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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Howdy. I'm hooking up a dish thingy and I was told to take the cable from the satellite dish to the box and then into the dvd/vcr player then into the TV and all will be well. Of course that doesn't work. I have a question or two for you wise tech types....or teenagers. I got a set of those way cool pokey cables that are suppose to give better picture for the dvd. These are three prongs that a P2 etc or something like that and they plug into the TV. Do I have to remove that to make the dang VCR be the intermediate or can I keep that plugged in? I'm lost and confused!
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MagiClyde Special user Columbus, Ohio 871 Posts |
I certainly hope I'm understanding your post correctly, having done such hookups in my own home.
First, you hook up the coax cable from the antenna to the descrambler box. If your descrambler box has it, there should be three RCA jacks on the back labeled left and right audio and the third being video. These will always be OUTPUT jacks on the descrambler and should be color coded as follows: red-left audio / white-right audio / yellow-video. There should be corresponding RCA INPUT and OUTPUT jacks on the VCR. If you have a cable with three colored male plugs at both ends in the same colors mentioned above, hook the colored plugs up from the OUTPUT of the descrambler box to the INPUT of the VCR box. To hook the VCR up to the tv, if it also has a similar configuration on it somewhere (older tv sets don't have any), connect a second such RCA cable from the OUTPUT of the VCR to the INPUT of the television set. In order to watch the Dish or DTV service, there should be a selection on the tv set for "F-1" or video input. You may also have to make such a selection for the VCR as well in order for it to receive the descrambler's a-v signals. How you select these is something you'll have to read your instruction manuals to figure out. If you have a game system presently hooked up to the tv where the VCR will need to be connected, you may have to buy a switchbox and a third cable. Connect the game and the VCR to the switchbox inputs and then go from the switchbox to the RCA jacks on the tv. Going from the game to the VCR is just a matter of the proper switch selection on the switchbox. My tv set actually has two such inputs, one in the back and one in the front. I have my VCR connected to the one in the back. My games systems are wired to a switchbox and then to the input on the front. If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask. On the other hand, you could ask a friend who's tech savvy to come over and help with the hookup.
Magic! The quicker picker-upper!
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Thank you. I'm in a new area and don't know anyone....and electricity seems pretty new in these parts. I'll give it a shot and see what happens, I do appreciate the advice. They should have one durn plug in for each thingy and it would solve all problems, I don't even want to consider a game system!
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MagiClyde Special user Columbus, Ohio 871 Posts |
If you don't have a game system, there should just be three cable arrangements to consider. The first would be the coax cable from the antenna to the descrambler. The second is a three rca plug/cable setup from the descrambler to the vcr rca input jacks. The third is another three rca plug/cable setup from the vcr rca output jacks to the tv set rca jacks. Now wasn't that easy?
If you are just using coax cable, make sure the rf out connector from the descrambler is going to the input rf connector on the vcr. Another one should go from the rf out connector to the coax/rf input on the back of the tv set. It may be that the reason your present configuration doesn't work is because these cables are switched on the back of the vcr. If you just got this satellite setup, wasn't installation part of the service? They may be willing to send out a tech to help get things going. That is, after all, what he gets paid to do.
Magic! The quicker picker-upper!
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MagiClyde Special user Columbus, Ohio 871 Posts |
Hey, magicsanta, you never did tell me if you ever got the system hooked up. I know my instructions were probably confusing. Personally, I prefer pictures. They're easier to follow.
Magic! The quicker picker-upper!
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Hi, not yet, had to leave town for a bit (took the lap top along). I'll give it a shot. The satellite has been set up for awhile, the TV is new.
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TV Magic Pal New user Dogtown up in the 'Lou 62 Posts |
Do you have a DVD/vcr combination or a DVD and a vcr? They have to be connected in a certain way or else the protections built into the DVD player to keep you from taping directly from it will cause problems.
Michael L.
Magic is a lie. It is our job to convince the audience to overlook the lie and our goal to make them embrace it. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
It is a DVD/VCR combo thingy. The idea was it was suppose to change the signal to digital once they switch over to HD in October. Any ideas?
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TV Magic Pal New user Dogtown up in the 'Lou 62 Posts |
If you have a satellite you aren't receiving broadcast signals and won't get HD unless you have an HD package. Typically you run the satellite coax into the DVD/VCR and then run signal out (in the manner of choice) into the TV. The trick is knowing what the input you plugging into is titled.
