New DTV install - VCR connection issues

[Wikkus]

Greetings, people.

Okay, a friend of mine just moved to a new gaff and elected to go with ntl: DTV/phone/broadband 'cause it was the most convenient solution.

After an initial hiccup with her installation wherein the tech arrived to fit the home-side equipment only to discover there was no street-side hookup(!), she now has her services.

At her old house, she was a Sky customer and thought (understandably) that the connection of her VCR (JVC HR-J645) to her TV (Sony 100Hz w/s job), etc. should be much the same. It seems not to be the case.

I have had a look at her setup and it looks much like Altis' diagram (http://homepage.ntlworld.com/altisuk/fm/wiring.gif) albeit minus the RF connections for terrestial (she has no aerial).

She has a Pace Di4001N STB with the connections as follows:

STB Scart#1 (TV) --> TV Scart#1
STB Scart#2 (VCR) --> VCR in/out (VCR AV1)

There are no RF connections at the moment (primarily as there is no terrestial antenna) but there are a couple of RF leads on hand.

With the above configuration, she can't get her VCR to behave properly; it will record and playback but *only* if the STB is switched on first. This is not as obvious as it may seem -- pre-recorded stuff will only play back if the STB is on, also

Is this right?

A side-effect of this is that the VCR's on-screen setup guide (for programming, etc.) is only accessible if the STB is on and the VCR is actually playing back at the time.

I had a spare Scart lying about which I've managed to use to provide a work-around. It now goes:
STB Scart#1 (TV) --> TV Scart#1 (AV1)
STB Scart#2 (VCR) --> VCR in (AV2)
VCR Scart#1 (in/out) --> TV Scart#2 (AV2)


This seems slightly overkill. Surely, if the STB VCR port is connected to the VCR's in/out port, that would suffice?


Maybe I'm just losing the plot...

Rik.

[Rob]

unless the STB is powered on it will not pass signals from one scart port to another, so as you found out wiring setup #1 didn't work properly.

As the TV has two scart sockets it's best to use them both. It's not really duplication, it allows independent operation of the various appliances.

[Wikkus]

Originally Posted by Rob C

unless the STB is powered on it will not pass signals from one scart port to another, so as you found out wiring setup #1 didn't work properly.

As the TV has two scart sockets it's best to use them both. It's not really duplication, it allows independent operation of the various appliances.

Fairy nerf.

That does answer my query. It also suggests that the pass-through on her old Sky box (a Sony branded device) is "live" even when not powered-up. <shrug>

Thanks for the assist.


Rik.