Hello, I recently purchased an iLO with harddrive. It's great, but I didn't learn until today that it is mono instead of stereo. That was a big surprise. I have a couple of questions. 1) Is it only mono for recording? Will it play stereo if I put a commercially recorded DVD in it that was recorded in stereo? 2) Is there a workaround to record (and play) in stereo such as hooking up a stereo receiver to the unit? I now have it hooked up to a stereo TV and get the signal through a satellite box, but I do have a stereo receiver and speakers that I could use if that would allow me to record in stereo. Any suggestions? ... or am I totally out of luck and will not be able to enjoy stereo sound with the iLO? Thanks, Deb
1. The only thing MONO on the ILO is the tuner. Everything else is stereo. 2. The MONO tuner workaround is to not use the ILO tuner to record. Hook up a VCR to the inputs (use only the back, the front adds noise) and use the tuner in the VCR to record from (setting the source on the ILO to AV2). Your recording will be in stereo. If your SAT box has line AV outputs, use those instead of the VCR. 3. If you are using the coax rf connectors to hook the recorder up to your TV, don't. Use the ILO line out connections (yellow/red/white)and run those to the line or aux inputs on the TV. You will need to switch your TV to aux to view the ILO but will get better picture and stereo sound. Let me know how it goes!!
Thanks for your answer, but this brings up more questions. At first I didn't use RF (that's coax, I guess) at all, because I was told that you don't need it when you use S-video and the white/red composites. However, what happened was that I got no signal from the SAT ... it would only show a tv picture when on Video 1 (the TV) and wouldn't record anything but snow. The ilo-help-people said I also have to run the coax to everything to get a signal, so adding that solved the no-picture problem. I'll tell you how I have it hooked up. Correct me, please and then I need to add the VCR as you instructed. My current setup is: SAT to iLO: S-Video and White/Red composites (and coax) iLO to TV: S-Video and White/Red composites (and coax). With this connection, I can view TV either on Video 1 selection on TV or Channel 3 selection on TV. Of course, Video 1 is the iLO. The Help technician said to record using "TV" instead of S-Video. This didn't make sense to me since S-Video is suppose to be better. I'm a little confused on that point. (Sorry this is so long.) First, do I need to change something? Second, so now I have to add VCR for the tuner (and for converting tapes to DVD's). So I'm suppose put the 3 composites (no S-video on VCR) into the back of the iLO (input side) where there are already connections there from the SAT. (My SAT box only has one set composite outputs that are now going to the iLO.) Thanks for your help. We love the iLO because of this great forum and your help so much. Deb
Deb-Ga As Gtrman said do not use the RF [coax] connections, and use a VCR for stereo. That is correct I notice that you now say that you want to use the VCR to transfer tapes to DVD. Do you want to transfer a tape and watch a program on the TV while doing so. If so, a different connection is required and could require a Video/Audio switch box.
Deb-GA, The key if you are using just the composite connections and not the coax is that the ILO has to be on for the signal to get from the SAT to the TV. The ILO needs to be set to AV2 for the source and the TV set to Video/AV In. The way you have it now should be OK. With the COAX hooked up also, it should allow you to view the SAT without turning on the ILO and the TV set to ANT/Cable In. How many inputs do you have on the TV and what are they??
Grtman, Thanks for your reply. I don't have an expensive TV (although the picture quality is excellent). You asked what connections I have on the back. On the back it only has one S-video and one each white and red composite (I'm using those, but haven't hooked up the VCR yet.). On the front it has the yellow-red-white composites. Two more questions. (1) When I'm not recording, do I have to leave the VCR turned on in order for the stereo sound to pass through from the SAT to the ILO to the TV? Or, can I turn it off and the stereo signal will still pass through for watching TV and playing my recordings? (2) I read somewhere in this forum that we shouldn't use the iLO to play our DVD's for viewing. Is that just so we don't wear out the iLO unnecessarily when a DVD player is cheaper? Thanks for your time. On a different note: I'm very impressed with this recorder. The Walmart people told me at the time my unit (2nd one)was delivered that they are out of stock ... I may have gotten the last one through their website and I noticed all the local Walmarts don't have it any longer (HD model)! Don't know if they are discontinuing or if they are replacing with a newer model as they have for the non-harddrive model. I have a hunch they are either tired of all the returns or they want to try to circumvent your hacking ability. An iLO technician told me that they are getting a lot of returns on the "05" non-harddrive model ... people prefer the prior "04" model. Just passing along these comments in case you are interested. Deb
LCSHG, Thanks for your input. In answer to your question, "Do you want to transfer a tape and watch a program on the TV while doing so," I'm not use to doing anything at the same time since SAT won't allow you to tape one channel while viewing another. I don't think I need to be able to watch TV while I'm transferring a tape, but it probably would be good to know how to do this in case I decide that would be a nice feature (if you have the time to share the info). Thanks, Deb
Deb-GA I feel that [Gtrman] post's nail the issue and should be followed. You have mentioned stero a number of times. If you are using the satellite receiver's RF [coax] output? BE aware that the RF output connections on many satellite receiver's are Mono. Check the manual or the satellite company, All things considered, other connection's could be more involved than its worth.
