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Sorry, guys, this is I know a really basic question, but the more products I look at, the more confused I get.
I have cable TV (Time Warner Cable) through coaxial cables through the wall, attached directly to my TVs. No cable box -- just the coaxial cable from the wall.
I stupidly bought a Toshiba DVR that DOES NOT have its own tuner (no "ant in" and "ant out" on the back ). Had I realized that, I would not have bought it. I just went to set it up and realized it was NOT what I wanted. (I have a couple of Magnavox DVR/VCR combo units, but they have their own tuners, and that's what I thought the Toshiba had too.)
WHAT do I buy to make it work with my Vizio HDTV? NOTE, I know I will only be able to record in standard def, and for my purposes (educational videotaping for my classes/research), that is fine. But I can't even do THAT until I buy an external tuner.
(I actually tried, out of desperation, to use an old VCR as the "external tuner," and it kinda-sorta worked but not well ... I had used a VCR years ago to hook up a DVD player to a TV that didn't have the RCA connections, and it worked fine, so I thought the same logic might apply.)
It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0038JECKY/ . Yes, it has an HDMI connection, but the instructions say to connect it to an external tuner this way: cable from wall into external tuner's "ant in," then another coax cable from the external tuner's "ant out" to the TV (like the way we used to connect VCRs); ALSO connect RCA cables (red, white, yellow) out from the external tuner, in to the DVR, then out to the TV -- but on another page, it says to use whatever best "connector" you have from the DVR to the TV, and says that HDMI is best (of course). So it seems like the original page with the "external tuner" connections should have just had the RCA cables out to the DVR and then you use the best connection possible from the DVR to the TV, not necessarily another set of RCA cables. (But since the external tuner is connected via RCA cables, it doesn't seem like anything "downstream" from there could "improve" the RCA cable's ability ... or is my logic somehow off?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
You're using the cable for just the local channels presumably?
Basic cable (local channels mostly out of Boston) plus the next level up, which includes things like ESPN, SYFY, CNN, etc. Just no digital cable. For that I would need a box, which increases my monthly cost by something like 60-70% -- not worth it to me, since I usually use the TV for watching streaming video, not watching TV -- BUT I am obligated to record a week's worth of prime-time network TV twice a year for my job, hence the DVRs.
(P.S. The description says to connect it to your satellite or cable BOX -- I didn't take that literally, just figured "cable box" meant it would work via CABLE right out of the wall. Nope!!)
Still looking at various web sites ... no help at all.
The instructions just say "connect it to an external tuner" -- absolutely no other info.
Again, I have Time Warner Cable through the wall. I am able to connect my other DVRs using their "ant in" connections (then I connect them to an old TV via RCA cables -- the TV is just a "monitor," it's not actually doing anything else), but the Toshiba doesn't have a coaxial-cable "in" connector. I am frustrated beyond belief.
So it seems like the original page with the "external tuner" connections should have just had the RCA cables out to the DVR and then you use the best connection possible from the DVR to the TV, not necessarily another set of RCA cables. (But since the external tuner is connected via RCA cables, it doesn't seem like anything "downstream" from there could "improve" the RCA cable's ability ... or is my logic somehow off?)
The trouble with the TV is most don't output over HDMI. RCA is just SD, if anything you are going to want to try and connect just the RCA from the TV to the DVR. Whatever you have tuned on the TV should be going over the RCA.
The trouble with the TV is most don't output over HDMI. RCA is just SD, if anything you are going to want to try and connect just the RCA from the TV to the DVR. Whatever you have tuned on the TV should be going over the RCA.
Actually my main question is more basic than that: what is an example of an "external tuner"? Where can I buy one, and is it actually called that or something else (for search purposes)? The DVR instructions just say "you need an external tuner" -- nothing else.
When I search for "external tuner" I get things like digital-to-analog converters, tuners to use if you have an outside antenna, etc. -- but NOTHING that is simply called "external tuner" and described as being used with cable from the wall, which is what I need. So if someone has an example of a product that would work in my situation, I would appreciate seeing it!! (I can play around with different combinations of connections afterward -- right now I don't even know what exactly to BUY!)
