Nov 24, 2008 2:04 pm US/Mountain
CBS4 Engineer Answers DTV Questions
George Racz is an engineer with CBS4 who provides information and answers questions about DTV.
Lots of CBS4 viewers have been asking about how they are supposed to hook up their DTV converters.
Here's a diagram you can use for basic hookups to most televisions.
Question from CBS4 Viewer: "I have an analog set with an old VCR & DVD player. 1) If I get a converter box how do I hook up the old VCR? 2) If I get a new TV how do I hook up the old VCR and DVD player. Do I also need a new DVD/VCR recorder? The necessary configuration has me confused and I can't get an answer any place. (I have over the air reception, not cable.) I am sure I am not the only person with this future problem. Thank you"
Answer from CBS4 Engineer George Racz: Your hookups depend on:
1: Does your TV set have only a tuner (Coaxial connection)or does it also have video and audio input connections (Yellow, Red, and White).
If so, how many sets of these connections are there (How many video/audio inputs are there?)
2:Is the TV a Stereo TV set or mono?
3: Is your VCR a Stereo HI-FI VCR or a mono audio VCR?
If your TV is Mono audio and only has a tuner, and your VCR is mono as well: You would hook your antenna to the new converter box antenna input, then hook up the RF (Coaxial) output to the VCR's antenna input, and the VCR's "TV or RF Out" jack to the TV set's RF antenna input.
You would then make sure the TV and the VCR stay on channel 3 to either watch or record programs.
Your DVD player would have to go through an RF modulator if this is the case, and it would be connected in line between the VCR and the TV set.
If your VCR and TV are Stereo: YOU MUST hook up the new converter box to the video and audio input jacks on both the VCR and TV set in order for you to both hear AND record stereo audio. (See next paragraph also).
If you have these jacks you may already have the DVD player connected there.
This can get complicated if the TV set has only one video/audio input (One set of jacks.)
SEE LINKS BELOW FOR VIDEO/AUDIO SWITCHERS.
If you have 2 or 3 sets of video/audio inputs, you should be OK.
Most of the converters I have seen only have one set of video/audio OUTPUTS so in order to feed both the VCR and TV set, you essentially LOOP the video/audio through the VCR, which means you MUST leave the VCR on all the time and make sure it stays on it's external video/audio input in order for the TV to get the signal from the box.
As long as you are not planning on recording a different channel than the one you are watching, this is not a problem.
If you are, you will need TWO converters. One for the VCR and one for the TV.
If the TV is Stereo, but the VCR is mono: You would hook the video/audio connections from the new converter to the TV's video/audio input jacks (If you only have one set of jacks you will need a video/audio switcher (See below links to Radio Shack)).
Your DVD player would hook to the second input (Or switcher).
Your mono VCR would be hooked to and record from the RF (Channel 3) output of the converter.
-- 2 input switcher:
www.radioshack.com
-- 5 input "Auto Switcher":
www.radioshack.com
Finally the easiest solution to all of this is if you buy one of the newer DVD and or VCR recorders that has a built in ATSC Digital tuner. They allow you to either record or just tune the new digital signal through them without any external converter needed.
Example:
www.walmart.com
If your head hasn't started pounding already, hopefully all of this helps.
If not, I would suggest looking through your owners manual for the TV, so you can familiarize yourself with the TV's jacks, and features, as well as your VCR's manual.
If you have model numbers and these manuals, you can get answers to a lot of these questions from the TV manufacturers customer assistance dept (usually an 800 number), but they will need to know the other brands and model numbers of the VCR and DVD player to help you.
Additional Resources
A
special section of a Web site called ezdigitaltv.com provides information about converter boxes and even provides user manuals.
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