Please help! No sound & other problems..

 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 1
Registered: May-05
Hi,

I am having some problems with my home theatre setup. I have been trying to fix it for hours and hours and am at a road block. I hope someone can help me. I've been using the setup for around a year now with no problems. A few days ago though I decided to try and hook up our playstation2 to the main theatre setup in order to be able to watch DVDs on it.

The previous setup consisted of this as far as I can tell: Satellite receiver A/V output jacks went to the VCR input A/V jacks, and VCR output A/V jacks went to TV input A/V jacks.

Satellite TV was able to be watched on channel 03 of the TV. All VHS playbacks came in on channel 91 of the TV.

My VCR also had another trio of A/V input jacks at the front of it, so I hooked the playstation2 A/V output jacks up to it. I wasn't really sure how to change inputs on screen since the primary remote has no input selection on it and neither does the TV/VCR. Lets just say I messed around with various setup menus and changed a few things on the VCR before I finally remembered the old VCR remote we had and dug it out of the closet. Sure enough it had the INPUT selection on it. I changed it to Vid2 which allowed us to watch the DVD just fine.

Well here is where all of the problems started. After unplugging the playstation2, I found that the input selections had been changed. I could no longer watch the satellite or *anything* on Channel 03. Satellite now only plays on Channel 91 only. All that I receive now on Channel 03 is snow no matter what options or inputs I change. That in itself isn't too much of a problem. But then I discovered that I am also unable to hear ANY sound from the satellite unless the VCR is turned ON. I now have to have the VCR turned on permanently in order to watch TV with sound!

I have gone back over it a hundred times trying to figure out what I changed that could have caused it to mess up like this. I've even dug out all of the old manuals and read through them all, and I just can't figure out how to fix it. I'm at a dead end. If you have any ideas on how I can fix it, please, please, let me know! Thank you
 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 2
Registered: May-05
Sorry, to summarize all of that, my main two questions are:

What do I need to do in order to get my satellite TV to output on Channel 03 again? and

How can I change it back to where I can listen to the sound from the satellite receiver without having the VCR actually turned ON?

Thanks
 

New member
Username: Thx_3417

Bournemouth, Dorset United Kingdom

Post Number: 2
Registered: May-05
Katie love, you should follow the manual for the AVR this, why most people do not read the owners manual, thinking it's all going to be easy, the truth is it's not all fun sitting down, and looking at the manual to see what goes where.

So please go over it again it's not rocket science, it's plainly written down as the makers of the AVR of put it, give it go, and tell me how you got alone, catch you later.

Ash...
 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 3
Registered: May-05
Andy, there is nothing written in the manual that was able to help. I didn't just post here after doing a quick glance at it and panicing, I spent over 5 hours reading through the manuals over and over again and messing around with the VCR menu options, but to no avail.

I really need to know what the procedure is for getting the VCR to output to channel 03 instead of its native Channel 91. There is nothing in the manual and I think this would also solve the sound problem i'm having. If it helps the VCR is RCA Accusearch brand. please respond.
 

Silver Member
Username: John_s

Columbus, Ohio US

Post Number: 328
Registered: Feb-04
Katie,
It's difficult to see what changed in your setup after you watched a DVD through Vid2 of the VCR. You should have been able to go back to channel 3 on the TV and watch the sat box signal as usual. But as I see it you have two choices.

1) Leave things alone and watch sat TV through the VCR. True, you have to have the VCR turned on, but so what? It consumes very little power in its simple "on" mode and there's very little wear and tear as well. You could leave it turned on all the time for that matter. (I would also have all of your equipment protected by a very good surge protector.)

2) If you don't want to live with number 1, then I would check the basic connection from the sat box to the TV. Without changing anything else, all you need is a coax cable hooked to the coax output on the box going to the normal antenna input on the TV. You should be able to watch the sat box signal as normal on the TV's channel 3. Make sure the chan 3/4 switch on the back of the box is still set to channel 3.

Good luck :-)
 

New member
Username: Thx_3417

Bournemouth, Dorset United Kingdom

Post Number: 6
Registered: May-05
Katie,
There you have it someone has giving you the hopeful answer
 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 4
Registered: May-05
Ok, adding a few more details since there are no edit buttons on these forums.

VCR is RCA, model VR623HF.
TV is RCA, model ColorTrak 2000.

The VCR inputs that can be switched are all outputting on Channel 91, and are:
'Video1' input is A/V coming from Satellite receiver.
'Video2' input is A/V coming from front (Playstation2 hooked up to)
Third is labeled 'Channel 03' on the VCR, but it doesn't send the picture to Channel 03 on the TV. Channel 03 on the TV is constantly snow. I believe it is the coax connection from the satellite receiver, for mono sound, which is what I used for satellite viewing on channel 03 before this problem started.

