Complex Home theater Set Up.?

Question

My question is how to hook up the VCR so I can record stuff from cable.
So here is the Set Up:
PS3 Connected to TV with HDMI.
PS3 Connected to Receiver with Optical
Cable Box Connected to TV With Composite
Cable Box Connected to Receiver with Digital Coax
Receiver Has No HDMI Whatsoever(In or Out).
Cant find HDMI on Cable box although it should have it.
Though Digital Cable box does also have Optical Out and Video and analog audio out.
VCR also has analog audio and video in and out.
Do you know how I can get the VCR to record and
Also, I do not run video through the receiver because I do not want to lose video quality from future 1080p video from my PS3.

Answer 1

you've got a strange setup there.

About the PS3 issue, the only thing that I could think of is to connect the PS3 to your tv using hdmi, connect the optical cable to the av reciever (make sure that the video inputs for that av channel aren't occupied), and do it that way. This is a good solution if you have a tv with two hdmi inputs. If that is not the case, or you find such a solution really annoying, you can get a learning remote which didn't come with the av receiver itself such as a logitech remote, or you could buy a 1080p av reciever. Your receiver must be an older model seeing that it doesn't have HDMI.

Regarding recording cable tv to your vcr: My Foxtel cable box (I live in Australia)(It is a PACE STB), comes with two scart outputs which come with breakout cables so that you can plug into your receiver, and your vcr. Don't you think it's time that you got yourself a tivo or some sort of dvd recorder, pvr etc?

How is the ps3 going for you? I would really like one. I heard that they just reduced the prices in North America.

Good luck!

Answer 2

interesting set-up. similar to mine in many ways although my receiver has HDMI switching. first things first-if your cable box is HD capable it is not forced to have HDMI outputs-it can also output high-def through the component outputs-so check this. you will not lose 1080p quality from the ps3 in any event-this is being fed into the tv via the HDMI input-it has nothing to do with your receiver which is taking care of 7.1 dolby digital audio (working on the assumption your receiver is 7.1). i would install thus: cable box (which presumably has twin outputs) one to tv one to VCR -then VCR to s-video input of tv (an input not commonly used-but handy nonetheless). this way you can record from the cable box and view it using the s-video function on your tv-the ps3 is left uninterfered with and all optical lines should be left as they are. some receivers can switch s-video/composite etc but your ps3 is best left alone with its own input.

Answer 3

Shouldn't it be as simple as just running a coax cable from your cable box's analog video out to the VCR. Basically the function of recording to VHS should be separate from everything else you described here.

The real question is why you even care about VHS technology. Get a DVR (like a high-def TiVo or a build-your-own MythTV) plugged into the mix, so that you can have high quality recordings instead of VHS.