vcr & freeview

[Jamjar74]

To those brainy people who answered my first question. I have done like you say. The video records O.K. but on play back there are no pictures.

I set the video first and then the Freeview. Then I switched the TV off, leaving the Freeview on. I cannot access the video controls if the Freeview box is on.

Should the PDC be ON?

Have I done things the wrong way round?

[Postdog]

Don't know the whole story, but don't worry about PDC - it stand for programme delivery control, which is a bit like videoplus. I think - tho I am not sure - it means that if a programme is late or early, then it still starts to record, and more importantly, ends at the end of the programme, not before.

ANYWAY.... you say it's recording all right but no pictures. If that's the case it's probably a very simple thing - make sure your scart leads are fully plugged in. I have had situations in the past where it has been knocked just a smidgin, so that it all seems OK, but it was that all the time. Try it anyway.

[Buenchico]

There are only a few things which could be wrong. Firstly, the correct signal might not be passing along the Scart lead. Unplug it from the VCR and plug it directly into the TV. If you can see the Freeview pictures, everything is obviously OK there. Plug it back into the VCR.

If the VCR 'records nothing', the only other possible reason is that it's not set to record the correct 'channel'. You need to double-check that it's not trying to record a 'numbered' channel but is actually set to record 'AV'. Try this experiment:

Ensure that the TV aerial is plugged into the Freeview box. If you normally have any other aerial fly-leads in use (e.g from the Freeview box to the TV or from the VCR to the TV) remove them. (This is so that there will only be one signal source at each stage, so that anything which gets recorded must have passed along just one route. You can always plug them back in later).

Connect a Scart lead from 'Freeview Out' to 'VCR IN'. Connect another Scart lead from 'VCR Out' to 'TV In'. Switch everything on and check that the channels you see on the TV are controlled by the Freeview remote controller. (Most VCR's allow this to happen irrespective of which channel the VCR is set to). Now press the 'AV' button oin the VCR's remote control. Put a tape in the VCR and press whatever button you use to start instant (i.e. non-timed) recording. After a minute or so, stop the tape, rewind it and press 'play'. You should be able to see the short extract you've just recorded. (It's possible that you might need to turn the Freeview box off but most systems don't require this).

If that doesn't work, I'm lost!

If it does work, all you now need to do is check the recording sequence to ensure that you really are recording 'AV' and not a numbered channel.

Chris