need advice - DVD recorder with VCR & cable?

[javabird]

There's an inexpensive Pye DVD recorder on sale at CC ($69 with rebate), that I'm thinking of getting to back up TV shows from my Tivo. I have a VCR, basic cable, a S2 DT Tivo and a WEGA TV.

Here's my setup:
http://customersupport.tivo.com/LaunchContent.aspx?CID=20d9b428-f1cb-4939-8f8a-b0c6ccd7c853

except the VCR is also connected with A/V cables to the Tivo.

1. Can I add the DVD recorder to my set-up and still use the VCR too? (I'd also like to be able to back up some VHS tapes to DVD. )

2. I've noticed other posts that say recording to DVD happens in real time. Does this mean it's not possible to watch something else on the TV while recording?

[gastrof]

1.
Tell us how many inputs your TV has, what kind they are, and if you're looking to back the TiVo shows up on VHS too, or just DVD.

2.
Which posts say DVD recordings happen in real time? What was the context? The only thing I can think of is the fact that with a stand-alone DVD recorder and a stand-alone TiVo, you have to replay the show off the TiVo in real time to record it to the DVD. (In other words, no high speed transfers.)

This really has nothing to do with 'watching something else on the TV while recording'.

As for recording on the DVD recorder, if you mean off its own tuner, then depending on your wiring setup, you may be able to watch a different channel than the one the DVD machine is recording. (The same is true where the TiVo is concerned. What type of TiVo you have will also affect this, as will the type of source you have...cable, satellite, or antenna.)

[javabird]

Hi,
1. In the back, the TV has 1 RF, 3 A/V inputs, (plus 1 A/V labeled "Monitor out"), 2 S-video, and 2 component inputs. I have a DVD Player hooked to one set of the components. The Tivo is hooked to one S-video + red/white A/V for the audio. There are A/V inputs on the front which are hooked to a Sony PS2. (It also has an HDMI, which I'm not using.)

2. I guess what I was trying to say is, can hook it up so I can watch TV while recording something else to the DVD recorder? Right now, when I "Save to VCR," it ties up both the TV and the VCR so you can't watch anything till you're done recording (in real time), so I was wondering if the DVD recorder would work the same way.

[javabird]

The thread I was referring to is here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332239
See post #3.

I would also like to be able to transfer VHS recordings to DVD, but I don't really care so much about saving Tivo shows to VHS (I would prefer to use DVD for that).

[gastrof]

Hi,
1. In the back, the TV has 1 RF, 3 A/V inputs, (plus 1 A/V labeled "Monitor out"), 2 S-video, and 2 component inputs. I have a DVD Player hooked to one set of the components. The Tivo is hooked to one S-video + red/white A/V for the audio. There are A/V inputs on the front which are hooked to a Sony PS2. (It also has an HDMI, which I'm not using.)

2. I guess what I was trying to say is, can hook it up so I can watch TV while recording something else to the DVD recorder? Right now, when I "Save to VCR," it ties up both the TV and the VCR so you can't watch anything till you're done recording (in real time), so I was wondering if the DVD recorder would work the same way.

Could you clarify what you mean by "3 A/V inputs"?

That stopped me right there.

Do you mean three SETS of A/V inputs, or ONE set made up of three (one each of yellow, red, and white)?

How do the S-Video and component inputs fit in with this "3"?

Don't suppose you could provide an illustration or a link to one?

[mattack]

2. I guess what I was trying to say is, can hook it up so I can watch TV while recording something else to the DVD recorder? Right now, when I "Save to VCR," it ties up both the TV and the VCR so you can't watch anything till you're done recording (in real time), so I was wondering if the DVD recorder would work the same way.

Save to VCR definitely won't tie up the TV -- change the TV's input and use the TV's tuner.

Yes, dubbing happens in real time, obviously, since the Tivo can only play it in real time and the DVD recorder can only record in real time.

