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Satellite receiver has no RF port to record to a VCR tape


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Old 18-06-2014, 21:11
Homers
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I can't get my VCR to record my satellite receiver.

My VCR has a RF In and a RF Out port. However, my satellite receiver does not. It only has a IF Out port.

After researching I know that there needs to be a connection from the VCR to the satellite receiver's RF port, but as I said it doesn't have one. Could the IF Out port be it?

Notes: My VCR has just one SCART port. My satellite receiver has two ports: one to the TV and one to a VCR.
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Old 18-06-2014, 21:35
chrisjr
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Have you tried the SCART? Chances are the VCR will record via SCART.
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Old 18-06-2014, 23:47
oilman
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Virtually all VCRs built in UK will record via scart. You would need to select input normally called AV.

As you only have 1 scart you will need to connect it to VCR scart socket on satellitebox and connect satellite tv scart socket to TV.

Select av channel on tv and it will show satellite stuff. Press play on VCR and TV will show VCR programs. Stop VCR and it will return to satellite on TV.
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Old 19-06-2014, 16:31
Soundbox
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Yes - use the SCART. That's what I use to tape stuff from my YouView box.
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Old 19-06-2014, 23:21
AlanO
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And if you need the SCART output from the VCR for the TV - then I'd suggest looking on e-Bay for a VCR with twin scart - ideally a Panasonic or JVC.
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Old 20-06-2014, 00:58
chrisjr
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And if you need the SCART output from the VCR for the TV - then I'd suggest looking on e-Bay for a VCR with twin scart - ideally a Panasonic or JVC.
Unnecessary.

If the VCR is connected to the Sky box "VCR" SCART and the Sky box "TV" SCART to the TV then no need for any direct connection from VCR to TV. The Sky box will pass through the VCR output to the TV when playing a tape.
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Old 20-06-2014, 12:13
jjne
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People are still using VHS?

Wow. I'm impressed.
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Old 20-06-2014, 16:04
Nigel Goodwin
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People are still using VHS?

Wow. I'm impressed.
I'm more 'depressed'
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Old 21-06-2014, 00:05
oilman
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My wife's way of recording a program if she is going out:
1 get 4 hr tape and rewind
2 put VCR on LP
3 put satellite box on required TV channel
4 press record

5 go out, and later come back.
6 press stop , rewind and fast forward till she gets to program.


No faffing with timers etc. she has done it this way for many years and it never lets her down even if program shifts.

No matter what I say re. Hard disk recorders etc, she likes her way. It works for her. She is not interested in picture or sound quality.

Example of "if it aint broke, don't fix it"
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Old 21-06-2014, 08:59
Deacon1972
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My wife's way of recording a program if she is going out:
1 get 4 hr tape and rewind
2 put VCR on LP
3 put satellite box on required TV channel
4 press record

5 go out, and later come back.
6 press stop , rewind and fast forward till she gets to program.


No faffing with timers etc. she has done it this way for many years and it never lets her down even if program shifts.

No matter what I say re. Hard disk recorders etc, she likes her way. It works for her. She is not interested in picture or sound quality.

Example of "if it aint broke, don't fix it"
What happens if someone else wants to watch Sky when she's out or is this a secondary box?

Do they watch their recordings while doing the washing using a washboard/mangle.....
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Old 21-06-2014, 21:07
Homers
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Thanks for all the answers but I've fixed the problem.

Turns out I inputted the wrong channel on the VCR. The channel was 1, which I didn't notice till later. I then changed the channel on the VCR to 'AU', that's when it picked up the signal of the satellite receiver via SCART.

So SCART does record it all indeed. Then why do so many websites claim that you need the RF stuff? Isn't that the American way since they don't use SCART?

People are still using VHS?

Wow. I'm impressed.
You should be. VHS is still useful this day. It is so annoying to have several seperate devices in the living room just to be able to record (for example, having a Freeview+ box beneath a Freeview TV that doesn't have record). That's when VHS kicks in. Plus the satellite receiver has been used for over 10 years by me without any problems - I don't need to get a PVR. Their average cost is about £80 anyway. I can save tons by just recording it on VHS. I know the video quality will feel like the 90s, but it's probably more worth that buying a seperate set-top box.

