When a terrestrial channel transmits a nicam signal to your TV, it decodes it and gives you stereo.

When you add a video, the RF cable is plugged into the VCR and a fly lead to the TV. The video will pass the nicam signal to the TV and so you can watch to nicam program on UHF rather than having the VCR turned on and the TV AV1 selected.

In a collegues VCR manual it says *during playback* to listen to nicam sound you must use a scart connecter.

Why is that?

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

It's because the rf loop through to the TV is carrying the, already encoded, NICAM broadcast signal from the broadcaster.

The video and satellite boxes for that matter do not have NICAM modulators built in to them to encode stereo sound from a tape in to the RF output. This is done for cost reasons I'd guess.

If you look around you'll find plenty of mono rf modulators but not many NICAM ones.

Gordon

[/B][i]satellite boxes for that matter do not have NICAM modulators built in to them to encode stereo sound from ... in to the RF output. This is done for cost reasons I'd guess.
[/B]

thanks for the reply Gordon. Does this mean you also have to have a scart connection to get NICAM from Sky too. This means on Sky's digibox the second RF feed doesn't transmit a NICAM signal.

That puts the mockers on my satellite around the house project :-( I was going to use the RF feed into my cinema room. Ah well rethink time.


thanks again

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Doesn't matter whether it's RF1 or RF2 you still wont get NICAM out of a satellite box that way. You need a nicam modulator to feed the l/r audio and compositre video to for distribution around the house. Or you can just make a long scart to 3 phono lead from the box to the av amp

You could also look at sending the l/r/ audio and video down a length of CAT5 using some wee boxes I know of to drive the signal.

Gordon