controller flicker anomaly

First off, this is not an issue with indigo since I get the same result with and with out indigo running - it's an insteon issue.

Here's the scenario. My home server (mac mini) is situated in the corner of the family room. I have a power outlet on the left wall, which I'll call outlet A, and another power outlet on the right wall, which I'll call outlet B. The computer and LCD TV (which doubles as the monitor for the mac mini) are plugged into a surge protector/power strip that is plugged into outlet B. The powerlinc V2 controller is plugged into outlet A. When the LCD TV is powered on, the powerlinc controller LED is steady on; however, once I turn off the LCD TV, the powerlinc LED flickers constantly.

Question: does anyone have a theory as to why the controller LED behaves differently when the TV is on vs. off? This isn't causing any problems, but the constant flicker can be distracting in low light situations.

Thanks.

[matt (support)]

LED flickering on the PowerLinc means it is detecting noise in the X10/Insteon frequency range on the power line. If this is severe, then it can lock-up the PowerLinc and keep it from sending/receiving commands (and communicating with Indigo). It doesn't sound like it is severe in your case, since things work okay when it is flickering. Strange that the flickering occurs when the LCD TV is OFF, versus ON. It may not be the LCD TV that is causing the noise. You might try turning the LCD TV off and unplugging various appliances (including your surge strip) to see if the flicker stops. If it does, then you can put a FilterLinc on the offending item to keep it from causing noise on the power line.

Regards,
Matt

Actually I can think of a scenario where the 'off' tv really could cause interference. Very few electronic devices actually turn 'all the way' off anymore - especially home theater equipment. If your TV has a remote control (can you even get TVs that don't have remotes anymore?) then it definitely has some minor amount of power running through it, since it needs just a bit to power the IR detector circuits so it knows when you want it to come on.

Now my theory, which is probably pretty far fetched, is that the power supply in your TV is optimized for full power mode and rather than degrading nicely in to low power mode it actually becomes noisy. So when it is on everything is fine, but when it is 'basically off' your powerlinc can see it.

Doing an 'unplug the tv and see if it still happens' test would confirm that hypothesis.

Thanks all - problem solved.

As I picked up the power strip to start pulling plugs (as you both suggested), I noticed that the flicker stopped. Turns out that the flicker only occurs when the mac mini power brick is in close proximity to the power strip/surge protector *and* the TV is off. I just separated the two by a few inches and the flicker stopped.