Trouble hooking up VCR

[chathamsue]

I have been trying to hook up a vcr for a child who has a ton of video tapes he wants to watch. The tv works. There is cable hookup, but no box in the room. We have hooked it up through the tv and through the cable. What are we doing wrong? All we get is snow...i can't believe none of the vcr's we have are operating.

[aedipuss]

hooking it up with what kind of cable? yellow/red/white composite? an rf cable like a from the wall for cable tv? you need to set the tv to the proper input - like video 1, or maybe channel 3 or 4 (should be a switch on the back of the vcr) if an rf cable.

[rbivi11572]

It is hard to instruct without a little more information. Does your TV have more than one input. The basic instruction is to use the OUT from the VCR to and INPUT on the TV. Without more information on the INS and OUTS of both devices it is hard to tell you exactly what to do.

[chathamsue]

We have 2 inputs - we've tried both & neither seem to work. We've also tried channels 2-4. We're using a yellow/white/red cable, & it's plugged into the section labeled "out," the colors match up, etc. We've tried everything, & it just seems to come up snowy; when we hit tracking multiple times, we can barely make out the shapes of whatever the tape is showing, but that's it.

[aedipuss]

the cable has to be plugged into the video "out" section of the vcr and video "in" on the tv.

with yellow/red/white composite cable you also have to switch the tv to "video in" there should be a button on the remote that says "input" to switch to other inputs.

[rmeyering]

Hi, if you make out somewhat of a picture, your video heads might be so dirty, they need a cleaning tape.l

[usually_quiet]

If you are certain the VCR is set up correctly maybe it is the one or more of the tapes, particularly if they are recordings done at home, not commercially produced.

A few years ago my parents dug out a tape of an old movie they recorded in about 2000 so they could watch it again. It wouldn't play correctly in either of their VCRs. Not only that, but the tape must have shed too much oxide when they attempted to play it. None of their other tapes would play after that. They had to order a head-cleaning tape to get things working again.

If the tapes happen to have come with a visiting child who was previously living outside N. America, chances are the VCR won't play those either. Only a relative few countries outside N. America use NTSC as their video system.

[chathamsue]

Don't believe we've tried the head cleaning tape yet...going to try to find one. Hoping that won't be too hard with this being old technology! Tapes are all little kid tapes that are older, all domestic, all purchased (not recorded) by us.

[usually_quiet]

Don't believe we've tried the head cleaning tape yet...going to try to find one. Hoping that won't be too hard with this being old technology! Tapes are all little kid tapes that are older, all domestic, all purchased (not recorded) by us.

If you can't find a head cleaning tape, maybe there is still a VCR repair shop in your area that can clean the heads for you. The head cleaning tapes are cheaper, but also a little harsher than hand cleaning by someone who knows what they are doing.

[Edit] I found one http://www.amazon.com/Maxell-VP-100-Tape-Video-Cleaner/dp/B00001OWYM

[victoriabears]

first off try the vcr direct to the tv, what does that do? using rca leads not co-ax if the tv has rca inputs, could be a channel conflict with the good old ch3/4 choice

[Nelson37]

Remove the tape from the equation and just see if you can get the standard blue screen and menu from the vcr.

When using the yellow-red-white cable, the TV MUST be switched to the correct input. There may be an "input"selection on the TV remote, or you tune to channels below #2. When using that cable, channel 2-4 is not used. Some VCR have selection for output to use, as well.

[V Bot]

What about cleaning the vcr with alcohol and a cotton swab? I used to do it that way and never had any trouble. What brand of tv is it? I used to have an RCA and it's input channel was 99 or 00. Okay maybe it was 91, been a while.