Daisychaining SCARTs - DVD/OnDig/VCR

[Sammy709Sony930]

If I bought a Pioneer 545 which has RGB Pass Thru, what is the best way to connect up the following equipment :

1) JVC 32" WS Scart 1 RGB, Scart 2 S-Video
2) Pioneer 545 (2 Scarts)
3) Phillips OnDig box (2 Scarts)
4) Sony VCR (2 Scarts)

I'd assume linking them in the order above to Scart 1 of the TV.
But...would the VCR be able to tape OnDig or DVDs?

i.e. Does the signal flow downwards too?

Or, do I allow it to flow upwards and connect another scart from Scart 2 of the TV to AV2 of the video and route the signals through the TV?

Help!

[Bapapapa]

VCR > DVD > On Dig > RGB SCART on the TV.

[Sammy709Sony930]

Originally posted by Bapapapa
VCR > DVD > On Dig > RGB SCART on the TV.

Nope. OnDig Boxes DO NOT PASSTHRU RGB.

VCR->OnDig->DVD->RGB Scart of TV is my guess.

But....does that allow taping of OnDig and DVD?

[kcxdev]

But....does that allow taping of OnDig and DVD?

the easiest way to find out would be to try it out :)

[Sammy709Sony930]

Originally posted by kcxdev
But....does that allow taping of OnDig and DVD?

the easiest way to find out would be to try it out :)

Agreed, but I don't have a Pioneer 545 (yet), just a Samsung 709 which only has 1 Scart.

[kcxdev]

oops, me bad :p

how about just a test using

TV > VCR > OD > DVD

try recording a DVD from your sammy, if this works then when you get the 545 reroute the TV to the DVD

[Sammy709Sony930]

Originally posted by kcxdev
oops, me bad :p

how about just a test using

TV > VCR > OD > DVD

try recording a DVD from your sammy, if this works then when you get the 545 reroute the TV to the DVD

I ain't bought the VCR yet either! Its all about room in the cabinet you see. If I get the slimline 545 then I have enough room for a VCR!

I'm in two minds as to whether to go for a 444 (Single Scart) or a 545. The answer to this question could sway my decision.

There must be someone out there who already has a similar setup and can answer the question for me!

[Greenstead]

My configuration
Sony DVD (2 scarts) and AMP and Telly (3 scarts). Panasonic VCR (2 scarts). NTL digital STB (2 scarts).

NTL STB scart TV -> TV scart AV3 (S-video)
NTL STB scart VCR -> VCR scart AV2 (video)
NTL STB uhf -> VCR uhf in (analogue TV)
VCR uhf out -> TV uhf in (analogue TV)
VCR scart AV1 -> DVD scart AV2 (RGB pass thro)
DVD scart AV1 -> TV scart AV1 (RGB)

Its not the only way to do it. But I get excellent results with my equip.

With this I can watch DVD or analogue TV or digital TV while taping analogue or digital TV. I don't tape DVDs.

(I have frigged around connections and taped DVDs with poor results).

General rule - the more scarts the better.


:)

[Analog Kid]

I've got a DVD, OnD Box and VCR hooked up to my TV, both the VCR and DVD only have one scart, the TV and OnD Box both have two, the connections are as follows.

VCR (AV1) --> OnD (AV2) - OnD (AV1) --> TV (AV2) (Not RGB)
DVD (AV1) --> TV (AV1) (RGB)

Connected in this way I can tape analogue or digital broadcasts and possibly even from DVD if the TV was set correctly but I'm not bothered about that so this setup works fine for me.

[bkny]

I've also got Analog Kid's set up. And it works.

The only problems I have is with On Digital's delay in getting info. For example when I am looking at tv "info" and I am scrolling through the channels On Dig can be a bit slow to get the info for the next channel, for some reason the TV thinks it has lost signal and decides to switch me over to AV1. I haven't really looked into why this is happening but it means I have to change the channel back to AV2 with the TV remote. Its hassle, but I think it might be due to my Sony TV trying to be helpful.

[Antony Aardvark]

And on a very similar note!

