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jaeclecticThings are just too darn complicated these days.
Those who have been reading attentively no doubt recall that I just bought myself a new TV. I discovered that since the last time I bought a TV (circa 1997?), they no longer come with antennas. Because everyone has cable, right? And, in fact, there is only one coax connector. Which makes it look kind of like I can either connect an antenna or connect the VCR/DVD player.
So to start with, I just hooked up the VCR/DVD player and made sure the TV worked. Pretty darn simple, one coax cable, just like my old TV, nothing to it. Although I did notice that the picture from a widescreen DVD didn't seem to be adjusted correctly -- there were still black bars at the top and bottom of the screen -- but I figured I'd read the fine print in the manual and find the tuning options later.
Now I don't watch broadcast TV very often, but somehow I like to know it's there. And I did recall from my TV research seeing various recommendations to get "component" cables instead of just using the coax cable that comes with the TV. So I made a little trip to radio shack, bought the cheapest antenna they have and a set of component cables (making a wild guess about the audio cables because I expected them to come bundled together and they didn't).
Then the fun began. Because there are 3 different places on the TV and 2 different placed on the VCR/DVD where the video cables fit. And the pictures in the TV manual are not that clear, and none of them exactly match my situation (because they don't actually imagine someone who doesn't have cable or satellite). Finally it occurs to me to try looking in the manual for the VCR/DVD. Which is slightly less confusing, but makes no attempt to show what the connections on the TV side might look like.
After going through various (many!) combinations, I finally see a DVD signal, yay! So I hook up the antenna. And fiddle around quite a while longer, pressing random buttons on the remote, before getting that to work. Whew. Then it occurs to me to try the VCR. Nuh-uh. More hair-tearing ensues.
Eventually I figure out that the component cables only work for the DVD player, even though it's a combined unit. So I'm back to my original problem, which is that I can't hook up two things to one coax port. Then I think, wait, the VCR/DVD has a coax in as well as out, maybe I can run the antenna connection through it. Clever thought, so I try it, but no.
Then, scanning through the VCR/DVD manual, I see a reference to yet another kind of cable, which is actually supposed to have come with the unit. So I race around the apartment, opening all the boxes that have cables in them, eventually recalling that I still have the original box for the VCR/DVD. And there is the cable in question!
Suffice it to say, this did the trick, albeit not without considerable fumbling before I figured out that to play the VCR I need to select video 1, and to play the DVD I need to select video 3, and to watch TV I need to press the TV button and then turn everything off and on again and maybe scream...
So my TV now has almost as many cables coming out of it as my computer. But the DVD player and VCR both work, and I can get the same grainy broadcast channels that I did before. And the DVD picture takes up the whole TV screen just like it's supposed to. And as a special bonus, the new TV's remote works for (almost all) of the VCR/DVD functions, so I don't need to have two remotes out all the time...
All of this only took two hours, and a year off of my life. Isn't technology fabulous?
*grin with gritted teeth*
Those who have been reading attentively no doubt recall that I just bought myself a new TV. I discovered that since the last time I bought a TV (circa 1997?), they no longer come with antennas. Because everyone has cable, right? And, in fact, there is only one coax connector. Which makes it look kind of like I can either connect an antenna or connect the VCR/DVD player.
So to start with, I just hooked up the VCR/DVD player and made sure the TV worked. Pretty darn simple, one coax cable, just like my old TV, nothing to it. Although I did notice that the picture from a widescreen DVD didn't seem to be adjusted correctly -- there were still black bars at the top and bottom of the screen -- but I figured I'd read the fine print in the manual and find the tuning options later.
Now I don't watch broadcast TV very often, but somehow I like to know it's there. And I did recall from my TV research seeing various recommendations to get "component" cables instead of just using the coax cable that comes with the TV. So I made a little trip to radio shack, bought the cheapest antenna they have and a set of component cables (making a wild guess about the audio cables because I expected them to come bundled together and they didn't).
Then the fun began. Because there are 3 different places on the TV and 2 different placed on the VCR/DVD where the video cables fit. And the pictures in the TV manual are not that clear, and none of them exactly match my situation (because they don't actually imagine someone who doesn't have cable or satellite). Finally it occurs to me to try looking in the manual for the VCR/DVD. Which is slightly less confusing, but makes no attempt to show what the connections on the TV side might look like.
After going through various (many!) combinations, I finally see a DVD signal, yay! So I hook up the antenna. And fiddle around quite a while longer, pressing random buttons on the remote, before getting that to work. Whew. Then it occurs to me to try the VCR. Nuh-uh. More hair-tearing ensues.
Eventually I figure out that the component cables only work for the DVD player, even though it's a combined unit. So I'm back to my original problem, which is that I can't hook up two things to one coax port. Then I think, wait, the VCR/DVD has a coax in as well as out, maybe I can run the antenna connection through it. Clever thought, so I try it, but no.
Then, scanning through the VCR/DVD manual, I see a reference to yet another kind of cable, which is actually supposed to have come with the unit. So I race around the apartment, opening all the boxes that have cables in them, eventually recalling that I still have the original box for the VCR/DVD. And there is the cable in question!
Suffice it to say, this did the trick, albeit not without considerable fumbling before I figured out that to play the VCR I need to select video 1, and to play the DVD I need to select video 3, and to watch TV I need to press the TV button and then turn everything off and on again and maybe scream...
So my TV now has almost as many cables coming out of it as my computer. But the DVD player and VCR both work, and I can get the same grainy broadcast channels that I did before. And the DVD picture takes up the whole TV screen just like it's supposed to. And as a special bonus, the new TV's remote works for (almost all) of the VCR/DVD functions, so I don't need to have two remotes out all the time...
All of this only took two hours, and a year off of my life. Isn't technology fabulous?
*grin with gritted teeth*
