Digital Converters

• A digital converter box is designed to be used with an older analog TV. It converts new digital TV signals into a format which your TV can read. This is important because, as of June 2009, all U.S. TV stations will broadcast in digital. Without a converter or a satellite/cable subscription, your analog TV won't be able to receive any signals. The good news is that digital converters are fairly inexpensive (about $50 or so) and available at any major electronics store.
  
  

VCRs and Converters

• All digital converters were made with VCRs in mind. Think of the set-up as a chain, with the TV on one end and the antenna on the other. Connect the antenna to the "Antenna In" outlet on your converter box, then run a coaxial cable between the "To TV" outlet on the converter box and the "In From Antenna" outlet on your VCR. Finally, connect a second coaxial cable from the "Out to TV" outlet on your VCR to the "In From Antenna" outlet on your TV. The signal thus passes from the antenna to the converter to the VCR to the TV, allowing you to use every component in the chain.
  
  

Using the VCR With the Converter

• Once you've hooked everything up, turn your VCR to channel 3 or 4 and your TV to pick up VCR signals as normal. Then turn on your converter box and follow the instructions onscreen. Once it's set up, use the converter box to change channels. Do not use the TV or VCR to change channels; leave them as they are or else you'll just get static. To record something on the VCR, set the start and stop time as normal, but set the channel to 3 or 4 (whichever one it's currently set to). Then turn the converter box on and leave it set to whichever station you wish to record. It should tape the show as normal.
  
  

Taping One Show and Watching Another

• The drawback to this set-up is that it doesn't let you watch one show while recording another. To do that, you need a second converter box, along with a set of RCA cables and a two-way coaxial cable splitter. Connect the antenna to one end of the splitter and two coaxial cables to each prong on the other end. Connect one cable to the "Antenna Out" jack on the first converter box and the other cable to the "Antenna Out" jack on the second converter box. Then link the "To TV" outlet on the first converter to the "In From Antenna" outlet on the TV and the "To TV" outlet on the second converter to the "In From Antenna" outlet on the VCR. Finally, link the RCA "Out" jacks on the VCR to the RCA "In" jacks on the TV. (RCA jacks come in threes and are color coded yellow, white and red.) Use the converter box connected to the VCR to set the channel you want to record and the converter box connected to the TV to watch whatever program you want to watch.