I sometimes still record on VCR and have two questions. First, the coaxial cable goes from the wall to the VCR/DVD player rather than from the wall to the TV. A second cable connects the VCR/DVD to the TV. Which cable should be connected to the minibox in order to still allow the VCR player to work? Second, I can currently pre-program the VCR to tape at some later time when I'm not in the house and the TV is not on. Will I still be able to do this? Thanks.
I'm assuming your VCR has a digital TV tuner.
The mini-box is the first-connected device from the wall. Cox will encrypt their signal (scramble) and a Cox mini-box, set-top box or DVR has to decrypt the signal before you can view or record. You'll then connect your VCR to the mini-box via coax cable; you'll connect your VCR to the TV with either RCA, S-Video or coax as well as the audio cables.
Setting your VCR to record will still work if you leave the mini-box powered.
Again, the minibox must be used to change channels. You can set the VCR to start/stop at programmed times in the future but it can't change channels. You can only record the channel set in the minibox. You must set the VCR tuner to the channel selected on the back of the minibox (3 or 4).
Bruce,
Thanks for the reply. Where do I get a coax cable to connect the VCR to the minibox?
You can get coax cables almost anywhere. I suggest Monoprice.com
Depending the distance you'll place the mini-box from your VCR, you should only need a short length of coax. 3 feet? When you pick-up your mini-box at the Service Center, perhaps a representatives could give you one.
Also, if you have a HDTV, you could connect your mini-box to your television with a HDMI cable to enjoy the high definition experience. You don't need to buy anything expensive...$10 or so.
Connect your VCR as described, connect the mini-box with HDMI and select the Input button on your remote to view either source.
The comment above suggest you can turnoff the power to the mini box. Is this true other than unplugging it? That greenlight sure is annoying at night and that box gets really warm.......
On another forum, I've read the mini-box always stays powered, like an Internet cable modem. There could be workarounds to powering it down, but that begs the question: will each power-up require another reactivation, set-up and customization?
If not, you could power the mini-box from the switched AC outlet of another component, such as an A/V receiver, sound bar, game console, etc. That way, if you power down the main component, the mini-box will lose its power and the annoying green light will extinguish. It should be a component that's always turned on when you watch cable TV. My Panasonic doesn't have an outlet but maybe some other makes/models do.
The downside to turning off the mini-box are automatic updates and reboots. If you turn on the mini-box, you'd have to wait to download, install and reboot the mini-box before watching TV.
...or you could cover the green light with a piece of electrical tape.
