Great, it was working. But the saga doesn't end there...

After plugging the unit back into my home entertainment center (which
consists of a Dish DVR-Symphonic DVD/VCR combo-Gamecube-RCA 27" TV)
with this configuration, the TV fuse immediately blew.

Without delving into it, my friend guesses that there's a small
voltage in the line, and that the blue filters (and whatever else is
in the sheilded coax assembly) is filtering the stuff out. Since we
bypassed this filter mechanism, the fuse blows.

This design of chassis is HOT and direct connected to power. This is
why this input is isolated. Get this part repaired properly not
bypassing. Bypassing is good for diagnostic purposes.

I think there is more damage now :-(

Cheers,

Wizard