains. Help please. The only thing i havent tried is to lift the ground on the drive rack.. Mabe i need to lift the ground on the mixer.I dont know.Its not real loud but when the band is not playing they can here it. Kind of anouying. I have 3 bands to run today and i will check back in later.

Gadget

This is a tough one.. I have had a few problems with computers and PA systems. I suspect you are having a breakdown of your snake. I had the same problem... tore my hair out... I identified it down to channel 5 as I recall, and only replacing the snake or eliminating that channel banished the cricket. I have also had a huge ground loop problem with peripherals (in this case a LCD monitor) with a wallwart that had a ground pin.. I eliminated the ground pin...no more problem.... Are you using a splitter snake or are you feeding monitors from FOH?

Keep us informed ok?
Gadget

kpippen

Hi Proud dad,

I'm assuming that you have been using the same laptop and snake to communicate to your 260 in the past without the chrip?...

To expand on Gadgets list of things to check: I would plug directly into the DR260 with the serial cable to eliminate the snake and isolate the problem... If the problem still exists I would try a CTR-ALT-DEL to see what other applications are running... I would look for something that uses any com, E-Net, and bluetooth...especially wireless devices... Did you have anything wireless (including PDA, cellphone, IPOD, etc.) in the area that you didn't have before?...

Kev

Proud dad

As usaul you guys rock with the support you give on this site 8)

kpippen wrote:

Hi Proud dad,

I'm assuming that you have been using the same laptop and snake to communicate to your 260 in the past without the chrip?...

Kev

Correct I changed nothing and was a happy camper for 3months. An electrician said he has a ring i can try, you run it threw and around a few wraps. not sure what he is talking about but i will try it. I did try other channels on the snake, I was going to try one of my 100' XLR cables but i realy ran out of time to mess with it last night and after the last band at 1:30 this morning it was time to tear down a go home.Im still real happy with my purchase even if i have to open and close windows till i (we)LOL get this solved. I did have a hume in mon mix 1 last night and fond its a bad cable after the snake. I will change that out this week. It could be in that cable in the amp rack.

I will plug directly into the DR260 with the serial cable to eliminate the snake and isolate the problem...
CTR-ALT-DEL to see what other applications are running..Another great idea. I did turn of wirless internet Which solved the noise in my i-tunes...during breaks and chage out..

260 the best peace of gear i ever spent my money on, i will get another for the MON MIX next, Which brings me to another :?: Their is a vent on top and i left a empty space above my 260 for cooling. can i use that space for another 260 or is that going to over heat them :?:

kpippen

Proud dad wrote:

An electrician said he has a ring i can try, you run it threw and around a few wraps. not sure what he is talking about but i will try it.

That would most likely be a ferrite magnet used for RFI (radio frequency interference) and EMI (electromagnetic interference) suppression... It may work if the problem is coming from some type of wireless transmission...

Proud dad wrote:

Their is a vent on top and i left a empty space above my 260 for cooling. can i use that space for another 260 or is that going to over heat them :?:

I don't have the answer right off the top of my head but I'm certain that the DR260 manual would have free space or mounting requirements...

Please keep us posted!...:)

Kev

Proud dad

Gadget wrote:

. I eliminated the ground pin...no more problem.... Are you using a splitter snake or are you feeding monitors from FOH?

Keep us informed ok?
Gadget

Yes i am feeding from FOH. I had a noise from my lap top with the i-tune and i ran that through a Di box and lifted the ground. that solved that issue. I think the same thing is going on with the 260 program. I found a active DI with XLR in amd outs. Im going to try that this weekend. I dont know if they wiil talk to each other when i lft the ground.Cant hurt to try it.

kpippen

Proud dad wrote:

I think the same thing is going on with the 260 program. I found a active DI with XLR in amd outs. Im going to try that this weekend. I dont know if they wiil talk to each other when i lft the ground.Cant hurt to try it.

Proud dad,

Not sure if I'm understanding this correctly but just in case... Do not run your PC to DR260 serial connection through a DI box... It won't work because there will be an isolation transformer (Jensen if it's a good one) between the laptop and 260... RS-232 will not transmit data through a transformer... If you want to lift pin one then open up of the XLR connector (just one of them) and disconnect the drain (bare shield) wire on pin-1... You should still be able to communicate only using pins 2 and 3...:D

Cheers!

Kevin

Proud dad

Okay i was going to lift pin 1 and try it. Only onr problem the problem has gone away. When (if) it comes back i will try lfting the pin and countinue trouble shooting. Nothing worse then an intermentant problem.