How to Copy Digital TV Broadcasts

CRT analog sets need a digital tuner.

Digital TV brings new challenges in addition to its clearer picture and compact signal. Recording and copying digital TV broadcasts is essentially the same as recording analog broadcasts; the challenge is getting the signal to the recorder. This is easy if you get digital TV through cable or satellite service, especially with a digital video recorder. If you are connecting directly to a digital antenna, you need a different strategy to get around a recorder that likely can't tune in subchannels on its built-in tuner.

Things You'll Need

• TV set
• Digital tuner (optional)
• Digital video recorder
• VCR/DVD recorder
• Audio/video cables

Instructions

DVR

1. Contact your cable or satellite provider to replace your current receiver box with one that includes a DVR. Also find these boxes, such as TiVo, at an electronics retailer.

2. Connect your DVR receiver to your cable/satellite feed using the main RG coaxial cable on the box's input port. Connect the receiver to the TV using one of the available cable options: coaxial, RCA composite, component or HDMI.

3. Turn on both devices, then go to the lineup menu using the DVR receiver's remote control. Scroll through the list of channels and timeslots until you reach your shows and press the "OK" button.

4. Select the "Record" option from the list of icons that should appear on the screen. You may get another window asking if you want to record the single episode or continually record every one when it airs.

5. Select all the "Yes," "OK" or "Record" buttons that appear until it is confirmed that the DVR will record your program.

VCR/DVD

1. Connect a digital TV converter box to your TV antenna; you need this for the digital tuner as well as possibly converting the signal for an analog TV.

2. Install your DVD or VCR to the TV, connecting its input to the converter's output and the recorder's output to the TV set. Check the manual to make sure your recorder has a digital converter built in.

3. Turn on the recorder and set it to the "Line In" channel if it is equipped with its own tuner.

4. Turn on the TV set and tune it to the channel needed to receive the signal from the converte, usually channel 3 or 4. Tune the converter to the TV channel you want to record.

5. Insert a recordable cassette or disc in the recorder and press "Record" when you are ready to record.

References

• Comcast: Motorola DCT3400 Series User Guide
• FCC: Setting Up Your Digital-to-Analog Converter Box