I'm getting a cable TV box installed next week and would like advice on how to connect it.

I've got a Toshiba TV with 3 scarts, a Toshiba DVD with 2 scarts, a Toshiba VCR with 2 scarts and a Pace Satallite Digibox with 1 scart (I think).

What would be the best way to connect all these? I'm guessing it would be similar to greenstead's ondig answer with the VCR being connected to the DVD and the DVD being connected to the TV.

What do you think?

:confused:

[JonnyO]

Best way to connect all of this up is as follows:
VCR AV1 -> TV AV2 (composite)
VCR AV2 -> OnDig AV2 (composite)
OnDig AV1 -> DVD AV2 (RGB)
DVD AV1 -> TV AV1 (RGB)

so you end up with a big circle of scarts

Now you can watch OnDig in RGB, the VCR can record OnDig over scart by recording AV2 and everything should scart switch correctly.

As for Mr Aardvark's setup:
CableTV AV1 - > TV AV3 (Svid)
Cable TV AV2 -> a scart switchbox (composite)
VCR AV1 -> TV AV2 (composite) coz if your vcr & tv use some sort of smartlink it may only work on TV AV2
Sky AV2 -> scart switchbox
scart switchbox output -> VCR AV2 (composite)
Sky AV1 -> DVD AV2 (RGB)
DVD AV1 -> TV AV1 (RGB)

best quality pictures available and you can recored from cable and sky via scart (for best picture and stereo sound) but you would have to use a scart switcher to select between sky and cable on the video.

[Sammy709Sony930]

Jonny0 - Thanks!

The only niggle I have here is whether signal flows from AV2 of OnDig towards AV2 of VCR?

[Antony Aardvark]

Cheers for that. Do you know a good make/supplier of scart swicher?

Thanx again

[JonnyO]

Originally posted by Sammy709Sony930
Jonny0 - Thanks!

The only niggle I have here is whether signal flows from AV2 of OnDig towards AV2 of VCR?

Well it should do.
AV2 on the Ondig is a '2-way' scart so it is an output as well as an input (but I believe composite only).
You'll just have to figure out how to get your Sony vcr to record on AV2. I'm afraid I can't help you there as I don't have a Sony vcr! On my Ferguson vcr I just set channel 6 to use the 'decoder' scart input.

[JonnyO]

Originally posted by Antony Aardvark
Cheers for that. Do you know a good make/supplier of scart swicher?

Thanx again

Never had reason to use one I'm afraid so I can't help you.
However, you are only sending a composite signal anyway so just about any should do...

[Greenstead]

Antony Aardvark

You want sky digital AND cable digital ? Hmm...really ?
:eek:

What cable company ? NTHell ?
PACE STB boxes differ. The scart marked TV may do RGB (the newer STB I think) OR it may do S-video (like mine) - but not both. The scart marked VCR only composite video. Check your cable STB spec and the STB setup and then don't believe either - test on your telly using AV1 (RGB) and AV3 (S-video) to find out what it really outputs. I would expect RGB from the TV scart on a new STB. Whatever if all fails you can feed composite video around but its nice to try to use the RGB or s-video.

:cool:

[Antony Aardvark]

Yeah...To be truthful I am only getting the cable because I've got Broadband Internet (Blueyonder) and it works out the same price I pay now if I change my Telephone from BT to cable too. The cable is 32 channels for free really.

:)

[Ron Hill]

Mine was like this.

TV <- VCR* <-macmaster scart- Sky Digibox <- Single scart DVD.

* The VCR is a weird PAL/NTSC multistandard Thomson 7090 which has RGB pass thru and get this RGB out ONLY on the main scart. No composite video through the scart on this model.

When I get my new demacro'd twin scart Pioneer DV-646A i'll bump the DVD up the chain, replace the macmaster (weakest link - goodbye!) with a decent scart lead giving the following.

TV <- VCR <- DVD <- Sky Digibox

The old terrestrial antenna is connected to the VCR to get ITV but when ITV eventually ends up on SKY then i'll upgrade to Sky Digital+ and lose the aerial altogether.