donnnster

I have an older toshiba VCR and am having problems with some of my channels not being clear. I currently run the cable through a splitter. One of the splitters runs into my VCR and out to the TV. I tested the signal without the splitter and still have the same problem. I then connected straight from TV to VCR and it was very clear. How do I fix my problem? Would getting a newer VCR do the trick? Or is there another way to hook up the vcr/tv so I can record the shows I want to watch. Thanks.

donnnster

ok bumpin the thread to see if i can get a response...ok maybe add another comment. So is it the best to hook up cable tv by:
-cable from wall into vcr
-cable from vcr into tv...

or is there a better way to hook this up. thanks

X

Is it channel 3 or 4? If you disconnect the cable from the splitter to the VCR does it clear up? Do you have the VCR outputting its signal as if you were running the cable from the VCR to the TV? If so, see about turning off the VCR's coax output. There might be a TV/VCR button that controls that or something in the setup menu.

Actually, I don't understand this statement at all: "One of the splitters runs into my VCR and out to the TV." Can you draw a diagram of how the splitter, input signal, TV, and VCR are connected?

donnnster

ok i will try to clarify my situation...lets see, so I need a splitter in order to split signal because we have 2 tvs. I know that the splitter is not the cause of the distorion because I ran the cable directly to tv, and also ran the cable through splitter to the tv and the signal was clear for both setups. But my normal setup is cable from wall to splitter to vcr to tv. So watching normal tv, vcr is not on and i get a lousy tv signal....and i know my vcr has something to do with. I just don't know how to clear it up. oh btw, the vcr is set for channel 3...dont know if that matters...

bnewt

I am by no means an expert, but from my personal experience, anytime the signal is "split" is looses strength. If you must split it, it needs to be amplified before the split to compensate for the split. Radio Shack has several amplifiers that run from $10 -$15 bucks up to $50. The one that I prefer is the model that has (1) input but (4) amplified outputs (acts like a powered splitter). Pretty strong amplifacton if I remember. I don't remember the model #, but it is black & runs about $50, but it works. You may have to try different strengths. Some may not be enough, other may be too strong.

greegor

Hi, This sounds a little like it could be either the 3/4 channel item or it is loosing enough signal passing through the vcr to drop it out. One of the questions for you is, does the vcr have passthough capability? If it doesn't, then the problem may be that it is dropping the signal there when off, and broadcasting on the wrong channel when it's on.

Another item here is how the wiring is done to the tv and what kind of inputs the tv has. On mine, if I have the tv set for antenna and I turn the vcr on, it scrambles the signal until I switch it to vcr (wiring issue I am not willing to work around at this time).

To find out part of this, do you need to turn the vcr on to get the signal through? And is your VCR only broadcasting on channel 3/4 instead of passing the signal through. Some old VCR did not pass the full signal though and would only send out on Channel 3. This would make all of the other channels except 3 look bad when viewed on the tv.

That's just a couple of suggestions I thought of.

donnnster

greegor,

After testing a little more I believe that if the VCR is off, the signal is weaker and less clear...but when I turn the vcr on, the signal is pretty clear. So I am guessing that the vcr is dropping the signal. Is there anyway to fix this besides switching channels on the tv through the vcr? do all vcrs have this problem? thank you all for your input thus far!