tsugantino

Yeah, they're more than I really wanted to pay for them, but they did help alot. What's involved in grounding rca cables? Is it hard? I'm googling right now to see what I can find on the topic.

Where I’m at now is I have 90% of the problem rectified, I’m at a point where I think I’m just going to accept where I’m am with it. I bought the VB-1RR and CI-2RR (video and audio ground loop isolators) from Jensen Transformers and for the most part they help. The video clears up 98%, but there still is some audio noise (more noticeable when at volumes greater than 30 on the AVIC-N1). It really does help and makes it much more acceptable, I just wish there was a way to clear it up 100%. I noticed what also helped even more was moving the Xbox and it’s power cord to the other side of the car (away from the AVIC-N1’s brain). I got way more noise when the power cord was on top of all the video and audio cables. So I’ve been getting even better results with that, too. I’ve been wanting to try a true sine power inverter for some time, but for what I could pay for that with installation I would rather install screens in my headrests. That won’t be for awhile though.

All this time I have still been investigating possible solutions and have just found something promising. I should know by tomorrow if this works, but I stumbled on using a $15 audio ground loop from Circuit City (http://www.tsunamionline.com/product.php?id=52) to assist in removing the audio interference (couldn't find a video one in the store). When I saw that actually work at making the audio 1000 times better, I did a search for one that could be used for video and found this VB-1RR from Jensen Electronics (http://www.jensen-transformers.com/iso_vid.html). I ordered it yesterday and should be delivered to my job sometime tomorrow afternoon. Either way, I'll post what happens. On another note, I tried using one of those Mad Catz 7" mobile screens and it worked with the XBox flawlessly in my car (using my hard wired 350watt power inverter and the 140watt cigarette lighter one). I suppose the Pioneer AVIC-N1 is just super sensitive to things like this. Crossing fingers...

Does this company you're sending your PS2 modify XBoxes also so you could run those off the car battery, too? What's the name of the company? Do they have a website or a way to contact them?

Mr. Lex, After the technicians having the car all day, they still couldn't figure out the A/V noise problem. The tech did re-ground the hide away unit with a 8 gauge wire and bolt, but nothing was improved from where we were. It's likely I'll need to buy that special adapter you provided a link to for the XBox. I wonder if that'll work though, I'd hate to spend 100 or so dollars to find out I'm still where I am with it. At least after all this trouble, it's safe to say that XBox just wasn't intended for such things unless massive grounding measures are taken. I can't see doing all that for one console. Luckily my PS2 and GameCube work golden. I was really hoping one day that some friends and I could all show up at work in the parking lot with wireless adapters and just go off on a serious networked game of Halo 2. It’s not like it couldn’t happen, but the noise makes me nervous like I’m damaging the AVIC or Xbox. Hopefully there’ll be an answer out there soon and I could give a more positive update on this project. Thanks for your quick reply before and hope all is well.

Mr. Lex, I have the same exact problem, I'm using the AVIC-N1 (I believe the difference in models is just what's sold in our locations). I noticed you were saying something about grounding the A/V inputs on the hide away unit and was wondering if that's something I extra I need to figure out. In other words, do I need to modify the unit to ground it or does it have an actual means of grounding the A/V inputs? I had a major electronics store install my unit and I'm not very technical when it comes to cars and their wiring, but if I had some additional info to go back there with I'm sure they could fix it for me. They're dying to know why the XBox doesn't work right away as all the technicians there want to do the same thing as we're doing. Currently I have a 350watt power inverter and it's wired to the car battery w/ fuse and relay. Before the power inverter was wired differently and after someone regrounded it and took the wiring from the ignition to the battery, not only did my car respond better, but the picture and noise eased up by 50%. Thanks!