Connecting Sky+HD box, Samsung LED TV and Sony DVD recorder

[brianmulligan]

Hi

I am a complete novice at this so would appreciate any help that can be given.

I have purchased a Sony RDR-DC100 DVD/hard drive recorder and wish to hook it up to my TV and Sky+HD box.

The equipment has the following rear connections:

Samsung LED TV: ANTENNA IN, EXT(RGB), AV IN, COMPONENT IN and HDMI 1,2,3,4
Samsung Sky+HD boxISH INPUT 1 & 2, HDMI, AERIAL IN, RF OUT 1 & 2, VCR/DVD SCART and TV SCART
Sony RDR-DC100 DVD recorder:AERIAL IN & OUT, SCART LINE 1/DECODER, SCART LINE 2 –TV and HDMI OUT

I tried various combinations but even though I can play DVDs, I cannot seem to tune the DVD recorder into the TV to search for the SKY channel (when I auto search digital channels it doesn’t pick anything up).

If anyone could advise me on the best way to hook these up so that I can record from the SKY+ HD box to the hard drive of the DVD recorder I would be most appreciative. If I have left any relevant details out, please let me know.

I tried

Many thanks.

Brian Mulligan

[Scubbie]

I have purchased a Sony RDR-DC100 DVD/hard drive recorder and wish to hook it up to my TV and Sky+HD box.

The equipment has the following rear connections:

Samsung LED TV: ANTENNA IN, EXT(RGB), AV IN, COMPONENT IN and HDMI 1,2,3,4
Samsung Sky+HD boxISH INPUT 1 & 2, HDMI, AERIAL IN, RF OUT 1 & 2, VCR/DVD SCART and TV SCART
Sony RDR-DC100 DVD recorder:AERIAL IN & OUT, SCART LINE 1/DECODER, SCART LINE 2 –TV and HDMI OUT

Try this:

TV Aerial
Terrestrial aerial --> Sky+ HD RF Input --> Sky+ HD RF1 Out --> Sony DVD recorder RF In --> Sony DVD recorder RF Out --> TV RF In

HDMI
Sky+ HD HDMI --> Samsung TV HDMI 2 or 3 (Port 1 is best for a PC but would work with Sky)

Scart
Sky+ HD Scart to TV --> Sony DVD Recorder Scart 1 --> Sony DVD Recorder Scart --> Samsung TV Scart (1 or 2, doesn't matter)

For the Scart lead from your Sky STB to the DVD recorder, cut the wire to Pin 8 and attach a label to this lead to identify it. This will prevent the TV from jumping to the Scart input whenever you turn the Sky STB on, but allow the TV to jump when you play DVDs.

This setup will also allow you to record material from the Sky STB onto the DVD in stereo. Recording it using the RF Input would only be in mono.

[Graylion]

Presumably you didn't buy the DVD recorder or TV new? They would have come with pretty comprehensive manuals which detail all the options for hookups between equipment. I know we tend to resist using manuals but this would be a good time to RTFM!

[Scubbie]

...this would be a good time to RTFM!

A lot of people get confused over all this.

With manuals from different manufacturers they each describe the same thing in different ways. Some refer to the 'Scart socket', others call them 'Euroscart', others AV1 & AV2. AV1 on most other devices is the 'Phono connections'. This is before we even look at 'S-VHS' or 'Component' connections.

The Samsung Sky+ HD STB has an input & output for the Scart connection. This is also the case for the DVD Recorder. Which should you have first in the chain?

Are you now confused or do you have an understanding? Not everyone out there does.

Hopefully the process I described above will be more practical & helpful at the same time.

The tip about cutting the wire for pin 8 comes from knowledge of how the Scart system works and works very well on my setup.