Hi videoheads ;-) ,

My VCR (DUAL VR6000 - dunno the maker)  was bought in Germany. The
problem I'm having with it is that I cannot scan or record UK
Television signals. (A collegue tells me its something to do with the
difference in TV signals or something like that.) Why isn't my VCR
"seeing" UK television signals? ... Better still how can I get the
flippin' box to do my bidding? :-D

Muchos Gracias,

- Olumide

50***@web.de wrote:

Your collegue was correct. Germany uses PAL B/G whereas UK uses PAL I.
The frequency bands are (partly) different, the channel spacing is
different, the audio subcarrier is at different offset, the stereo sound
is broadcast using a different standard. See
<http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Contrib/WorldTV/>.

Unfortunately, you almost certainly can't. The tuner in your VCR is of
wrong type, or at least set to a wrong broadcast standard.

Even if the tuner was software-controllable, and even if it could handle
multiple TV standards, there probably isn't any "user-serviceable" easy
way to reconfigure it for the UK broadcasts.

My suggestion: forget about the thing, except for playback of existing
tapes. VHS is out, analogue reception of tv broadcasts is out, digital
recording is in. Get a digital (DVB / "Freeview") PVR set-top box with
twin tuners and a large hard disk - such as some of the Topfield models.

Actually, I just got the VCR recording off the Freeview box ('forgot to
mention that I have one) ... woo-hoo! . The VRC is connected to the
freeview box via a SCART cable, and I hit the TV/VCR button on the
VCR's remote and voila!, the VCR now records off the Freeview box :-D

'Still dont know much about the TV/VCR button, but it sure does the
trick. 'Sadly, the VCR still has difficulty scanning the TV channels,
but thats not a big problem.

- Olumide

50***@web.de wrote:

Yes, that is, of course, possible, since you're bypassing the VCRs tuner
by using the SCART connector and feeding it composite video signal.
(It's only the RF [aerial] signal that your VCR has problems with.)

Another way of choosing the signal source for recording would be setting
the VCR's "channel" to "E1" or "AV", or whatever designation it uses for
referring to its SCART sockets.

The biggest problem with that kind of setup is that if you change the
channels on the Freeview box mid-record, the change will be recorded. If
you want to watch tv and record another channel at the same time, you
would need to purchase a separate Freeview box for the VCR alone.

<jukka.***@iki.fi> wrote:

Standards are great!

Everybody should have one of their own.

Although it is right that the UK has a different PAL Version, this has
become less and less of a problem, since in recent years more and more all
round ICs have been developed. That means, there is a good chance that you
might be able to software mod the parameters (audio carrier, band, etc)...

For example my parents VCR, TV and Digital Sat Receiver in Germany all have
the option to set the location (Pal G/B, I,etc , Secam Eastern/Western,
etc) and they were bought 4 years ago...So I would suggest resetting the
Unit (Usually possible somewhere in the menu) and going through the Setup
Routine again...

If it is a really old unit without an Onscreen Menu there are hardware mods
for about $10 available, but I would not go through that soldering and
adjusting trimmers and all (Unless you do it for the fun of it)...

Good Luck!

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"CPRM"