I’ve two queries which I hope some of you with more knowledge than I have will be able to kindly answer for me.

A fortnight ago ntl came and replaced my analogue box with a digital one. Whilst he was here, I asked the installer if I’d be able to record a terrestrial channel whilst viewing a digital one and vice versa. He told me he didn’t know and, after he’d gone, I realised he’d neglected to even connect any wires to my video recorder. A complex series of interactions took place with ntl but eventually, having become totally fed-up with them, I managed to at least record and play back material from the box. I have one scart from the box to my TV, a scart from the box to my VCR and a third scart from my VCR to my TV. I’ve also wired a coax connection from my aerial to the aerial input on my VCR but have discovered that the VCR won’t tune to the terrestrial channels whilst the scarts are plugged in.

This has now become a major headache and so I’ll be very grateful for any information and advice.

My second question is: I’d like to buy my friend a Freeview box for her birthday. However, she frequently records one programme whilst viewing another and the thought has occurred to me whether she will be able to continue to do so. I realise that it won’t be possible for her to record and view two different Freeview channels simultaneously but I’d like to know if she’d be able to record a Freeview channel whilst watching a terrestrial channel and / or vice versa.

Many thanks, David

[cerebros]

Originally Posted by David1943

My second question is: I’d like to buy my friend a Freeview box for her birthday. However, she frequently records one programme whilst viewing another and the thought has occurred to me whether she will be able to continue to do so. I realise that it won’t be possible for her to record and view two different Freeview channels simultaneously but I’d like to know if she’d be able to record a Freeview channel whilst watching a terrestrial channel and / or vice versa.

What's your budget for the Freeview box? Depending on how much you like your friend, you could always buy her:

a) a twin-tuner Freeview PVR which would allow her to view one digital programme while watching another digital programme (or even, depending on the model, record 2 while watching a recording from the hard disk)
b) two Freeview boxes so one could be used with her TV and the second slaved to her VCR or DVD recorder

personally I'd go for option a) if I had the budget as it would be a 1 box solution, but option b) would be cheaper depending on which boxes you went for

Thank you cerebros. I should have explained that we don't buy each other expensive presents and so the Freeview box will be a budget one.

Regards, David

[JayCee]

Originally Posted by David1943

[COLOR=blue]I have one scart from the box to my TV, a scart from the box to my VCR and a third scart from my VCR to my TV. I’ve also wired a coax connection from my aerial to the aerial input on my VCR but have discovered that the VCR won’t tune to the terrestrial channels whilst the scarts are plugged in.

Select the AV channel on the TV that you have the VCR plugged in to.
You should be able to go up and down the terrestrial channels (if they have previously been tuned in) on the VCR using its prog plus and minus buttons.
The scarts being connected should have no bearing on this.
If you still have problems report back with the make/model no of the VCR.

[Geofbob]

On your first question, I'm not sure that you need the 3rd scart from the VCR to your TV; but of course you do need the aerial connection between the two. I have a VCR with only one scart socket, and I can view, record and play Freeview/analogue without that 3rd scart connection.

On your second question, again I find that I can watch analogue and record Freeview (or vice versa) without too much trouble. However, it did take me some time to realise that the correct TV channel for watching VCR recordings was the same auxiliary channel that the Freeview played on.