wjm@whuxl.UUCP (MITCHELL) (08/15/84)
<gulp> Radio Shack sells a power line/lightning surge protector for $10.00, which you plug into a grounded outlet and then plug your audio equipment, TV, computer or whatever into. It contains a pair of MOV (metal-oxide varistors) between each of the circuit conductors (hot and netutral) and ground. I recommend it to everyone (actually, I recommend you get several - one for each piece of electronic gear you have, although you can protect several items with one device by plugging a multi-outlet strip into the surge protector and then the goodies into the strip). This is CHEAP insurance against lightning strikes and power surges. However, none of these power conditioning devices will solve the problem of 60Hz hum in audio systems, and they have limited effectiveness against RFI on the power lines. The more expensive conditioning devices intended for computers (at $80 to $100) just provide more protection against spikes. Regards, Bill Mitchell (whuxl!wjm)