HD DVR Scientific Atlanta 8000HD how do you copy to VCR or DVD recorder?

[hershon]

I'm currently renting from Time Warner Cable their HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000D). What I can' t do right now is copy what's recorded to a VCR or DVD recorder. Time Warner says that is because that operation has not been turned on by their computer/ Is this true or am I using the wrong cables to record? I tried to attach 2 RCA audio & 1 RCA video cable to the DVR and my VCR and nothing came out. Am I doing something wrong?

[drseid]

I know it works on mine through Cox.

It is a choice on the DVR menu when you choose a show to watch...

The video and audio outs do not work until you select "copy to a VCR" as the option for the show... At that time, the ouputs are turned on for just that show, and when it is done playing, they are turned off again... HDTV shows can also be sent to a VCR or DVD-R... they are downconverted from HD to SDTV through the output jacks.

If your machine does not offer this functionality, then maybe Time Warner has indeed not activated it for you.

---Dave

[eisforelectronic]

If your software hasn't been upgraded to include the "Copy to Vcr" feature, you should call and ask when they plan on doing the software upgrade. Ours was done about a month to a month and a half ago for all older 8000 series DVR's. I would think they'd be doing it soon.

[hershon]

If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have heard of an HD DVR from Time Warner in the first place.
What is totally weird with them in LA is their home service is actually very good & reliable but info on their products such as the HD DVR is badly communicated. I am going to try to ask them for the 4th time about this. Everytime I do I keep getting doubletalk from people who sound like they're salesmen at Best Buy- meaning total morons who think you're the moron for not understanding/believing them! If the feature is upgraded do you still need to do something in the settings menu or can you just play the DVR and record it to your VCR or DVD recorder? Can you use ordinary RCA video/audio cables to go from the DVR outputs to the VCR/DVD recorder inputs? Anyway, thanks for all your help concerning Time Warner. The HD DVR is working great. In case you're looking for an inexpensive yet excellent DVD recorder, I bought an excellent Lite On recorder for $169 including shipping from Circuit City online.


If your software hasn't been upgraded to include the "Copy to Vcr" feature, you should call and ask when they plan on doing the software upgrade. Ours was done about a month to a month and a half ago for all older 8000 series DVR's. I would think they'd be doing it soon.

[eisforelectronic]

You know, come to think of it I gotta check on the actual connections on that HD DVR. On the regular 8000, once the software upgrade occurs you should see the menu options change a little bit. Something you might consider because you got that DVD recorder is asking again about activating the firewire output. The "Copy to VCR" feature activates the "out VCR" RCA jack set.