I strongly suggest you read the avsforum.com DVD recorder section.. Also, I suggest you get a DVD recorder *with a hard drive* even though you probably think you don't need it. This way, you can record conflicts on the other hard drive, and edit recordings from the Tivo before burning to DVD.

[JD10367]

I just bought that same Pye DVD Recorder.

Only trouble is.... Anything I try to tape off TiVo I get a "This Program Is Not Allowed To Be Recorded" message. Even if I try to tape "live TV". :mad:

[javabird]

Could you clarify what you mean by "3 A/V inputs"?

That stopped me right there.

Do you mean three SETS of A/V inputs, or ONE set made up of three (one each of yellow, red, and white)?

How do the S-Video and component inputs fit in with this "3"?

Don't suppose you could provide an illustration or a link to one?

Yes, I meant 3 sets. Sorry for the confusion. I scanned a diagram of the back of the TV from the manual.

[javabird]

I just bought that same Pye DVD Recorder.

Only trouble is.... Anything I try to tape off TiVo I get a "This Program Is Not Allowed To Be Recorded" message. Even if I try to tape "live TV". :mad:

How do you have it hooked up?

[JD10367]

How do you have it hooked up?

TiVo RCA Outputs to the DVD Recorder's RCA Inputs.

I even tried buffering it by sending it into and out of my VCR first; same thing.

My TiVo is set to "Transfers ALLOWED" according to the online info at tivo.com, but I did notice that my Media Access Key says "Temporarily Not Available". I'm on hold with TiVo Tech Support right now, and actually have posted this in a similar thread over at the Coffeehouse, so I'll stop posting it here...

[javabird]

Save to VCR definitely won't tie up the TV -- change the TV's input and use the TV's tuner.

I can't seem to get that to work. If I try to change the tuner while doing a "Save to VCR," I get an error message that says it will stop recording. (Prior to Saving to VCR, there is a warning screen that says you shouldn't use the Tivo for anything else, because it will record whatever shows on the TV.)

(I'm using Tivo's recommended setup.)

Yes, dubbing happens in real time, obviously, since the Tivo can only play it in real time and the DVD recorder can only record in real time.

I strongly suggest you read the avsforum.com DVD recorder section.. Also, I suggest you get a DVD recorder *with a hard drive* even though you probably think you don't need it. This way, you can record conflicts on the other hard drive, and edit recordings from the Tivo before burning to DVD.

Thanks for clarifying that. I guess I was thinking a DVD recorder would work similar to burning DVD's on a PC, where you just arrange the media in the software, and then the software does the compressing, encoding and burning. I understand now that a DVD recorder works more like a VCR, only recording to DVD instead of tape.

[JD10367]

I can't seem to get that to work. If I try to change the tuner while doing a "Save to VCR," I get an error message that says it will stop recording. (Prior to Saving to VCR, there is a warning screen that says you shouldn't use the Tivo for anything else, because it will record whatever shows on the TV.)

You say you have basic cable, which I assume means you have no cable box (and, thus, no encoded channels higher than 99).

What you need to do is split the cable coming out of the wall, and send one into your TiVo and the other into your TV set's coax. Then, take the TiVo's RCA outputs and send those into your TV's RCA inputs.

When you're using your TiVo, set the TV to "Aux" (or "Aux1" if you have multiple Aux Inputs).

When you want to use your TiVo to make a copy of something onto VCR or DVD Recorder, once you've got it transferring you can then use the TV's "regular" channels to access your cable channels.

If you have more than one "Aux Input" on your TV--and it sounds like you do--then you can feed your VCR into "Aux 2" and your DVD Recorder into "Aux 3".

The TiVo box should have a 2nd set of RCA Outputs, which you can send to your VCR or DVD Recorder for duping. (You can either move the wires from one to the other, or buy an RCA switcher, or you can even piggyback the signal by sending it into your DVD Recorder and then out of the DVD Recorder and into your VCR. If you want to tape TiVo on the VCR, you can then just turn on the DVD Recorder to get the signal through to the VCR and then press "Record" on the VCR. That setup will also allow you to make VCR copies of your DVDs.)

