When the Screen Goes Black | The MICRO-BROADCASTERS COMMUNITY Forum

Deleted
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When the Screen Goes Black May 4, 2018 22:51:46 GMT

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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2018 22:51:46 GMT

We've Lost Screen!

It's 5:44 PM CDT now, and for the past half-hour a new problem has arisen that our technician will need to deal with.

First, I am the technician, so it's yet another job that lands in my lap.

At 5:15, after years of normal performance, the screen of our Acer monitor went black. Yaa!

I jiggled some things and it came back.

A few minutes later it went black again.

Turning the monitor off and back on brought it back.

But something is trying to tell me something. A lot of somethings.

Can you see me now?

This junk that we deal with just so we can tell unimpressed people that we have a radio station.

Well, the monitor has served well over many years so let's give it a dignified send-off. Out the window of an airplane. We'll blame China.

Now I have to shop for a new monitor. I sure don't want one of those wide-screen deals... small screens are my cup of tea and I don't drink tea.

Imagine watching YouTube in a cup of tea.

I should probably curse or make body sounds.... ppffff!

Good thing we weren't operating a drone over the ballpark!

Last Edit: May 4, 2018 22:53:32 GMT by Deleted

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When the Screen Goes Black May 4, 2018 23:58:30 GMT

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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2018 23:58:30 GMT

Maybe We're in the Clear

The "black screen" disease may have resulted from a bad combination of software...

I was using TightVNC to communicate between computers, Streaming KDX and re-streaming WWOZ, there was a listener connected, and I was recording with Audacity..

After I turned off TightVNC the black screens stopped happening.

Still, this is a good time to order a new monitor so we can't be stranded in one of the tomorrows that will be arriving.

Boomer
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The Dog is listening..

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When the Screen Goes Black May 5, 2018 0:33:51 GMT

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Post by Boomer on May 5, 2018 0:33:51 GMT

Wink to black

If it's not something mechanical with the connector, it may well be the capacitors on the power supply board that have lost their capacity.

I'd take the back off of the monitor and look at the power board, look for the AC power cord to connect to it, and a dozen or so capacitors, an inch long or less and a half inch tops. Especially look for ones that are green printed, or another color rather than black. Those are 'low ESR' types used in the high frequency section of the power supply.

Check for bulged and/or leaking creases at the tops. If you have that, replace them with a set of new caps of that type. You can also clean your signal connector to the monitor, both jack and plug, I use a clean toothbrush and canned perri-air. Do it at the monitor side too, if the cord comes off there.

I'll agree, 4:3 screens are great, especially for reading text on websites that are full width, which gives a nice proportion to the text blocks. It must be due to online video that more screens are made wide, 16:9 these days, the better to watch new TV and theatrical releases. Maybe you could turn the screen to the side so it's viewed tall instead of wide..

Boomer

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When the Screen Goes Black May 11, 2018 21:54:07 GMT

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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2018 21:54:07 GMT

One Week of Normal

Since the first few black screens things went back to normal for a week, until today the black screen returned and I saw that the monitor's power light was off.

Without a screen I had to do brute shutdowns of both computers, and removed the monitor from service

Way back in storage was a NEC Monitor handed down from a computer consultant who had no use for it. It is now in service and I'm working on restoring our radio playlist and stream.

Thanks to this good advice from Boomer: "...it may well be the capacitors on the power supply board that have lost their capacity."

That will be the very first task toward restoring the Acer Monitor.

Being in the world without access to the internet is like being on a highway without a car.