Getting TV Signal to show through Magnavox DVD recorder

What happens if you connect the cable box to your HDTV via coaxial?  Not only if you receive a signal but what type of formatted signal (SD or HD).  I'm just assuming the signal leaving coaxial port on your cable box is digital and your VCR can't process a digital signal.

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.

I reviewed most...not all...HD receivers and the Cable-Out ports are active.  Maybe yours in not active.  Which receiver do you have?

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.

The assortment of cables is either Component or Composite, and both are "old school" connectors.  The thicker Component (separate) connectors are the 3 red, blue and green cables.  The thinner Composite (merged) connector is the single yellow cable.  Both types carry a video signal and require the red/white cables for audio.  Since Component has multiple cables, it carries more video information than the sole Composite cable.  Of all cables in the AV world, Composite is the most limited cable.

Scenario-1.  When you connected the coax to the Dynex and selected "TV" as the input, you were using the tuner inside your TV for a signal.  A tuner needs an antenna and your length or coax wasn't a good antenna.  No signal.

Scenario-2.  Component cables (Red/Green/Blue) can support a full 1080p HD signal, so that was normal.  Composite, however, only supports an SD signal, so that was normal.  NTSC was the analog TV standard until 2009.  Remember the Convertor boxes?  We were replacing NTSC with a new digital TV standard (ATSC).  When you connected the single yellow cable; your TV informed you of an analog, SD, 480i, NTSC signal from the limited cable.

Scenario-3 and 4.  When you connect your Magnavox between your cable-box and TV, I'm not sure but your Magnavox should still pass the signal to your TV.  Mouth could be correct with the matching 3/4 output channels; however, this won't ultimately help you because you won't record anything from the cable-box.

Even with old school cables, these newer cable-boxes can detect a recording device and trigger distortion signals while recording.  Even with an HDMI cable, your Magnavox supports copy-right protection and won't record anything.  These distortion signals are either from built-in Macrovision or Conditional Access Entitlement Control Messages (ECM) technology.

Your "Cisco-straight-to-TV coaxial connection" should have worked, but it read as though you selected a tuner inside your TV as the input.  That'd require an antenna.  Select the cable-box as the source and set the same RF Modulator Channel.

However, as I noted, your video pirating days are over with the new cable-box.

Practically all recordable media is obsolete for TV:  VHS, DVD, hard drives, flash drives, etc.  Your recorder is still good for over-the-air broadcasts.  I've never used TiVo but I think people are still using it, but that may be too involved for your Mom.

Everything is digitally protected nowadays so if you want it, you need to digitally steal it.  There are methods to employ but I don't think it'd behoove my account to explain the options.

What is your Mom's setup...just a DVD player?  Surprisingly, Netflix still has a LOT of subscribers for its DVD rental service.  It may be worth $8 a month at dvd.netflix.com.  According to my Mom, some liberties still freely loan DVDs.

You can still bring your Mom movies on DVDs...you just can no longer make 'em.