Help with a Anniversary gift of sorts. Connectivity of a VCR to a Hilton TV? (1 Viewer)

I will be staying at a Hilton for my Anniversary get-away with my wife and I just got a copy of the Raw Wedding Footage on VHS that I was hoping to surprise her with. I called the hotel and they told me that there is a rental fee of $75-$100 per night for a VCR rental. What are the chances of being able to hook up a VCR to the Hiltons TV to avoid this rental fee? I realize most of the newer hotels have this on demand service but does that lock out devices such as VCRs?

If you can get to the backside of the TV, a normal coax cable should be all you need to connect the VCR to it. You'll have to unplug/unscrew the converter box that's attached to the hotel's TV, though.

Now, you plan B would be to fork over the rental fee if the hotel's TV has some wonky hook-up setup.

if you want to unhook the coax you will need a special tool that can get around the small plastic lock down on the tv...or you can break that thing...your choice...also if you have a universal remote you can likely work some magic that way... if you manage to have a remote and get the cable unhooked from the tv you should quickly figure out that you can scan all the channels available to you once you disconnect the filter and connect the cable coming from the wall right in to the set... no other details on how this works to follow...at least from me anyway.

I don't know if this is true or not? but I've been told that on some Hotel/Motel systems they have an alarm system on them to help prevent people from stealing the tv's & etc & if you disconnect the antenna from the tv it sets the alarm off. Maybe someone else can chime in here & let us know if this is true or not.

RichardK,

Do you have any details or a website on the special tool you referred to? I like to travel with a portable DVD player and RF modulator, but I have noticed more and more hotels putting on those locks to disallow hooking to the TV's coax input. I would really love to get one I can add to my travel kit.

Thanks!
Scott

Considering you can buy a TV/VCR combo from Costco or the like for $100, I think that might be a plan if you need a little TV in the future. Can also sell the thing after you use it on eBay...

Most newer hotel TVs have some easily accessible AV inputs, so it might be exceedingly simple, just plug it right in and hit the "tv/video" button. Hotels realize that guests want to be able to plug in their Playstation ... Only if you get stuck in a room with an old TV with coax RF in only, with it locked down will you have a problem.

There's no alarm system, at least I've never seen one. The universal remote tricks RichardK mentions only work on older systems; newer ones scramble closer to the head-end and have smart TVs with channels locked out, that won't respond to a universal.

I called and asked about the AV jacks for "my kids playstation" and they said that would also be impossible since they have the pay to play service. They keep saying that I would not be able to connect anything. Looks like I am up the creek with out a paddle.... I am a bit surprised that they were not a bit more helpful though..?. I must be some kind of policy to prevent any one from messing with there TVs.

i dont know anything about a website...i got this tip from some buddies who work for a large cable company...they pulled it off right before my eyes...pretty funny how embarrassed everyone got when the adult channels popped on!i have a couple of the tools used for the trick, but i dont keep a remote control handy when i travel..

They just want to prevent you from bringing in your own equipment, thereby missing out on the chance to sell you some of their outrageously-priced services.