2 put VCR on LP
I would never use LP, always SP. I know that LP means more recording time but the quality would be lower. LP would've been a viable option 20 years ago but now, even SP would have low-quality video by today's standards, so we'd like the best of VHS we can get from it now in 2014 - that's SP.
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Old 21-06-2014, 21:56
chrisjr
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You should be. VHS is still useful this day. It is so annoying to have several seperate devices in the living room just to be able to record (for example, having a Freeview+ box beneath a Freeview TV that doesn't have record). That's when VHS kicks in. Plus the satellite receiver has been used for over 10 years by me without any problems - I don't need to get a PVR. Their average cost is about £80 anyway. I can save tons by just recording it on VHS. I know the video quality will feel like the 90s, but it's probably more worth that buying a seperate set-top box.
So you have three boxes under the telly to record satellite TV instead of two? How is that less annoying? Not to mention being unnecessarily complex and inflexible compared to using a satellite PVR.

What do you do if you want to watch one satellite channel at the same time as recording some other channel? You can't using your system.With a PVR you can do that easily.

Not to mention it has to be a whole load easier just selecting the programme you want to record in the EPG and pressing a single button. Compared to having to set the VCR start and end times and remember to set the satellite receiver to the correct channel.

And what happens if you set a recording up for some time in the future and someone leaves the receiver on the wrong channel?

I really cannot see any advantages in how you are doing it. only disadvantages and unnecessary complexity and hassle.
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Old 21-06-2014, 22:06
grahamlthompson
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So SCART does record it all indeed. Then why do so many websites claim that you need the RF stuff? Isn't that the American way since they don't use SCART?
.
The scart lead is merely providing composite video (CVBS) and analogue audio on three of the internal connections. There's no need for a scart connection, these are easily handled by RCA Phono connections. The US sensibly don't use Scart which is the least reliable connection ever invented. Most vcrs provide the above directly anyway on three Phono sockets Yellow (CVBS), Red (Analogue Audio Right), White (Analogue Audio Left).

Converting the VCR output to a analogue TV channel and using a analogue tuner to recover it has always been the worst possible way. If you start watching a programme and fancy recording it, with many pvrs you can record it complete from the beginning with a single button push.

Even better is that recording digital TV simply copies the transmitted data direct to a hard disk. Replay is 100% the same as the original, you can pause live TV and rewind at will.

And you don't have to find a tape and then fast forward to the bit you want.
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Old 22-06-2014, 11:02
Nigel Goodwin
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The US sensibly don't use Scart which is the least reliable connection ever invented.
I would completely disagree - while SCART isn't the best of connections, it's at least a single plug instead of trying to sort out a bewildering array of multiple plugs.

The USA didn't use SCART because they are generally backward and behind the times

SCART has many advantages over multiple phono leads, which most probably overcome any slight reliability problems.

Considering HDMI is what's now replacing SCART, and it's of American origin - HDMI is really a pretty flimsy and easily damaged system, no more reliable than SCART ever was?.
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Old 22-06-2014, 12:30
grahamlthompson
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I would completely disagree - while SCART isn't the best of connections, it's at least a single plug instead of trying to sort out a bewildering array of multiple plugs.

The USA didn't use SCART because they are generally backward and behind the times

SCART has many advantages over multiple phono leads, which most probably overcome any slight reliability problems.

Considering HDMI is what's now replacing SCART, and it's of American origin - HDMI is really a pretty flimsy and easily damaged system, no more reliable than SCART ever was?.
HDMI plugs don't fall out of set top boxes if you move them slightly. Scart ones fall out all the time. 99% of problems with scart connections are down to displaced connections. Never had a RCA phono plug fall out either.
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Old 22-06-2014, 15:19
Nigel Goodwin
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HDMI plugs don't fall out of set top boxes if you move them slightly. Scart ones fall out all the time. 99% of problems with scart connections are down to displaced connections. Never had a RCA phono plug fall out either.
SCART ones might occasionally 'fall out' if misused, but at least they are easy to connect up, and offer far more facilities than phonos

