Got a new TV, JVC AV32R4S 3 scart, and a new Pioneer DVD/HD recorder, DVR-420H. The
recorder has two scarts the second being a pass through.

I first tried:

tv == scart == dvdrecorder == scart (dvd passhthru scart2) == sky box (
TV scart connection)

and connected RF from aerial == dvdrecorder == TV RF

This gave desired operation until a timed recording kicked in, i.e.
when the recorder came off standby I could not see the SKY channel on
the TV, all I could see was RF TV and the DVD recorder channel.

I then tried:

tv == scart == SKY == scart (sky vcr socket to dvd scart1) == DVD
Recorder

and connected RF from aerial == dvdrecorder == TV RF

This now allows me to see SKY when recording BUT I now cannot record
SKY because the DVD Recorder cannot see the SKY channel ! I tried
selecting L1/L2 on the recorder and cycled thru all available channels
on the recorder.

I have now had to do the second option above but connect RF from aerial
to SKY and then SKY to dvd recorder. This allows me to rec ord SKY but
as its from the RF it is in mono only!

Any ideas?

If you don't need the RF it would be simpler to loss it.
Try
tv == scart == sky box (TV scart connection)
dvdrecorder == scart == sky box (VCR scart)

This is the way I have mine, with a VCR instead of DVD, but you could treat the DVD recorder as a VCR.

You might want to add an RF cable from the DVD to the TV for monitoring purposes, as a "feature" of this setup is that it relies on auto-switching on the scart when you have DVD playback. When checking what AV channel the DVD is set on for recording use the RF channel

You may want to add a scart cable from the DVD to the TV instead and turn off Sky scart control?

Andrew

Tis all sorted now. I connected up as per the manual and then a hint on this forum guided me to the scart pass-through button on the machine although, annoyingly, not on the remote. Oh well.

I know the feeling