Wiring DVD Recorder with Cable Box

This is probably one of the simplist wiring projects I have ever seen and still I am having a major brain fart. I had a setup which was working the way I wanted it to, until I added in my cable box. Now, I don't get a video signal out of my DVD player and no matter what my settings are my TV won't get a picture from the player and the DVD recorder won't pick it up either.

To make it easier to visualize, here is what I had. I copied my home DVD's & VHS Tapes to DVD, enhancing the image by going through a SIMA Video enhancer. It worked perfectly. Recently I added a cable box to the mix, and nothing from the DVD Player, just audio. I am only using the simple RCA jacks with all components and coax from the cable socket. I have my video out from the player going into the SIMA. From the SIMA it goes to the DVD recorder, and from the DVD Recorder to the TV. I am not having any problems with the audio. When this setup was working I had the cable TV going from the wall to the TV and that was it, I didn't record off TV.

Now, my coax cable runs from the wall, to the cable box, to the DVD recorder, to the TV.

The only thing I am sure of is that it worked before and now it doesn't and it should have something to do with the way I have the cable TV line hooked up, but no matter which way I try it, I still get no picture. I did check the DVD player, by just sending it to the TV and it works fine.

I will probably kick myself when this gets figured out, but I am about ready to toss everything out the second floor window. What the heck am I missing????

Thanks for any assistance you can give!

Rick

Moving to DVD Recorder and Home Entertainment sub-forum...

For a start, I would recommend trying your setup with the DVD player and cable box attached, but without the SIMA, just in case it acts different with a signal passed through the DVD player.

There are a few other things to watch out for. For example, the DVD player may automatically pass through a signal if something is detected on its Aux inputs, which means that if the Cable box still passes a video signal while in standby (even just a black screen), this would cause an issue. The one thing that surprises me is that you can still hear sound from the DVD player when the picture disappears, which is one reason I believe it may be the SIMA. For example, when your DVD player is powered up, the SIMA may detect a faint signal from the cable box that is attached to the DVD player, enough for it to try and lock onto this. Another way to test for this is to first try connecting the cable box to your DVD player and from this to the TV. If the picture shows, try inserting the SIMA in-between the DVD player and the TV.

Just out of curiosity, does your DVD recorder have a second input? If so, it may be worth connecting the cable box directly to the DVD recorder. Finally, as a last resort, try connecting the DVD player to the cable box instead (assuming it has an input) and then from the cable box through the SIMA to the DVD recorder.