If SCART leads are falling out if moved slightly, then they weren't pushed in properly - and I've seen phono leads fall out if not pushed in properly as well - but as a single connection a phono is obviously far better.
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Old 22-06-2014, 15:47
Deacon1972
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SCART ones might occasionally 'fall out' if misused, but at least they are easy to connect up, and offer far more facilities than phonos

If SCART leads are falling out if moved slightly, then they weren't pushed in properly - and I've seen phono leads fall out if not pushed in properly as well - but as a single connection a phono is obviously far better.
Over the years I've had many scarts work loose, never HDMI, therefore I'd have to say HDMI is far more secure than scart, especially the scarts with extra thick cables, because of the right angled connection you had to bend the cable back on itself if feeding it through the back of the cabinet, then you only had to move the stb slightly and the cable would dislodge, often leaving you with a picture but no sound or vice versa - flat cabled scarts were so much better.

Never had a problem with phonos or optical, some phono cables I bought had twist grips on them, but you had to remember to loosen them before pulling them out.
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Old 22-06-2014, 18:31
Winston_1
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Over the years I've had many scarts work loose, never HDMI, therefore I'd have to say HDMI is far more secure than scart, especially the scarts with extra thick cables, because of the right angled connection you had to bend the cable back on itself if feeding it through the back of the cabinet, then you only had to move the stb slightly and the cable would dislodge, often leaving you with a picture but no sound or vice versa - flat cabled scarts were so much better.

Never had a problem with phonos or optical, some phono cables I bought had twist grips on them, but you had to remember to loosen them before pulling them out.
When scarts first came out I hated them. My main gripe was that inputs and outputs were on the same plug and I wanted them to go to different places, e.g. the output to a monitor and input to a camera. I had to make up my own leads for this. This problem was eventually overcome by having several scart sockets on equipment.
I've now got used to them but the falling out problem still exists. How much better it would have been with something like 25 way D plugs with their screw fixings.
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Old 22-06-2014, 18:48
Nigel Goodwin
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How much better it would have been with something like 25 way D plugs with their screw fixings.
And how much more expensive would they have been

But basically it wasn't really ever supposed to have been used, it was a crude French technique to stop Japanese imports

I think we could all think of much better ideas, but professional quality plugs on domestic equipment probably wasn't one.
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Old 22-06-2014, 22:28
Winston_1
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And how much more expensive would they have been

But basically it wasn't really ever supposed to have been used, it was a crude French technique to stop Japanese imports

I think we could all think of much better ideas, but professional quality plugs on domestic equipment probably wasn't one.
Computers use D plugs and the leads are not particularly expensive.

What is your source that it was to stop Japanese imports? It certainly didn't work any more than 819 lines or system L if that was really the case.
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Old 23-06-2014, 09:21
Soundbox
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One feature of SCART I like is the auto source switching - and auto widescreen switching is useful too. I use VHS for my timeshifting too simply because I often want to watch what I recorded in another room (finish watching the film in bed). I'm sure there is a way of piping digital around the home and adding servers and WiFi hotspots but pressing eject and carrying the tape upstairs is hardly a burden is it? Well perhaps it is these days - if theres no app for it or a Facebook page then its not cool.
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Old 23-06-2014, 10:30
Nigel Goodwin
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What is your source that it was to stop Japanese imports? It certainly didn't work any more than 819 lines or system L if that was really the case.
I suggest you check your history

SCART was developed because 819 lines was closing down, so couldn't be used to prevent Japanese imports any more - but where the Japanese weren't interested in making 819 line sets just for France, they had no problem fitting SCART sockets (which of course ended up being useful with the advent of VCR's).
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Old 23-06-2014, 14:04
Grouty
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People are still using VHS?

Wow. I'm impressed.
Im still using it, had my video for years, why not use it if it still works fine
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Old 23-06-2014, 14:20
Nigel Goodwin
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Im still using it, had my video for years, why not use it if it still works fine
Because it's an antique, can't work as intended any more, and offers the worse possible quality?
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Old 23-06-2014, 16:14
bobcar
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Because it's an antique, can't work as intended any more, and offers the worse possible quality?
Try telling that to my parents. No matter how much I tell them that a PVR is actually easier to use than the VCR they are completely terrified at the thought of using one - if I bought them one it would sit unused.
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