ContributionsMost RecentMost LikesSolutionsRe: Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder Label me as "lost in the dark ages", my rhetorical question would be, "what is the purpose of DVD recorders, if not to record TV programming?" I can see how stuff on HBO or pay-per-view might be blocked, but old TCM movies?? How many people are going to skip work to watch "20 Mule Team" at 11:30 am?? My older brother uses a DVR to watch ball games sans commercials, but I imagine there is some kind of arms race going on between what he has and the program makers who make money from advertising. But I have no idea how DVRs work and have no intention of getting one if I can't transport movies out to my elderly mother's place. Is TCM so desparate for money that they want to mandate old folks to get cable TV and watch particular movies at oddball times of the day or get DVRs and learn how those work? My mom can still barely figure out her cordless landline phone. I turned in the old Scientific Atlantic cable box because it flat out stopped working. I was alerted by Cox twice by mail starting a month or two ago that I might start to lose channels after May 7th if I didn't swap to the newer "Contour" setup, and then recently I started getting online alerts about that in popup windows, which I thought was particularly intrusive. So I called to have the new box delivered and had planned to do the swap in my own sweet time a week or two later after getting it, but then one evening only days after getting the new box, all cable TV stopped working completely, followed right after by the announcement on the screen that my cable service had been disconnected. A call to a Cox rep revealed that they had somehow activated my new Cisco 'system' (without any action prompting that from me) and that in order to watch TV again, I had to install the Cisco box right away. That's were the troubles began, because it should have worked with the way the prior coaxial cables were connected previously to my Magnavox recorder. I figured out how to see TV by bypassing the DVD recorder with the HDMI cable, but in the email correspondence with Cox Help people on why the signal wasn't working through the DVD recorder, they ultimately suggested that I had a defective Cisco box and that I should exchange it for a different one. When that didn't help, I figured I might find some answers in this online forum, but all that I saw was years out of date on connection problems with DVD recorders. Thus my need to sign in and ask directly toward folks like you guys who know way more better on what's going on. I love no-thinkum plug & play, which this certainly was not. Re: Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder So, to confirm a few items: When I tried to run the coaxial cable straight from the Cisco box to the TV, channel 4 on the TV is the default channel I've used for years with the prior cable tv box. It's the one with the snow. Channel 3 is a pure black screen, no snow, but shows the channel number first, then goes to a floating around "No Signal" message. Regarding what input sources are available, my Dynex TV only offers 5 choices, the ones seen in the photo here I took tonight (the show there is "Mutiny on the Bounty" on TCM). Under the prior Scientific Atlanta cable box setup, it was all coaxial cable connections. There was and is no "cable-box as the source" and I don't have a RF Modulator. The signal passed through the Magnavox recorder when it was turned off, and the input source was "TV" — meaning the Dynex was interpreting the cable box as though it was the antenna. Whenever I turned on the Magnavox, I had to switch over to "Component/AV (DVD)" to record TCM movies, which I did entirely for the benefit of my elderly mother who doesn't have cable TV. I don't think I ever tried to record anything that came under 'no recording' limitations. The system worked fine. The mystery is why the signal doesn't get to the TV directly now with a coaxial cable when it should under the "TV" input source setting, as that always was the cable TV boxes. Perhaps we can blame the new Cisco box? Meanwhile, on trying the newest cable connection suggestions, we now have a DVD recording success!! Or at least a recording of what was permitted to be recorded. The solution was basically gleaned from both of you guy's suggestions. Using Bruce's "Scenario-3 and 4", the HDMI cable connection is Cisco box-straight-to-TV, it works fine in the TV's "HDMI 1" input source selection. I then connected the composite cables into the Magnavox and then onward out to the TV, but it was WiderMouthOpen's note about channel selection that turned out to be the key here — not the channel 4 selection that the Dynex TV had to be set to, but instead the "channels" that could be selected on the Magnavox's remote control. Under the prior total coaxial cable connection setup using the old cable TV box, the Magnavox's "channel" also had to be on channel 4. There's a limited selection of "channels" but one of the others was "L1", meaning the composite cables coming in now from the Cisco box to the back of the Magnavox. With that selected, the signal comes in to the Magnavox and can be recorded to DVD. I tried it and it works ……………….. ……………….. with the limitations now that Bruce predicted. I can record what's on PBS stations, and on Fox Sports 1 (meaning I can still program overnight rebroadcasts of local MLB baseball that I've missed during the day on Sundays), and probably other such channels, but when it comes to Turner Classic Movies, which I had been recording just fine only two weeks back under the prior cable box, now it says "Recording Error, This program is not recordable in +VR mode. E45". Same result for the EPIX 2 channel which happened to be showing "Iron Man 2" when I first got this to display a signal. Bummer, not so much for me, but my elderly mother will be disappointed in