pahiua

Can someone help? I've been trying to connect my dtv converter box with my dvd/vcr combo with no success. Does anyone know how to do that? I've been doing searches on the internet and there are several websites that tell you how to connect to a vcr or two both a vcr and dvd player, not a combo. There's talk about needing an RF splitter and/or an RF modulator. Not sure that I really need all that. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

cowboyup4christ

to connect ot a vcr/ dvd combo you must connect by the component cables or the RCA type cables that's how I did mine.
or you can try antenna to converter box to tv on converter box to antenna in on VCR/DVD and then to tv on VCR to tv.

Sparks

To tell you exactly how to do this we first need to know a few things about your combination VCR/DVD. Have you had it hooked up in some way to use it before or is it a new unit? Do you know if it has any kind of built in tuner?

I bought one of them a little over a year ago and it was difficult to get it hooked up to work especially since the instructions that came with it was incorrect.

If you could tell us the brand and model number of both your DVD/VCR and of your DTV converter box we may be able to look them up and tell you exactly what you need to do to connect them to work.

To set out to write all of the instructions gets rather involved and there is no point in doing that if the instructions would not match your equipment.

Have you hooked up to the TV set and got it to work yet? Can you play and view a DVD and a video tape? If you have not hooked it to the TV yet do you have what is called RCA type connectors on the TV set and is your TV a stereo TV .

I have attached a picture of the rear of a device to show what RCA connectors look like. On the left half of this device is some connectors that are red, green, blue, white and yellow. Do you have this type of connector on your TV set anywhere. They may be on the front or rear or both and they could be behind a flip open cover. They may be arranged differently and you may not have as many or more of them.

I will keep an eye on this thread for a few days to look for your response. If you have not get it figured out yet I will put together some instructions for you to get it working.

Attached Images

Fortec3.jpg (41.2 KB, 26 views)

pahiua

Thanks for the replies.
Fortec3: Thanks for asking for all the applicable details. Here are my answers.

1. My dvd/vcr player is a magnavox MWR20v6. And, yes, I had it hooked up to watch and record prior to getting the dtv box. I tried looking at the magnavox website to see if it's got a digital tuner. The model number didn't even come up. However, I really don't think it has the new type of tuner. I've had this for almost two years and I read somewhere that only if they were bought in 2007/2008 were they required to have a digital tuner. I'm assuming it has some kind of tuner. I have the specifications in the manual and it has a section with info on the tuner. I can give you more info on that if you need it.

2. The dtv converter box is a Tivax STB-T9.

3. I did set up the converter box to the tv set directly to make sure the box worked and it does. I got the menu that the instructions say it's supposed to do. Just can't set it up via the dvd/vcr player.

4. The dvd/vcr does have RCA connectors as does the tv set (Toshiba). Here's what's available under the connections for the dvd/vcr. (It has two sections. One says DVD and the other says DVD/VCR.)

DVD
a. Digital audio out
b. Audio out
c. S-video
d. Component video out (green, blue, red) I have this hooked from dvd to tv set

DVD/VCR
a. S-video
b. Audio--In and Out (white, yellow, red). Currently have connected out and into the tv set.
c. Antenna--In and Out. Have both connected.

5. Not sure if the tv is 'stereo'. I don't have it hooked up for stereo sound, but not sure if the tv has stereo. Here are the available connections for the tv. (It does have the yellow, white, red on the front of the tv as well.)
ANTENNA--one connection

IN
a. 2 sets of yellow, white, red (says video 1)
b. 1 set of green, blue, red (says video 2)

OUT
a. 1 set of yellow, white, red

So that's all the hook-ups available. I hope I've answered your questions 'cuz I haven't figured it out. I went back to my old hook-up with dvd/vcr and tv set so I could record shows and play dvd's for my daughter. I really appreciate the time you've taken to reply. I look forward to your answer. I'll check back again tomorrow in case you have further questions. Thanks!

Sparks

Hi again,

I looked up specs on your DVD/VCR and you do have an NTSC (analog) tuner built into it. You also have some very nice features built into that VCR like TruSurround Sound other neat things.

Let’s start this out with the simple way to do it. Since you had your VCR connected to an antenna and to a TV set and it worked. All you should need to do is to place the DTV box into the antenna wire ahead of the VCR as follows:

Disconnect the antenna wire from the antenna in connection on the VCR and plug that same antenna wire onto the Antenna in or RF in on the DTV box.

Take the piece of coaxial cable that came with the DTV on connect one end of it to the antenna out on the DTV box and connect the other end of the wire to the antenna in on the VCR where you just removed the other wire from.

Put your VCR on channel 3 or 4, turn on your TV set to the channel that you always used to watch your DVD/VCR.

Turn on the DTV converter box and everything should work. You will select the digital channel on the DTV box and you can record and or view it on the TV set. If you turn off the VCR it should pass through to channel 3 or 4 on your TV.

The specifications on your Triax DTV do not indicate that you have the "Analog Pass Through" feature on your converter box. With the equipment that you have you should be able to get around this very easily.

