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Hold on, could be simpler than that....
Hi Doug,
All very good suggestions so far, but BEFORE you go and buy anything else, do this VERY simple and cheap test.
I suspect that the quality of the RCA cables that link the TV to the AV input on the VCR are probably poor quality or standard types which in my experience are not much chop. (worth about 2c)
This is fine for most things but if the Yellow Video cable is damaged internally (possibly when she moved the VCR, the cables were probably wound around the VCR and then transported) then the RCA cable is picking up interference when using Channel 2.
This could be because the Channel 2 signal is a lot lower in the frequency band than the others (even on Digital, the carrier is still lower than the other VHF and channels). Therefore, if the cable is picking up garbage or interference from other devices or even the VCR RF output, you can quickly get your sister to test it by;
Swap the Red and the Yellow cables around. That means pull out BOTH ends of the red and BOTH ends of the Yellow and then plug the Yellow into the red (both ends) and vice versa.
Try recording Ch2 again, if it improves, then LEAVE it. Colours mean nothing other than matching the plugs to the cables when you stick your head behind the cabinet etc.
If the Red swap fixes it, you should now have a clean Ch2 pic and probably no noise being induced into the sound channel. Check recording on the other TV channels and see if they're OK too.
It could also be that the VCR output from its tuner is on Channel 2 and even though the VCR is say recording AV1 from the TV, the NICE LOUD TUNER RF Carrier SIGNAL is still spraying out of the back of the TV and into the Yellow RCA cable.
If this works, but still shows noise when using the Red cable for the Video, then I suggest that you could change the output channel on the VCR tuner to say, Channel 0 or 1 using the VCR menu or failing that, go down to Jaycar, Dick Smith or Harvey Norman etc, and buy some QUALITY (approx $30) RCA shielded cables with gold connectors on the ends.
The amount of times I have chucked away crapola RCA cables because they break inside or receive noise from other devices has been numerous. The quick cable swap should hopefully improve things or at least a quality set of RCA cables would be a good investment anyway, considering the way the signals are connected between the Digital TV and the VCR.
ALSO, when the analogue signals are switched off, she WILL be able to record TV as you have her already recording Digital TV coming out of the RCA plugs from the TV now! The only thing that wont then work is the analogue tuner on the VCR....which she isnt using anyway.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Chris
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