DVD Recorder Question

[Larry OKC]

My dad's VCR/DVD recorder combo unit stopped working (older RCA model, paid $200). Found a new (Toshiba, still in original unopened packaging with 3-color RCA type cable, Midi(?) cable and remote, just missing the box) made last year at a local thrift store for $50. Got it home and went to hook it up and there is no "Antenna In/Out" connections on the unit for attaching the Coaxial Cable from Cox. The one Coaxial Cable connection on it is for Audio output only and isn't even that kind of connector (the RCA types fit nicely).

Apparently the thing doesn't have a built in tuner and requires a separate external tuner. Has anyone else had this problem? Between my parents and I we have probably owned 20 or 30 different VCR & DVD recorder units and ALL of them have had built in tuners. The only units I have ever seen that didn't have tuners were for playback only. I can hook it up to play recorded videos/DVDs but the recording function (the reason for the purchase) is useless. Any ideas on how to get the recording function operational while spending the least amount of moola?

[BBatesokc]

Can't you still use your cable box as your tuner? I often record to a Sony hand-held DVD recorder. It has no tuner or coax connection. I simply use my Audio and Composite Video Outputs on my cable box. The downside is you can only record what is on the TV at that moment. The only reason for a tuner would be to record a show on the DVD recorder while watching a 2nd show on the television.

[Larry OKC]

Probably, but we don't have a cable box, as every recorder unit I we have owned had built in tuners, there was no need for it (we also don't subscribe to other services like pay-per-view that required it). We just connect the coaxial cable that comes out of the wall directly to the recording unit.

[bluedogok]

The old analog tuners were one of the things that seemed to always fail and the new digital tuner boards are quite a bit more expensive than the old analog tuners. When the analog tuners were made obsolete the decision was made to drop them instead of putting in the more expensive digital tuners. Most people are using a cable or satellite box now and those have RCA out connections at a minimum as would a DTV OTA tuner.

[BBatesokc]

Probably, but we don't have a cable box, as every recorder unit I we have owned had built in tuners, there was no need for it (we also don't subscribe to other services like pay-per-view that required it). We just connect the coaxial cable that comes out of the wall directly to the recording unit.

You might check with your cable provider and see if they can provide you with a simple cable box tuner. We asked COX for a box to plug into our outside coax (because we wanted to attach it to our outdoor movie projector that doesn't have a coax-in). They gave me a very simple tuner box with no DVR - and I got it for free.

[Larry OKC]

The old analog tuners were one of the things that seemed to always fail and the new digital tuner boards are quite a bit more expensive than the old analog tuners. When the analog tuners were made obsolete the decision was made to drop them instead of putting in the more expensive digital tuners. Most people are using a cable or satellite box now and those have RCA out connections at a minimum as would a DTV OTA tuner.

One of the things we are always trying to eliminate is the collection of devices and clutter and the multiple remotes that go along with them. Yes you can get "universal" remotes but some functions are limited or not available at all (even when buying the same brand of universal remote as the original). We could use the tuner form the existing unit as the input source I guess. My concern there is signal degradation going through multiple devices (wall connection/converter box or old unit/new unit/TV. Just seems the fewer devices in the chain, the better. Wouldn't avoid the clutter issue but would avoid having to buy or pay monthly for a separate one from Cox (heck we may already be paying for one and not knowing it)

You might check with your cable provider and see if they can provide you with a simple cable box tuner. We asked COX for a box to plug into our outside coax (because we wanted to attach it to our outdoor movie projector that doesn't have a coax-in). They gave me a very simple tuner box with no DVR - and I got it for free.

Free is good. Will check it out.

[bluedogok]

One of the things we are always trying to eliminate is the collection of devices and clutter and the multiple remotes that go along with them. Yes you can get "universal" remotes but some functions are limited or not available at all (even when buying the same brand of universal remote as the original). We could use the tuner form the existing unit as the input source I guess. My concern there is signal degradation going through multiple devices (wall connection/converter box or old unit/new unit/TV. Just seems the fewer devices in the chain, the better. Wouldn't avoid the clutter issue but would avoid having to buy or pay monthly for a separate one from Cox (heck we may already be paying for one and not knowing it).

I agree that fewer connections is usually better but when the device doesn't have it you have to do something else.

I have a Logitech Harmony One remote, it is pretty good at being able to control a lot of different devices and being able to program things into it. The device setup can be pretty complicated though and I have had to spend quite a bit of time to get it to work right with my many devices (TV, satellite box, receiver, Blu-ray player, HD-DVD player) and mixed way of using things the way that I do. I did get a simpler one for my father-in-law when we got him a new HDTV at Christmas, he had always used the TV tuner with his cable out in Monahans. After the tuner went out on the old TV he was using one of our old DVD/VCR units until the tuner went out in it (the second DVD/VCR tuner that died on him in recent years). We also got him a new DVD/VCR unit at the same time and I found like you the new ones had no tuner. We checked into getting him one of his cable company HD-DVR's (SuddenLink) but they didn't offer HD yet in his market even though they do in the Midland/Odessa markets.

[Jim Kyle]

My concern there is signal degradation going through multiple devices (wall connection/converter box or old unit/new unit/TV. Just seems the fewer devices in the chain, the better.

One good thing about the new digital signal standard is that this degradation through multiple devices doesn't happen -- at least not so long as all of the devices retain the digital signal rather than converting it to analog early in the chain.

The downside, however, as anyone who has experienced "pixellation" can testify, is that all of the degradation happens right at the origin when the signal is made digital in the first place. Digitizing the video (or audio for that matter) removes at least some information from the original; that's why we get more channels in less space. Most of the time we don't notice the loss; sometimes it makes the picture break up in dozens of little colored squares momentarily.

In other words, the quality may not be as good as we once had, but at least it doesn't get worse as we cascade more devices in line.