When my mother had analogue cable, her VCR worked fine, but a couple of months ago she changed to digital, since when she hasn't been able to record anything. Back home for Christmas, I decided to have a look at it, and swap in her new DVD/VCR combi at the same time.
After a bit of tinkering, I've narrowed the problem down to this:
We can record terrestrial channels no problem despite the lack of an external aerial. Cable reception is likewise fine; but when the VCR is switched on, the cable picture disappears to be replaced by a plain blue screen. We still get sound when it's in this state, and can record - we just end up with an unillustrated audio track.
Anyone know what's wrong?
Tech specs: Telewest broadband cable box, with separate SCART leads to Samsung TV and Samsung v6000 combi recorder, + RF connections from cable box to combi to TV.