I have 2 DTV converter boxes - one for TV and one for VCR. The wiring is exactly as prescribed by manuals and FCC. VCR does NOT record programs from TV - altho it plays back pre-recorded tapes OK. I have all switches on Channel 3 - TV & its box, VCR & its box. Picture is snowy or non-existent on TV when trying to playback VCR recordings. Help.

A DTV converter box will take digital broadcast signals from the antenna and convert them to a format compatible with the VCR. You will be able to record programs received through the DTV box on your VCR if you could record analog over-the-air programs before the digital changeover. You can use either the RF output or the component output from the DTV box to input to the VCR.

Hi,

I kind of think the people that wrote the manuals didn't bother hooking up a unit. Here is some help.

The converter box is nothing more then a tv tuner that picks up a digital signal and converts it into analog so your tv can view it.

The vcr, to record programs has to be set to channel 3 or 4 (whatever the converter box is broadcasting on) to record. The converter for the vcr will have to set to whatever channel you want to record from every time you use the vcr and left on as this is the only was the vcr can pick up a signal. Make sure the power saver on the converter box is set to off.

If your tv converter box has digital pass through, all you have to do is turn the tv converter box off and it your tv should pick up the singal from your vcr when you play tapes. You also use this method to access the menu on the vcr.

As long as your cable company converter box is feeding your VCR, you should be ok. The cable box should convert to analog which is what your VCR records.

You have to use the RCA plugs on the back of the converter box and the tv (red,yellow and white). Or you can attach the antenna wire to box and then attach the wire that comes with the converter that is listed as to the tv and instead attach it to the antenna in on the vcr. The converter box will determine which channel your vcr will get a singal to record from. Your VCR for every program will be set to channel 3 or 4 (depending on what your converter box is set to broadcast on). Make sure the power saver on the converter box is turned off as if you want to record a program in say 4 hours, if the converter box turns off in 2, your vcr will have nothing to record.

I ran seperate coaxible cable to the tv from vcr and unplug the tv converter box everytime I want to watch the vcr. You can also use the RCA cord to send the signal from the vcr to the tv and use the input signal to watch your recorded programs. I had static showing up everytime I played it through the second converter box thus I solved it by running a seperate coax line. I don't know if you will have this problem, just wanted you to be aware.

I have been able to record down converted HDTV shows on my Panasonic DMR-EH50 recorder directly to the unit's hard drive and/or directly to a blank DVD-R disc.

I do not know of any DTV converter box that can provide the proper codes to the Panasonic DMR-EH50 to allow recording and scheduling of shows using the unit's built in TV Guide menuing functions (the program recording codes are essentially VCR Plus codes in the USA and VCR Video codes in the UK, and this technology was previously owned by TV Guide/Gemstar but was purchased by Macrovision within the past couple of years.)

When the DMR-EH50 is hooked up to standard RG-59/U coaxial TV cable, the cable company provides the specific VCR Plus recording codes, as well as auto setting the time and date information required for the TV Guide recording schedule menus. The VCR Plus recording codes are sent via the cable company through the coaxial cable to the end consumer's recording device. Since Gemstar's VCR-Plus patents are now owned by Macrovision, I am not sure of how this works (or will work) for non-cable/non-satellite customers or if such codes will be made available by Macrovision to record shows when one receives HDTV signals (or down converted DTV signals) from an over-the-air antenna.

Though the DMR-EH50 recorder can only record at Standard Definition (SD) broadcast resolutions, I connect the DMR-EH50 to my High Definition TV using the three progressive scan YPBPR output cables and switch my HD-TV into the YPBPR mode when I want to watch shows from the DMR-EH50.

YPBPR are the analog video signals carried by three color coded component video cables. The green cable carries the Y signal; the blue cable carries the PB signal; and the red cable carries the PR signal. The added benefit of using the YPBPR hookup is that you can 'up convert' a standard DVD disc (non HD Blu-Ray disc) in progressive scan mode to somethin akin to 720p resolution using the DM-EH50 (or any other progressive scan DVD player) to get a better quality image on your HD-TV.

