Post by Novel8I want to be able to record cable . I have an old VHS vcr that has only rf in and out and the rca inputs/outputs. I connected my in cable from the wall to the rf input of the vcr, the vcr output to the cable box input and the output of the cable to my Digital LCD TV. I have a TV source and a conpoment source on my TV. With this setup after turning on both the vcr and TV, and chose TV source, I do see my cable channels as well as on my component source...But, no sign of a vcr. What am I doing wrong?
If you are able to receive any station on your analog TV by connecting
your cable provider's signal to your TV straight from the wall, without
needing a cable box, your cable provider is supplying analog cable
service. This is less and less common these days. You probably need to
interpose the cable box to process the cable signal before feeding it to
the TV.
Your VCR only has an analog tuner, the same as in your analog TV. It
cannot process digital signals. Just to make sure, keeping the setup
you described, after connecting the RF cable from the wall directly to
the RF input of the VCR, did you set the VCR to "cable" and do a station
scan? Do that if you didn't. If after the scan you still don't get any
stations on the VCR's tuner, your cable provider is supplying only a
digital signal.
The reason your cable box is able to provide all the cable stations to
the TV with your VCR in the signal path is that the VCR can either (a)
process an analog RF input signal or (b) pass through that signal to its
RF output jack. It will always pass through the signal when the VCR is
turned off. When the VCR is on, you choose which you want by pressing
the TV/VCR choice button on your VCR's remote.
You can almost certainly record cable service stations on your VCR but
only with certain limitations. If your cable box has a composite video
output jack, connect an RCA cable between the cable box's composite
video jack and the AUX video input jack on your VCR. To record, you
will need to (a) have the cable box on at the time of the recording, and
(b) tuned to the station you want to record. When you set your VCR, you
need to select the AUX input, not the typical, antenna, or over the air
choice. If you use your VCR this way, you can't watch any other station
on your TV at the same time.
Another choice, if you live in an acceptable over the air reception area
and want to record the traditional over the air stations, you can still
find digital to analog converter boxes for about $40 - $60. Connect an
antenna to the input of the converter box and the output of the
converter box to the VCR's input. Most converter boxes have both RF and
composite outputs so how you feed your VCR from the converter box will
be your choice. However, once again, to record, you will need to have
the converter box turned on and tuned to the station you plan to record.