Need help w/ cable box connection

[rhoelsch]

Ok, this is ridiculous, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to hook up my dvd recorder to my digital cable box + HDTV setup.
First off, my entertainment center is one of those beasts that takes up an entire wall, so it's hard to get to the connections. I used to have much less stuff Anyway, the cable is split right from the wall, one line going to my router, the other, to the set-top box. Box hooked up to TV via HDMI. No issues there.

Box also running a coax out into DVD recorder's input. Tried running the recorder's outs to the TV via s-vid, then component, w/ stereo a/vs for audio as well. The recorder not picking up any channels with either, auto or manually. Tried setting the cable box to chan. 3, changed all sorts of TV input... gotta be not decoding the digital signal from the box?

Recorder manual's only option was a crappy schematic showing a splitter from the wall running straight into the recorder... but then I'd be splitting it twice right from the wall, and the installer already said just one would degrade my signal...

I just want to record some shows.  I'm still in my 30s. This shouldn't be happening to me yet.
Help appreciated!

[J_K_M_A_N]

I think some cable boxes don't pass the signal through. You may have no other choice but to split again. If it goes bad, add a signal booster before the split to the TV. Not before the split to the modem. It is possible to boost that signal too much.

When I had my cable box it didn't even have a coax output from what I remember.

J_K_M_A_N

[rhoelsch]

I don't really understand how they work... you'd think the recorder would need the signal to be decoded by the box in order to receive a usable signal... is it analog prior to being passed thru the box, and the recorder isn't compatible with a digital signal?

[J_K_M_A_N]

I believe those are just like cable ready TV's where it will only decode the analog signals. So if you want to record a digital channel, you have to have the cable box decode it and hook that to the recorder to record.

So your options are to hook the cable box up to the DVD recorder through the s-vid or composite cables and it may have one of those IR blaster things to change the channel on the box, or to hook a cable to the thing and see if it can at least decode the analog signals and just not record digital channels. If you hook the cable box to it and record that way, you will not be able to watch something else whilst recording a show.

Hopefully that isn't too confusing. I suck at explaining things.

J_K_M_A_N

[rhoelsch]

I see what you mean. I'm sure I could record by treating the cable box as an "input choice" rather than try to run the channels thru it, but yeah, I'd almost have to be watching whatever I was recording, and I'm not sure I could schedule recording from that type of "non-channel" input source. I think the only other inputs available on the recorder are dv and the standard a/v cables. Composite and s-vid are output only. Guess I could pick up another splitter and see what that does.
How does everyone else record digital cable? Would newer equipment be more likely compatible, or is something with a HDD pretty much the way things are pointing these days?

Then again, I could always put the recorder on my gameroom TV, which isn't digital at all, but then I'd have to finalize the media to watch it on the big screen upstairs. 

[J_K_M_A_N]

We dropped cable down to the most basic plan and bought an HD Tivo. It gets the local channels in HD over the air and can record 2 things at once. And if you have netflix, you can stream that to the Tivo also. I never thought I would be all...Tivo is great but I have to say, it is pretty nice.

Do you have the model number of the DVD recorder? Maybe we can check the specs and see what the best way to hook it up is.

J_K_M_A_N

[rhoelsch]

Panasonic DMR-ES20

[protokatie]

I will ask that saint look away:

Ok, is saint out of the room?

Yes..?

Ok, Forget cable and set up a NAS or fileserver and just pyrite the content. Minerals are my friend, I like pyrite as well as magnesium and calcium. All of these minerals can be fun!

Oh! Not to forget potassium chlorate!

[rhoelsch]

Ok, since the manual wants to split the wall signal into the recorder and the cable box, that means to me that the recorder doesn't have a digital tuner, so it can't accept digital channel data directly from the box. Wondering if I can just run into the recorder first, from there into the box, then run outputs from each into the TV.

If not, I'll have to split the signal twice from the wall (recall it's split already for the router), and hope that works and my signal isn't significantly degraded.

[J_K_M_A_N]

That you should be able to do. Hook cable into the recorder and then to the box and hook both boxes to the TV (if you have enough inputs). You should be able to record from the box though if you really wanted to. But the box would have to be on the channel you want to record the whole time the program is on.

But I am with Katie on this one....This is a good way to go if you don't want to pay monthly. It usually lasts me about 2 months or more....You may be different and need more though.

J_K_M_A_N