not being able to watch old TCM broadcasts. Well, guys, I do thank you for all the help, and I hope this exercise helps others who might have a similar problem. When a person understands better how the systems work, then the systems will eventually work when all is set up right. Re: Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder Not sure what you mean by "HD receiver", but the Cisco box I have says "4742HDC" above the power button on the front. My TV is a somewhat old 2011 Dynex DX-32L221A12. Of course, if anybody wants to bless me with the very latest in techno-wonder video equipment, keep the old saying in mind and "just make the checks / money orders out to 'Cash'." =) Re: Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder Thanks guys! Regarding the connection suggestions: When I disconnect the direct-to-TV HDMI cable, and connect the Cox Cisco box straight to the TV with a coaxial cable (which is one thing I hadn't tried yet) and change the TV's input source to "TV", I get a sort of rolling snow picture with the small "No Signal" message floating around. Changing the TV's input signal setting to the other options does no good. Not being a techno guy, the "RCA/Composite" term has little meaning to me, but I assumed that meant the assortment of cables with the red/blue/green-colored connectors combined with the white/red combo, along with the other option of the white/red/yellow trio. When I disconnected the HDMI cable and connected that whole red/blue/green & red/white color connector pile directly to the TV and reset the input signal source to "Component (DVD)" ….. voilà, the cable box signal came in just fine even though it actually bypassed the Magnavox VHS/DVD machine completely. The temporary little gray square on the TV screen says 1080i at the bottom. When I did this same direct Cisco-box-to-TV connection for the 'lesser quality' white/red/yellow trio, it also showed the TV signal just fine, and the temporary little gray square on the TV screen says "NTSC" at the bottom instead. Whatever that means. So next, I tried connecting the old white/red/yellow cable trio from the Cisco box to the Magnavox and then on to the TV with a second identical trio set, no result. (Although if I put in a DVD, I can watch it, of course). Next, I left the old white/red & yellow cable trio from the Cisco box to the Magnavox alone, but connected the green/blue/red video trio & red/white audio pair from the Magnavox to the TV, same no signal result. After that, I left that last Magnavox-to-TV connection alone, but tried connecting the coaxial cable Cisco-to-Magnavox connection. No signal, still. Next, I tried the coaxial cable Cisco-to-Magnavox connection but with the HDMI Magnavox-to-TV cable hooked up (I'd mistaken the Magnavox's HDMI connector as an "in" connector, when it is only an outgoing one). Only a blank gray screen results, which later defaults to a power-saving screen with the Magnavox logo floating around. In all of these, I tried it with the Magnavox turned on, and turned off, where the input sources on the TV were "Component (DVD) when it was on, and "TV" when it was off. That's the way my prior Scientific Atlanta cable box worked. And as I noted at the start above, the Cisco-straight-to-TV coaxial connection showed no signal. I would have thought that would work like the color component cables did, and like the HDMI cable did when they were each connected directly to the TV. So, at a minimum, I can say that a TV signal is being sent out of the Cisco box via both the HDMI connector and the color-coded connectors, but I don't know about the outgoing coaxial cable connector. The ultimate goal is to still see a TV signal with the Magnavox recorder on, so that I know I can record onto DVD what I am seeing. Old as that machine is, it is still occasionally handy for dubbing old VHS tapes onto DVDs, so that those old recordings can be watched at other people's homes who only have DVD players. Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder Briefly had one of the new Cisco Contour HD receiver cable TV boxes to replace my obsolete Scientific Atlanta Explorer. With that old one, I had it connected via coaxial cable to my old Magnavox ZV457MG9 DVD/VHS tape recorder, and that recorder was then connected by coaxial cable to my Dynex TV. To simply watch cable TV, I would set the Dynex's "Input Source" setting to "TV" and then use a universal remote to change the cable box channels. When I wanted to record a program, I'd turn on the Magnavox recorder, set the Dynex's "Input Source" setting to "Component (DVD)" and then record the program as needed. With the new Cisco Contour, I first hooked it up exactly the same way with the incoming / outgoing coaxial cables to the Magnavox and Dynex, but no signal appeared on the Dynex, either when I had it set to the "TV" input source, or with the Magnavox on and the Dynex set to "Component (DVD)." I tried running the HDMI cord supplied with the Cisco Contour to the Magnavox, and the old coaxial from the Magnavox to the Dynex. Same no signal result. Switched the input source to "HDMI1," didn't fix anything. When I ran the HDMI cord straight from the Cisco Contour straight to the Dynex with the input source being "HDMI1, the TV signal came in just find, but then I was bypassing the Magnavox altogether. I exchanged several emails with Cox reps about this lack of being able to see a signal coming through the Magnavox, and they ultimately concluded that the first Cisco Contour box was defective, and I needed to swap it for another one. Got it today, same inability to apparently get a signal through the turned-off Magnavox, or when it is turned on. So is there something different in this new Cisco Contour setup that is not the same as the old Scientific Atlanta Explorer box setup, when it comes to recording a program on a DVD recorder, or with this specific old Magnavox recorder?