I don't know why it will only play sound when the VCR is turned on now, but figure it has to do with it not showing the picture on channel 03 anymore, and if I can get that fixed it will hit two birds with one stone..
 

Bronze Member
Username: Thx_3417

Bournemouth, Dorset United Kingdom

Post Number: 11
Registered: May-05
Katie,

Just had a look at the RCA VR623HF, on the web, does the VCR have a scart lead on the back of it, if so plug it into the back of the TV.

Is the TV stereo, if so then the stereo signal will be carried though the scart lead to the TV?

The sat box, take the coax lead from the sat box and connect it to the VCR antenna input, then take the rca phone leads from the sat box left and right stereo, connect them to the VCR

http://www.cedmagic.com/history/digital-command-center.html

While I have been reading down the list, the RCA is how old!

I came across this page on some RCA products, not sure if it the same, being British and the last time I saw a RCA TV was when I on holiday at Florida February 1982, so not sure if this is up to the task of things, I may well be wrong though.

As for the playstation 2 plug that into the aux in put on the front of the VCR left and right stereo, and the video output to the video input on the VCR aux input.

Katie, are you running an AVR amp receiver, as this will make it a lot easy in whole and in partly, less hassle...

Have a look there is a whole lot of AVR on the market, like Yamaha, Denon, Kenwood, Marantz, etc...and some have a wild range of inputs and outputs for VCR Laserdisc DVD sat and aux inputs for Playstations as well, as Dolby digital surround-EX DTS-ES and THX select, THX ultra and THX ultra 2 to top the home theatre off!

Have a look dear if it's not an option for the present time, then maybe the future, which is in fact tomorrow?

Ashley
 

Bronze Member
Username: Thx_3417

Bournemouth, Dorset United Kingdom

Post Number: 12
Registered: May-05
By the way the time in the UK is 18:31Hrs mark.

Ashley
 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 5
Registered: May-05
Hi Ashley,

There is no scart jack in the back of my VCR. There is only one output, it is in the form of RCA A/V jacks. Two inputs on the back (one coax, one RCA. Both are hooked up to the satellite receiver's outputs). It also has one input on the front is what I had the playstation hooked to. Sounds like it is already wired like you say.

Yes I think they are both pretty old, especially the TV. We have had it for a long time, but it has worked well and the picture is still good. Not running an AVR amp receiver as far as I know.

Also John you are right. I guess it just bothers me that I can't figure out how to get it to work like I want it to, and as it used to. I have the coax hooked up like you mentioned btw. The channel switch on the VCR is also still set to channel 03. Maybe the VCR, TV, or both are just finally starting to kick the bucket and are ready for replacement.
 

Silver Member
Username: John_s

Columbus, Ohio US

Post Number: 333
Registered: Feb-04
Katie,
First of all, I'm impressed you know what a scart is. Are you in the US?

I would check the coax connection from the VCR to the TV. When the power is off on the VCR, the signal from the sat box will pass right through to the TV.....just like the VCR is not even there. So when the power is off on the VCR, it does not matter what the switch on the back of the VCR (channel 3 or 4) is set to. What matters is the channel output switch on the sat box is set to. So again, make sure the coax wires are still connected--#1 box to VCR and #2 VCR to TV. And confirm the output channel of the satellite receiver.

Does the VCR play a tape on channel 3 on the TV?
 

New member
Username: Katiejc

Post Number: 6
Registered: May-05
Well, I finally found out what the problem was. John, I didn't think there was a coax connection from the VCR to the TV. I took your advice though and pulled the TV out of its cubby and followed the wires, and discovered that the coax wire had become unplugged. All this time I assumed there was only one output going to the TV, in the form of A/V jacks, and it was something as simple as this!

I'm not sure how it came loose since I never messed around with the cables behind the VCR. All I can figure is that the slight movement when plugging the playstation jacks into the front of the VCR somehow knocked it loose from behind. Sure enough though, as soon as I plugged it back in, receiver signal started outputting to Chan 03 immediately like it used to, and i'm once again able to hear sound without the VCR being on.

I've got a completely different problem that has arisen now that this is fixed back the way it should, but going to start a new thread for it since this one has become long. Thank you for helping me figure this out.
 

Unregistered guest
Hello I just recently bought a ps2 game system and it will not play the blue backed disc. Do you have any suggestions for this problem? Thank You.
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