I have a standard Sky Box and a DVD recorder both attatched to a non digital TV.

I want to tape Red Dragon at 10pm, and watch something else, however, as soon as I turn on the DVD recorder the TV switches to whatever the chanel is set to on the DVD recorder, which means that I have to watch what I'm recording or I can only watch terrestrial or whatever the DVD recorder is set to, I can't watch sky if the DVD recorder is set to record terrestrial, and if it is set to record sky I can only watch that or terrestrial.

Can anyone help? I want to record terrestrial and watch Sky, which I can't seem to do at present.

Yes you can watch Sky if you are recording analogue TV or vice versa.
Your TV automatically switches to one of the AV channels (You connected via the scart lead) when you switch it on as it assumes that you want to the dvd recorder when you switch it on. This does NOT mean that you cannot cannot change channels on your TV via your TV remote.
To simply watch another TV channel or Sky you need to use your TV remote and select the appropriate channel.
If you want to watch SKy it's most likely to be on AV1 or AV2.
If you want to watch analogue channels then simply select from your TV remote.
Note on your on your TV remote the AV selector will either be marked by the letters AV or a circle with an arrow pointing right.

Any joy Scoop?

Any joy Scoop?

Well the method you mentioned above didn't work. I wanted to watch Sky and record terrestrial, but the tecnology would only let me watch either what was recording or terrestrial.

However, I found a button on my DVD remote that said TV/Dvd and that let me do what I wanted.

I still don't understand, but thank you for your reply Kingmaker.:)

However, I found a button on my DVD remote that said TV/Dvd and that let me do what I wanted.


I am glad you got it to do what you want,
To record terrestial TV on your DVD recorder you'll need to ensure that your TV Ariel is plugged into the back of the DVD recorder rather than your TV and then select the channel input on your DVD recorder.
If you have your TV ariel plugged into the back of the TV then that's when recording terrestial TV becomes more of a problem as one of the AV selections on your DVD recorder will only record what you actually watch on your TV.
At the end of the day you don't need to understand the ins and outs, just as long as it does what you want it to do.

I am glad you got it to do what you want,
To record terrestial TV on your DVD recorder you'll need to ensure that your TV Ariel is plugged into the back of the DVD recorder rather than your TV and then select the channel input on your DVD recorder.
If you have your TV ariel plugged into the back of the TV then that's when recording terrestial TV becomes more of a problem as one of the AV selections on your DVD recorder will only record what you actually watch on your TV.
At the end of the day you don't need to understand the ins and outs, just as long as it does what you want it to do.

Well, I'm in trouble! We were watching the recording of red dragon last night and at the point when I pressed the TV/DVD button (about half way through) the picture turned red and grainy, so we couldn't finish watching the film. Mr Scoop is not very pleased and says he's going to order Sky+ as I can't be trusted to record things properly!

Well, I'm in trouble! We were watching the recording of red dragon last night and at the point when I pressed the TV/DVD button (about half way through) the picture turned red and grainy, so we couldn't finish watching the film. Mr Scoop is not very pleased and says he's going to order Sky+ as I can't be trusted to record things properly!

Sorry about your recording,

I somehow had the feeling the TV/DVD button on your DVD recorder wouldn't be the solution although I didn't want to say anything as you seemed to say it was working okay.

Can I ask how you have hooked up your DVD recoder to your TV and Sky box?
Do you have 2 seperate scart sockets connected to your TV or only one?
Is your tv ariel connected to your TV or is it connected to your DVD recorder?
Essentially how you set up your connections will determine how you can watch or record different sources.

Sorry about your recording,

I somehow had the feeling the TV/DVD button on your DVD recorder wouldn't be the solution although I didn't want to say anything as you seemed to say it was working okay.

Can I ask how you have hooked up your DVD recoder to your TV and Sky box?
Do you have 2 seperate scart sockets connected to your TV or only one?
Is your tv ariel connected to your TV or is it connected to your DVD recorder?
Essentially how you set up your connections will determine how you can watch or record different sources.


The tv ariel is in the dvd player, I have a scart lead into tv and another into DVD player from the sky box, do you think thats right?