Visually speaking, the same appears to hold true for playback of programs recorded on the DMR-EH50's hard drive even though down converted via the DTV converter box, and when played back on an HD-TV using the YPBPR progressive scan cabling hookup.

I also been able to successfully record programs from the DTV converter box to the DMR-EH50 recorder in both 16:9 wide screen and 4:3 normal aspect ratios, but again only in Standard Definition quality.

For NTSC and PAL formats, the correct aspect ratios for any particular TV (the rectangular height and width of your output resolution for a TV screen) can usually be setup correctly for most any DTV converter box by going carefully through the menus on the converter box. Though the converted DTV often will yield 'better looking TV' than cable, it's certainly not high definition however, as the purpose of any DTV converter box is * not * to yield a High Definition digital TV signal but a lower quality Standard Definition signal for viewing on older SD-TVs.

We must remember that what is happening here is that (by NTSC USA standards), we are transcoding (i.e., down converting) an over the air 1920 x 1080p (progressive scan) High Definition digital broadcast signal, captured by your over the air antenna, back to a Standard Definition 720 x 480 resolution analog broadcast signal (the 720 x 480 resolution is a 4:3 aspect ratio.)

Hope this helps a little -

Greg Loveria
Conklin, NY USA

Is it possible to record TV programming on a VCR when using a DTV converter? h1 = document.getElementById("title").getElementsByTagName("h1")[0];h1.innerHTML = widont(h1.innerHTML); Hi,

I had the same problem and found this answer that worked for me. Hope this does the trick for you.

Simple stated, your VCR must be set to channel 3 also. Check it out.

woody

1. You must have the VCR tuned to record on channel 3.
2. You must have the VCR connected to output signal of the DTV converter box. In other words, the converter box must be connected between the antenna and the VCR. So, the likely configuration you would use with a coaxial cable is antenna to DTV converter to VCR to TV.
3. You must tune the DTV converter to the channel you want to record prior to recording. The VCR won't be able to change channels on the DTV converter.
4. You will be able to use the timed record function on the VCR but you must adhere to steps 1-3.

If this sounds freakishly familiar to recording on a digital cable or satellite set-top box, you are right. It is exactly like recording a signal from a digital cable box or satellite receiver. While it may be inconvenient to perform the steps above, at least the option still exists to record on a VCR while using a DTV converter box.
Disadvantage of DTV Converter: You will lose the ability to watch one program and record another with the DTV converter. Sorry for the bad news.
The reason is the tuner. The VCR tuner is useless with digital except for recognizing channel 3. The digital converter is a single tuner item so it only receives one station at a time.

I assume you're trying to record from the DTV box. You will have to set the DTV box to play through channel 3 then tell the VCR to record channel 3. So basically the VCR always THINKS it's recording channel 3, but in reality it's recording whatever channel the DTV box is on. You will be unable to used timed recording unless you leave the box on whatever channel it is you're wanting to tape.

set the recorder to the same channel out put as the converter box

Hey Whormd,

If neither your DVD recorder nor your TV has a digital (ATSC) tuner, they will not be able to directly receive over-the-air broadcasts after the DTV conversion is completed without the assistance of a set-top converter box. Please keep in mind that the official analog broadcasting cut-off date does vary by country. In the U.S. this date is February 17th, 2009, and that Canadian TV stations have until August 31st 2011 to make the transition.

Please also note that you will need one converter box for each device with an analog tuner, in order to watch one program while recording another. One converter box would need to be connected to the DVR, while the second converter box would need to be connected to the TV itself.

For more information, I would strongly suggest checking out the FAQ sections of the official DTV websites established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Canadian Radio/Television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC):

http://www.dtv.gov/index.html (FCC)
http://www.crtc.gc.ca/ (CRTC)

Hope this helps you out.

Sincerely,
Aaron
Go Ahead. Use Us.

Can't go through the VCR in the normal way. The DTV box must be tuned to the channel you want to record and left there. Cannot tell VCR to tape one channel and watch another nor tape multiple timed and multiple channel shows unless the DTV is tuned to that specific channel. This makes most VSR functions useless.