help hooking up 2 vcrs to tv (1 Viewer)

[gil*c]

Hi,
I have been given all sorts of suggestions from friends on how to hook up two vcrs to one tv. Not working yet.
Here's what I have:
-memorex vcr: on back - one antenna/cable in jack and one jack out to the tv
-rca 27" tv: on back - one antenna/cable jack
-noname Walmart vcr: - on back one antenna/cable in jack and one jack out.
I bought this switch thing from radio shack to move between the two vcrs on my tv. It only has three connections for the cables. The guys at radio shack are talking in circles about how this thing works. They keep saying:
jack1 - vcr1 cable
jack2 - tv cable
jack3 - vcr2 cable
Well, where the heck does the cable cable (huh?) go so both the vcrs have cable input? Vcr2 will play but not record.
Here's my theory. Is it right? Radio Shack says no. I need a cable splitter in the cable wall jack to make two connections - one goes to vcr1 and the other directly to vcr2. Will this work? I want to use both vcrs to tape tv shows.
Thanks for any advice you may have. Buying this RCA home theatre system has certainly given me a whole lot more to think about. I now have more cables than Skylab. I even had to come up with a whole new configuration to get the sound to work with my corner tv unit. What a learning curve! Pheww!!
PS: can you tape two tv shows on two different vcrs at the same time? Can you watch one taped show while the other vcr is taping?

 

[Bill Will]

First of all does your tv have Audio/Video inputs (Yellow, Red & white) jacks on the back of it? I'm not sure if your just trying to hook antenna connections for the tv & both vcr's or you want to know how to get the picture to the tv from both vcr's? Also do you have the vcr's hooked up to the receiver & if so how?

Myself I have 2 vcr's hooked up to a tv that only has 1 antenna input & the way I did it was I hooked up vcr2 A/V outputs to vcr1 A/V inputs & then hooked up the antenna output on vcr1 to the tv. When I want to watch vcr2 I must turn "on" vcr1 & select the vcr1's A/V inputs. This would be exactly how you would also dub a video tape.

For the cable antenna connections I used a 3-way cable splitter with 1 output going to the tv, 1 output going to vcr1 & 1 output going to vcr2.

Another thing is do you need to use a cable box?

If you have a HI-FI stereo vcr the only way you are going to get stereo audio from the vcr's is to use the A/V outputs. The antenna outputs on a vcr will not send stereo audio to the tv.

The best thing to do is let us know exactly what you have for A/V inputs & outputs on the tv, both vcr's & the receiver & if you need to use a cable box does it have any A/V outputs.

 

[gil*c]

Hi, Bill, thanks for replying
I decided to try my theory and it worked. We don't need cable boxes here so the only thing I had to take into account are the connections on vcr1, vcr2, and tv. I sort of figured what the guys at radio shack said couldn't be right so I went to the hardware store and bought two lengths of coaxial cable. I hooked the short length into the cable wall jack and put the two connection splitter into the end. Then I ran the coax from vcr1 into one side and attached the other coax to the other side of the splitter and connected it to vcr2. Now both work with my vcr switch box thing.
I'm not going to bother running the audio cables from vcr2 to the receiver because it is really only for taping everyday shows like my quilting shows and the like. Sound is coming thru the tv fine. It's an old vcr and works ok, other than chomping the occasional tape, but doesn't have much time left. The new one is going to be for watching my videos and taping and watching the stuff with surround sound like CSI.
Boy, has this been a learning curve. I have discovered that although the connections are colour coded for ease of setup the instructions are written in gibberish. I tried to be a good student and follow them but in the end the only answer is chuck the book and try whatever looks likely. Oh, and don't listen to the guys in radio shack. :rolleyes