TruTech T1620 - background hum

[George_d]

Haven't tried other types of recording but when I record movies from Cox Communications digital cable there is a background hum that is loud enough to be noticable but not bad enough to make the recording unwatchable.

No intention of spending much more than the $90 I spent on this unit, just trying to find out of this is typical of low end recorders (or this model in particular). Or if there is a fix. Or if this has something to do with the cable signal - another posting suggested that some cable companies were broadcasting some kind of copy protection. I record stuff on VHS tapes all the time with no problems and don't know if that kind of protection would also affect VHS recordings if it was present in the signal.

The plan right now is to exchange it for another T1620 this weekend and see if that has the same problem. If it does, it is something I can live with. But if I can fix it then I would like to. Or if a Cyberhome or Liteon, at the same price range, is a better unit. Guessing not since some postings have indicated that the Cyberhome and Trutech are almost the same unit.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[George_d]

Found the solution to my own problem. Not sure why using the coax cable hookup would be a problem, since it works with everything else, but tried running A/V cables from the back of the cable box to the Video1 source. The hum is gone and the picture quality has improved tremendously (always on 2 hour speed). At least on the 19" TV I usually watch, I can't tell the recording apart from the original broadcast. Not talking about DVD quality but a big step up from my VHS recordings. And since the recordings are not copy protected, I've been recording them on DVD+RW and then using Roxio on my PC to burn them to DVD+R once I confirm that it recorded OK.

Guessing that the low price probably means it won't last forever but right now I'm very pleased with the quality for the price I paid. Now to figure out how to fix the poor rating I gave it initially...

[upsetter]

It seems to be a problem with Cyberhome 1600 tuner - Trutech is a rebadged 1600. If not use internal tuner there will be no background hum. There is no hum on LiteOn 5104 tuner recordings that and it also has better recording quality. You can try LiteOn 5006, it is sold for $99 after rebate in RadioShark. It is the same as 5104 but a bit larger. Read Cyberhome-Liteon comparo in https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=292403