Michael L.
Magic is a lie. It is our job to convince the audience to overlook the lie and our goal to make them embrace it. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Lying arse sales people!
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TV Magic Pal New user Dogtown up in the 'Lou 62 Posts |
Yeah, HD is a broadcast standard only. The satellite and cable companies can punch through whatever they want as they are not covered by the FCC. With Dish Network, DirecTV and even every cable company I am aware of (and I do read industries mags in the bathroom....) charge extra for HD enabled signals. (It's sweet on Dish Network, though, because Monsters HD and Kung Fu HD make the outside world disappear...)
DVD/VCR comboes are the worst to connect. Ideally, a DVD player is connected to a an individual input (AUX 1, for example) since its operation is entirely removed from any other signal entering the TV. VCRs usually have the antenna/cable/satellite connected into their VIDEO IN and then connect to the TV itself with VIDEO OUT and you just need to figure out in you are set to VIDEO or TV and what channel the TV needs to be on for VIDEO. With the DVD/VCR comboes there are some wacky connection options, but chances are it mostly closely resembles the standard VCR hookup and you need to sort out what the unit needs to be set to so that signal gets through. But they are pains in the keister to hook up... I have 7 years of experience in professional audio technical work for Ampeg (doing antique and artist relations repairs), own a production company, can field strip and reassemble a 35MM professional film projector with a Leatherman (the original one) and have built many a custom interface for multiple video game systems to connect to one TV and it still took me three hours to figure out how to hook up cable and a DVD/VCR combo to my gramma's TV!
Michael L.
Magic is a lie. It is our job to convince the audience to overlook the lie and our goal to make them embrace it. |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
MagicSanta, I have a satellite dish and a VCR/DVD recorder set up. The easiest way to remember what to do is to think of a continuous loop. The satellite cable from the dish goes into the satellite in jack on the back of the receiver. There are audio/video out jacks marked that way on the receiver and as clynim said they are color coded, red white and yellow. Plug your cables in to those and plug the other ends into the corresponding input color coded jacks on the DVD/VCR unit. There are also color coded output jacks on the unit and the other ends of these cable go to the color coded input jacks on the TV.
On your remote for the VCR, and the TV, there should be an input signal button to switch between the Satellite signal and the VCR signal. You just have to find which setting works your system. They are all different. Mine changes signals from L-1 (the DVD player) to L-2 to L-3 which are for other external hook ups and the main for the satellite.
Where the magic begins
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TV Magic Pal New user Dogtown up in the 'Lou 62 Posts |
Yeah, that's the rub though as some satellite receivers (particularly HD) and some of the combo units only operate on certain channels of the television PLUS you have to figure out where you have plugged in PLUS you have to figure out which remote buttons to use! I hate VCR/DVD comboes... when I upgraded to HD satellite I shelled out the cash for an integrated DVR unit and made my life so much easier.
Also, when you say you got the three cable set, there are TWO type of tri-cable sets, the standard AV red, yellow and white and the newer component video Red Blue Green connections (that cover VIDEO ONLY!!!! you still need the stereo audio hookup), so which did you get? If that slick talking salesman was worth his salt, he sold you the more expensive component video cable (RBG colors). If you aren't using another cable for audio then you won't have sound... But it really is a better picture, especially for triple comb and progressive scan TVs.
Michael L.
Magic is a lie. It is our job to convince the audience to overlook the lie and our goal to make them embrace it. |
MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Oooookay, thank you Dave and pal, I need to hook up the other cables that I didn't when I put in the super mega cables with the male fittings.
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TV Magic Pal New user Dogtown up in the 'Lou 62 Posts |
Probably... And you can call me Michael!
Michael L.
Magic is a lie. It is our job to convince the audience to overlook the lie and our goal to make them embrace it. |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Aren't stereos fun!!! On my downstairs set, I have a dvd/vcr player and a DVD player/recorder. Now the hook up becomes more complex since I have to add cables from the vcr combo to the dvd recorder. More cables, more hookups.
I never tried to program a single remote to handle everything so I have one for the satellite/tv operation, one for the vcr combo and another for the DVD recorder. Once you get everything hooked up and running, you'll look back and say "gee that was easy", well.. maybe not
Where the magic begins
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