With analog pass through or with the way that I am going to tell you to wire this you will be able to get your analog stations through the VCR to the TV or you can turn on the DTV and watch and/or record digital channels with the VCR and TV set.

Take the A/V (Audio/Video) cable that came with your DTV converter box and connect it from the A/V output of the DTV and the other end to the input of the VCR. This A/V cable is the one with the yellow, white and red connectors on each end. This type of connector is called an RCA connector. One of the wires should be the video and the other two should be left and right audio. Now install a splitter into the antenna wire before the DTV box.

To do this you should disconnect the antenna in wire from the DTV and connect a short coax wire from the DTV to one output side of the splitter. Connect the input side of the splitter to the antenna wire. Connect the other output connector on the splitter to another short piece of coax antenna wire and connect the other end of that wire to the input of the VCR/DVD.

Now whenever your DTV converter is on you should be able to view the digital channels on both the VCR and the TV. The VCR may have a video 1 or 2 to tune to for reception through the A/V cables or it may not. You will have to try different channels to find out. When you turn the DTV box off then you should be able to get the analog signal to your VCR and TV without having to flip any switches or change any wires. This should now come in by tuning the normal analog channel number with the VCR and/or TV

As you probably know, when the analog TV signals are turned of in February there will still be some low power TV stations and repeater towers that will continue to broadcast an analog signal. This way you should get both if everything works the way that it is suppose too.

If you have an antenna wire only running from your DVD/VCR to your TV set. That should work fine. If you were to connect another A/V cable from the VCR to the TV Video 1 or Video 2 inputs then you should have a little better picture and sound than you would otherwise have. With the VCR wired between the TV and the DTV you may need to have the VCR on to view the digital channels from the DTV when it is on.

Your tuner on the TV will in addition to the normal analog tuner numbers have a Video 1 and a Video 2 channel. This is where you would tune your TV to so that you can view the higher quality picture from your VCR or from your DTV through the VCR for a digital channel. With the DTV turned off then you would tune with the analog tuner to the analog channels.

Now the only thing is question is what the correct channel is on your VCR and how you’re TV/Video selector should be set to make this work properly. Since I have never used your equipment you may have to experiment with channel 3 for analog or digital and the Video 1 and Video 2 for either signal. You may not even have the Video 1 and 2 on your VCR. It may just pass it through your coax wire or you A/V cable at the same time through the VCR.

If I did not make a mistake and if you do not make one either then this should work for you either way that you do it. Let us know if you still have a problem so that we can follow through. I would also be nice to know if it works for you.

I have attached a photo of a splitter combiner so there will be no doubt as to what I am talking about. The trouble with the splitter combiners is that you will have a slight loss of signal by using it. If you have a very strong signal from all of your stations such as in a metro area you should be OK. If you have a weaker signal you may not be able to stand the slight signal power loss. If this is the case then you can get a powered splitter combiner and I have also attached a picture of one of them. The actual style or brand of one of these parts that is in the pictures means nothing. I do not have a favorite or better brand. This is just the first pictures that I found to attach to this.

It is also possible to hook this up so that you can record a digital channel while you watch a different digital channel. That would require a second DTV box. If you did that you would want the second box to be a different brand so that the remote control would not operate both of them at the same time. I have attached a drawing of this setup in case you are interested. If I was going to do this I would have a separate TV, VCR and tuner in a different room.

Attached Images

	splitter combiner.jpg (7.4 KB, 26 views)
	powered splitter combiner.jpg (7.3 KB, 23 views)
	diagram_dtv_vcr_tv_record.jpg (50.6 KB, 32 views)

pahiua

Hi Sparks,

Thanks for all the great info! I even saved it onto a Word document so that I have it for future reference.

I will definitely try that out and let you know if that works or not. I live in the L.A. area so I'm not too concerned with the strength of the signal, but I guess one never knows. I'll keep you posted....Thanks again!

Sparks

Hello pahiua,

It is so easy to make a mistake or to not think of something when putting it into writing like this. I hope that did not happen with the information that I sent to you. Let us know if you still have a problem.

You say that you are in L.A. I have never lived in or real close to a metro area even though I my office was in the St Louis area for a few years. I have always sort of envied people living in an area where they have so many channels available that they can get with a very small or portable antenna.

pahiua

Hi,

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I ran out of ink on my printer and I couldn't print your instructions. It's been so long, I hope you see my reply.

I finally got a chance to try it out. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far. Here's the part where I got stuck.

"Take the piece of coaxial cable that came with the DTV on connect one end of it to the antenna out on the DTV box and connect the other end of the wire to the antenna in on the VCR where you just removed the other wire from."

The coaxial cable that came with my DTV doesn't fit the 'antenna in' on my vcr/dvd player. The hole is too small for that cable. Bummer! It seemed like such an easy way to try to get it to work and I was so looking forward to getting it set up. Any other suggestions? Thanks!

cowboyup4christ

use a regular piece of coax instead

Jay

Pahiua,
Does the Coax you have look like this?


Does the back of your VCR look like this?

Does the input on your VCR have three connectors like the one above that are Yellow, White, Red or does the antenna in look lke the connection on the very far right?