Actually my main question is more basic than that: what is an example of an "external tuner"?
There is two types ATSC and QAM. The ATSC is for over the air channels and QAM is for cable, they usually have both. The "converter" boxers are tuners but typically only have RCA and may only be ATSC. Just make sure it has QAM tuner and the type of output you want, HDMI or component for HD.
The only issue with that is you're going to basically end up having to use the tuner like a cable box for the TV. The difference with the cable box issued by your cable company is pay channels are encrypted and it can decrypt them.
(I actually tried, out of desperation, to use an old VCR as the "external tuner," and it kinda-sorta worked but not well ... I had used a VCR years ago to hook up a DVD player to a TV that didn't have the RCA connections, and it worked fine, so I thought the same logic might apply.)
ANY help would be appreciated!!
The VCR is an external tuner, what kind of problem did you have?
The VCR is an external tuner, what kind of problem did you have?
I originally hooked it up like this:
- cable from wall into VCR's "ant in," then another coax cable from the VCR's "ant out" to the TV (just like we connected VCRs to old tube-style TVs), plus
- RCA cable yellow and white from VCR audio & video "out" to the DVR's audio & video "in" (NOTE, the VCR does not have the red "out" -- only yellow [video] and white [audio]), plus
- component cables (green, blue, red) "out" from DVR and "in" to TV
When I checked the VCR, it got just two channels (aaggggh). Unfortunately I didn't have its remote so I couldn't re-scan for channels, but I figured I would still check to see if the DVR could get anything using the connections detailed above -- but alas, it couldn't (in other words, I could not even get the 2 channels that came in on the VCR). I also got no sound at all from the VCR (I got a picture but no sound when I played a tape). I gave up and bought what is SUPPOSED to be a tuner you could use with cable from the wall (no cable box) -- but I tried hooking that up today and got ABSOLUTELY NOTHING -- it found no channels at all when it did the scan (which is bizarre, since my TVs hooked up from the wall, DVRs with tuners hooked up from the wall, and VCRs hooked up from the wall all get all the channels I'm supposed to get). I will be returning it.
ANYWAY, I just hooked up the VCR to a different TV after programming a universal remote to "pair" with it. I was able to access the menu (doesn't always work with universal remotes, so I was concerned!) and I got all the channels I'm supposed to have. So the VCR definitely works, at least with a "regular" tube TV.
My next move is to re-connect the VCR to the Vizio TV and the DVR; now that I have a remote that works with the VCR, I can re-scan for channels, then re-try all the connections. I may have to use another set of RCA cables from the DVR to the TV, since the component cables didn't work at all, and I don't know why an HDMI cable would work better (the "original" signals are being carried via RCA cables since that's all the VCR has, so I don't think a "better" connection from the DVR to the TV will matter, if that makes sense).
I am too tired to re-hook-up everything tonight, but Lopez, it sounds like you think this should work, using the VCR as the "external tuner"? I am wondering if I should only connect the white audio cable from the DVR to the TV, since that's all I could connect from the VCR to the DVR. And yeah, I know the quality is going to be crappy, but for my purposes right now, it is fine (it will be at least as good as the VCRs I've been using).
I hope all this makes sense. Lopez, I'd appreciate any more info you can provide -- I like to understand how things work as that helps me understand how to connect things. Thanks!!!
- RCA cable yellow and white from VCR audio & video "out" to the DVR's audio & video "in" (NOTE, the VCR does not have the red "out" -- only yellow [video] and white [audio]), plus
The missing cable is for stereo, you should be getting at least one speaker. If the dvr doesn't have an option for mono and/or doesn't autoamagically detect mono for output over both speakers they have RCA splitters which will just duplicate the mono track on both cables.
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). Had I realized that, I would not have bought it. I just went to set it up and realized it was NOT what I wanted. (I have a couple of Magnavox DVR/VCR combo units, but they have their own tuners, and that's what I thought the Toshiba had too.)