[javabird]

Thanks, JD10367, I will try your suggestions this weekend.
I already have a splitter coming from the wall for cable modem + TV, so should I replace it with a 3-way splitter? Or can I just add a 2nd splitter to the line that goes to the cable TV? (I only have one cable jack in my apartment, unfortunately).

[JD10367]

If you just have basic cable, I don't know if it matters that much. Most people have a two-way splitter lying around, so you can try splitting it again to send one coax to TiVo and the other to your TV.

Any way you slice it, the more branches you have the more signal degradation you have, but it's not that bad IMO. It depends on how finicky you are. If you have a big-screen or High-Def TV and refuse to lower your standards, then it might bug you. Personally, I don't mind 'cause I have two 19" regular TVs in my parlor, side by side. I have a cable box, the TiVo, a DVD Recorder, a VCR, and even another cable run going into the bedroom for a third TV and second VCR, and it ALL comes off one single cable coming into the apartment (along with a cable modem and digital telephone to boot!). I think I've got 3 or 4 splitters back there. Looks like fettucini.... :)

[realtortlw]

movies to DVD and be rid of VHS tapes? I looked and would be easy if my VCR had a S video jack but it does not so what to do?

Sorry did not see where I could post new thread.... looked... but could not find just like can not figure out VHS to TIVO to burn DVD....

perplexed...

[javabird]

movies to DVD and be rid of VHS tapes? I looked and would be easy if my VCR had a S video jack but it does not so what to do?

Sorry did not see where I could post new thread.... looked... but could not find just like can not figure out VHS to TIVO to burn DVD....

perplexed...

Well, the way I look at it, you can only get standard definition quality on VHS, anyway, so I don't think it matters that much to just go ahead and use the A/V (RCA) jacks. Your VCR should at least have those (the red, white, yellow ones).

The main reasons I want to transfer VHS tapes to DVD are for shows that aren't available on DVD, and also to conserve space (I have stacks of VHS tapes lying around, probably because I used to tape just about everything. Now that I have a Tivo, I can be selective about what I keep).

[javabird]

I was looking at RF splitters on Radio Shack's website, and some are listed as "bidrectional." I didn't realize there was a difference - do "regular" splitters really not allow a signal to travel both ways?

[javabird]

TiVo RCA Outputs to the DVD Recorder's RCA Inputs.

I even tried buffering it by sending it into and out of my VCR first; same thing.

My TiVo is set to "Transfers ALLOWED" according to the online info at tivo.com, but I did notice that my Media Access Key says "Temporarily Not Available". I'm on hold with TiVo Tech Support right now, and actually have posted this in a similar thread over at the Coffeehouse, so I'll stop posting it here...

I got the same error message on the DVD recorder. The manual says to connect the DVD-R directly to the TV, because "if the A/V cables are connected to a VCR, pictures may be distorted due to copy protection system." I guess it thinks the Tivo is a VCR. What finally worked was to connect a Go-Video "Video Enhancer" between the Tivo and the DVD-R.

I spent several hours yesterday trying to get everything to work, and I still can't figure out why the VCR isn't working. If I connect the VCR to the TV's A/V-in, I can't see a picture. If I hook the VCR to the DVD-R's A/V-In, then I can see a video playing on the VCR (and it recorded on the DVD-R). So I can't record a videotape from the Tivo.

Does the VCR need to be hooked up to an RF cable (in addition to the A/V connections?

[javabird]

Ok, I finally got the VCR working -- I think the problem must have been bad RCA cables.

What's not good is having to switch the VCR's A/V cables back and forth between the DVD burner and the TV if I want to burn from the VCR. And the DVD's I tried burning from VHS tapes look noticeabley grainier than the original tape (on the highest Record quality). Not happy about that.

But, anyway, thanks to everyone for all the helpful advice on this, and hope you have a Happy new year!