HD cable box,sony dvd recorder hookups - help please!

polishhduser

Hello! I am having an awful time trying to hookup my equipment. I have called Sony and my cable company (Buckeye Cable System) and have not been able to get my equipment to work properly. We recently got a Sony Bravia LCD HDTV. With it from my cable co. I got a Motorola HD cable box #DCH 3200 and also have a Sony DVD recorder with hard drive RDR-HX 715. All equipment is HDMI capable, but I am not currently using this. The DVD recorder has a built in TV guide that enables me to search for specific shows and record as I please, but I am not able to use this feature the way my equipment is hooked up. If anyone could assist me with this, I'd be very grateful!

Listed below is my current hookup config:

- wall jack to 2-way splitter to cable box in and to dvd vhf in
- cable box component cables (rbg) out to DVD component in
- cable box RF out to TV in
- cable box AV (red, white, yellow) out to DVD AV in
- DVD component (rgb & white red) video out to TV in
- I do have a set top box top control available to use - this feature enables me to use my dvd player to change channels on the cable box. TV is set to channel 3.

In order to receive the benefits of tv guide on my dvd recorder, I need to have it off for it to receive signals. Once it is turned back on, I am not able to use the dvd remote to change channels on the player. I've got to go through the whole dvd set up each time, which is a waste of my time. I've tried to give as much info as possible. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

Thank you so much!

Julie

billinprinceto

As for the guide proble, this seems to be a design flaw with the Sony recorder. Read this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-...A2R0BB8YY68KNQ

Your hook-up is rather odd:

You have cable from splitter to DVD/R VHF IN: It seems that this would limit you to ch2-13. Is there a Cable IN or other RF input that you could try? Check the manual on this.

Cable box to DVD: Remember, the best input to the DVD is 480i for recording purposes, so using component cables here is unnecessary and perhaps detrimental. Use S-video (first choice) and if necessary, composite (red,white,yellow).

DVD to TV: Component will not pass upscaled signals (leaving your TV to do all of the upscaling). Here you should use HDMI.

Cable Box RF out to TV: Why?? There should be no need for this connection.

Cable Box to TV: Composite is worst possible choice. Use either Component (Red/Blue/Green) or HDMI (if you have two HDMI inputs on TV). Note, with Component, you must also run sound separately, either red/white cables of digital. Many people find component to be a little better than HDMI, so it could be well to try them both and then go with whatever looks the best.