The back only has an S-Video hookup??? Are you sure there isn't a Yellow composite?? Seems wierd that a TV would have just an s-vid on the back. Since you have the Sat hooked to the ILO with s-vid/audio cables, you will not need to use the VCR for a stereo tuner since your Sat box is doing that already. The only thing you will need the VCR for is copying tapes. The problem is, you only have 1 usuable set of inputs on the ILO since the front inputs are noisy and shouldn't be used. To get around this, pick up a cheap AV switch box at Radio Shack. It will be used to choose the source to the ILO. This setup will not allow the s-video connection though, so you will need to use composite AV cables (y/r/w)for all the hookups. You can still use the s-vid from the ILO to the TV though. If that doesn't work, use the yellow composite out of the ILO and use the front connectors on your TV. If you DO have a yellow video connector on the back, you can use the back connectors. Here is the most optimum hookups considering your setup and TV inputs. Components Used: TV w/ ANT in, Video 1 in(back), Video 2 in(front) SAT Receiver w/ COAX, Composite (y/r/w), S-Video outputs ILO Recorder w/ COAX, AV2 (rear)inputs and Composite/S-Video outputs VCR w/ Composite outputs Radio Shack 4 way AV Switchbox [bold]COAX: Sat > ILO > TV Ant In[/bold] This will allow you to watch your TV normally and without the ILO powered on. TV set to ch3 and tune with your SAT. receiver. This will also pass the SAT's MTS stereo signal to your TV through the COAX, providing the SAT signal is MTS stereo. [bold]AV: Sat composite out (not s-vid) > AV Switchbox Input 1 VCR composite out > AV Switchbox Input 2 AV Switchbox Output > ILO AV2 Composite Input (back)[/bold] This will allow you record either the Sat or VCR in stereo through the ILO's rear inputs. Select 1 on the switchbox for Sat, select 2 for VCR. Make sure the ILO source is set to AV2. [bold]ILO: S-Video/Audio Out > Video 1 inputs(back) on TV OR Composite AV Out > Video 2 inputs(front) on TV (to back if yellow connector is available)[/bold] This connection allows you to view whatever you select on the ILO. Set TV to Video 1 (or 2) to view ILO and the selected source. [bold]Common settings: Watching[/bold] Watch TV: SAT on, TV on, ILO off, TV set to ANT IN and ch3. Watch ILO DVD or HDD: TV on, ILO on, TV set to Video 1(or 2). [bold]Recording[/bold] Record SAT: SAT on, TV on, ILO on, TV set to Video 1(or 2), ILO source set to AV2, AV Switchbox set to 1 Record VCR: VCR on, TV on, ILO on, TV set to Video 1(or 2), ILO source set to AV2, AV Switchbox set to 2 This setup should give you just about every option you will need and the ability to record everything in stereo. If you have any questions about the setup or other options not covered here, let me know. You can also e-mail me be going to my Firmware Download page. Good luck!!!
Guitrmn and everyone else who helped. Thanks for all your input. I hooked everything up this weekend and it works great. I didn't see your latest msg of 6/16 until this morning (Mon), Guitrmn, so I'll have to review that carefully to see if I need to change anything. Yes, it is wierd, but there is only an S-Video on back of TV with the red and white. The front of the TV (AV1) has the yellow composite with red/white. I'm glad to know that if I only want stereo and don't need a VCR, I can just use the stereo from the SAT. Right now, I do need the VCR to copy all my movies. Once that's done, I'm set without a VCR. Even though the experts on this forum are down on the VCR/DVD combo units, I did buy one just for the purpose of copying. It is a Philips, so it will also read the Plus format that I copy with the ILO. That way I can use the combo unit to play DVD's (less wear on the ILO), use it to copy my home movies, and also use it to copy the occasional DVD movie my neighbor wants me to see. The combo is very useful this way and hopefully won't break until I get everything copied. If you didn't give me the clue to choose AV2 when I want to copy from the VCR/DVD, I probably wouldn't have succeeded in all this. So, again, thanks and I'll keep reading this forum. Love the ILO. It is great. Deb
Followup to my previous message. Happen to think maybe it might be of interest for you to know how I ended up hooking everything up (B4 reading your nicely detailed message of 6/16/05). Seems to work without a switchbox. I put the VCR/DVD combo in line between the SAT and the ILO. I simply used the principle of out of one unit into the next, out of next unit into the last unit, using the 3 composites. I kept the S-Video/White/Red on the back of the TV instead of using the front. I hooked up the yellow also on the VCR, SAT, and ILO since the VCR only has an "out" S-Video. I didn't bother with coax between the VCR and the ILO. However, The S-Video is still going from the SAT to the ILO to the TV, bypassing the VCR/DVD combo. Confusing, I'm sure. I know this is against the principles of everything being either yellow composite of S-Video. However, it does seem to be working ... and when I'm just using the ILO, that does have S-Video all the way through from SAT to ILO to TV. This hookup enables me to: 1. Use the ILO on the TV's "Video 1". 2. View the SAT through S-Video on Video 1 when the ILO is turned on. 3. View the SAT on TV's input selector "3" through S-Video whether ILO is on or off. 4. Play VHS tapes or a DVD from the VCR/DVD combo on the "3" input selector ... composite, not S-video. 5. Record the VHS tapes or any DVD from VCR/DVD to the ILO asking ILO to use AV2. 6. Record the SAT program to the VCR (when it's a regular TV program I don't care to save). The DVD side of the VCR/DVD has an S-Video output so that I can view a DVD through S-Video. So what I want to do is buy a Velocity S-Video Y-Cable to attach the TV to both the ILO output and the DVD- combo output. I still won't have S-Video input to the VCR side of the unit, but I guess I can't have everything on an exhausted electronic-budget. Deb
Deb-GA, Sounds like you got it down. The main thing is that it is doing everything you need it to. It has been brought to my attention that your SAT box through the COAX may not be stereo but it sounds like you are using the other output options from it, which are stereo. If some thing comes up that you are unable to accomplish with your setup, let me know and I will try to help you with it.