The tv ariel is in the dvd player, I have a scart lead into tv and another into DVD player from the sky box, do you think thats right?

It is right, but how do you watch DVDs? Presumably there is another lead from the DVD box to the TV? If so that setup should allow you to record sky whilst watching another (analogue) channel on the TV. It'd just be a matter of pressing the correct sequence of buttons on the correct controllers.

Sky+ would seem like a nice idea, but you'd still have the issue of getting stuff off the sky box onto DVD.

It is right, but how do you watch DVDs? Presumably there is another lead from the DVD box to the TV? If so that setup should allow you to record sky whilst watching another (analogue) channel on the TV. It'd just be a matter of pressing the correct sequence of buttons on the correct controllers.

Sky+ would seem like a nice idea, but you'd still have the issue of getting stuff off the sky box onto DVD.


Yes you're right, there's a scart from the DVD to the TV.

Any ideas what that sequence might be? I've just rung Sky and found out I can't afford Sky+ :hihi:

The basic sequence would be -

Turn sky box to the channel you want to record from.

Turn DVD input to the "channel" that the scart socket is that is plugged in to the sky. Probably called AV1, AV2, or LINE IN but varies by model.

Start recording.

Switch TV to analogue channel by pressing, for example, 1 on the TV remote.

DONE.

If that sequence results in fuzzy or no picture, then you are missing a link somewhere. Does the RF aerial feed out of the DVD recorder into the TV?

The basic sequence would be -

Turn sky box to the channel you want to record from.

Turn DVD input to the "channel" that the scart socket is that is plugged in to the sky. Probably called AV1, AV2, or LINE IN but varies by model.

Start recording.

Switch TV to analogue channel by pressing EG 1 on the TV remote.

DONE.

If that sequence results in fuzzy or no picture, then you are missing a link somewhere. Does the RF aerial feed out of the DVD recorder into the TV?

Yes I can watch Terrestrial when recording Sky, but what I can't do is watch Sky when recording from terrestrial.

My TV always defaults to the DVD when it is switched on, and I can't get Sky if I am recording from terrestrial.

Yes I can watch Terrestrial when recording Sky, but what I can't do is watch Sky when recording from terrestrial.

My TV always defaults to the DVD when it is switched on, and I can't get Sky if I am recording from terrestrial.

Hmm. Record the channel from sky instead then?

With your current setup do you have a lead directly from the sky box to the tv, or does it only go via the dvd thing? If via the dvd, you won't be able to watch sky whilst recording terrestrial. If direct, you should be able to switch the input by pressing (normally) the scart button on the tv remote multiple times.

Switch TV to analogue channel by pressing EG 1 on the TV remote.


It varies on different remotes as to how this button is labelled.
It will usually either be labelled AV or will be symbol with a circle with an arrow pointing to the right.

Yes I can watch Terrestrial when recording Sky, but what I can't do is watch Sky when recording from terrestrial.

My TV always defaults to the DVD when it is switched on, and I can't get Sky if I am recording from terrestrial.

Question scoop, have you actually tuned your DVD recorder to annalogue channels when you first set it up?
If not you will need to, otherwise it won't record terristial tv channels properly as they haven't been tuned in, this could explain your fuzzy recording of Red Dragon.

You initially seem to be recording via the Scart AV output but when you pressed the TV/DVD button on your remote it probably went on your analogue tuner, only the channels haven't been tuned in properly.
Remember your DVD recorder needs to be tuned into your annalogue channels idependentley of your TV. So just because your TV displays the annalogue channels correcty that won't mean that your DVD recorder is tuned in properly.

In most cases the DVD recorder will automatically tune the channels it finds but you still usually need to initiate the tuning set up by selecting this option from the DVD recorder "Set Up" menu.

Sounds like you need a twin tuner so you can record Sky whilst watching another Sky channel.

Sounds like you need a twin tuner so you can record Sky whilst watching another Sky channel.

Don't think Scoop needs that, she wants to record terrestial TV whilst watching Sky.
If everything is tuned in and set up correctly then I can see no reason why she won't be able to do so with the existing equipment that she already has.