How to record a free view channel on a vcr.?

Question

Please can anyone tell me how to record a free view channel on a vcr. My t.v is obviously wired to the vcr through the ariel and a scart lead. The vcr has AV1 AND AV2 settings, Av1 is what I have to set the vcr to to record normal channels 1 to 5. When I set the vcr to AV2 to record a free view channel all I get on playback is a fuzzy snow or a really bad picture. The free view box is built in to the t.v set. Do I need another scart lead wired in somewhere or set the vcr to a different channel setting.. I also have a DVD player which is also wired to the t.v by a scart lead aswell.(And I know I said v.c.r, but hey I'm old fashioned). Any help out there would be great. Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm puzzled as to what way you have setup your TV, VCR and Freeviewbox, Mainly because you have to set your VCR to AV1 to watch channels 1-5, what is connected to AV1 on your VCR that is providing channels 1-5

I dont see why they would block normal freeview channels unless its the TOPup-TV channels you are trying to record.

Here is how i would set it up

Ariel connection providing channels 1 - 5, connects to Freeviewbox, arial connection from Freview to VCR, arial connection from VCR to TV, Tune the TV ( VCR and channels 1-5) and the VCR (channels 1 -5)

If you have a cheap Freeview box then it will not provide a UHF output, and you can only view through Scart connections.

Most VCR's have 2 Scart sockets, but usually only the First scart socket has the facility to input and output (assuming that AV1 is your first scart socket) If you've tuned your TV in as above then you dont need a scart connection from your TV to your VCR, (the technology isn't that bad that you will notice the difference in picture quality) Connect your Freeview box into the first scart socket and try recording a news channel or bbc1 or whatever. that should work fine.

Al....

Answer 2

My tv also has freeview built in, and it's a Sony. The way I record is:

Put it on video channel for menu (in my case, ch 7)

Programme: L2, then put times etc in.

Turn TV to digital channel I want to record from.

Set timer on digital channel.

Leave tv on!! Mine only tapes from the channel it is on, and if the tv is off, it won't record anything.

Hope you get it sorted :-)

P.s I only found out how to do it myself by ringing Sony, maybe ring whoever your TV is by if above steps don't work for you...?

Answer 3

You can't.  You can only record channels 1 - 5. (UK)

Answer 4

I havent seen a VCR in years that didnt have the block in it. They put in a interferiance device that kills the signal from cable and from the tv. It makes your recording white or fuzzy somtimes even blue. :( just there way of sayin you can record but you can record. The best thing I can say is Tivo :| Peace

Answer 5

If your Freeview tuner is built into your tv set then you will not be able to satisfactorily record from it in the way that you have it connected. Also, you will only be able to record the programme that you are watching.

The AV2 on the VCR selects the second input socket on the recorder. If you don't have anything plugged into it then you will only record 'snow' and 'noise'. You should not have both SCART leads connected to the tv set.

Some tv sets provide an output signal on their SCART connectors; but not all of them, and they're not always consistent.

It seems likely that your tv is outputting analogue signals only  (not signals from the Freeview digital channels) on its SCART. That is the lead plugged into your VCR AV1 socket.

Your best bet is to buy a stand-alone Freeview box and plug it into the VCR AV2 socket. Then you will be able to watch one channel whilst recording a different one. Which is how Nature intended it to be.

The downside is that you will not be able to pre-set the channels on the Freeview box, so time-ahead proramming won't be possible.

Your DVD player should ideally use a separate SCART input to the television set so that it doesn't 'clash' with your VCR. If that is not available then I recommend that you invest in a SCART combiner box with switches or buttons to select the input device (the 'auto-select' combiners are often more trouble than they're worth).