Connecting Hopper 3 to DVD Recorder or VCR

[slanoue]

I just got the new Hopper 3 from DISH and love it. The main Hopper receiver is in the bedroom and the "Joey" is in the living room. I have 2 combo VCR/DVD Recorders. The one in the living room hooks up fine with the rca a/v cables. However, when I hook it up to the main Hopper in the bedroom, it doesn't work. No picture, no sound. The TV is definitely seeing the DVD Recorder, but the signal from the Hopper is not going to the DVD Recorder at all. I do have it hooked up correctly from the OUT to the IN. I think when I had the older DISH 722, I hooked it up either via coaxial cable or S Video. The new hopper has only one HDMI output and no S Video, and the coaxial cable is somehow different than the one on my DVD Recorder. It won't fit at all. I've tried everything I can think of! FYI I can see the DISH programming on the TV just fine if I put the source as HDMI 1 (where the DISH is connected to the TV) but not when I switch it over to HDMI 2 where the DVD Recorder is hooked up. Is it just impossible to hook up a DVD Recorder or VCR to the Hopper 3 now? I've looked everywhere can can't find anything. Please help!! Thanks!

PS I'm loathe to call DISH tech support because the other day when I called, the woman on the phone couldn't help me hook up the Joey. I had to figure it out myself. She said it's not possible to hook it up. So obviously no one there is going to be able to help me. I could call the local DISH installers and see if they can help me, but I'd rather get a quicker answer if possible.

 

[kwindrem]

I just got the new Hopper 3 from DISH and love it. The main Hopper receiver is in the bedroom and the "Joey" is in the living room. I have 2 combo VCR/DVD Recorders. The one in the living room hooks up fine with the rca a/v cables. However, when I hook it up to the main Hopper in the bedroom, it doesn't work. No picture, no sound. The TV is definitely seeing the DVD Recorder, but the signal from the Hopper is not going to the DVD Recorder at all. I do have it hooked up correctly from the OUT to the IN. I think when I had the older DISH 722, I hooked it up either via coaxial cable or S Video. The new hopper has only one HDMI output and no S Video, and the coaxial cable is somehow different than the one on my DVD Recorder. It won't fit at all. I've tried everything I can think of! FYI I can see the DISH programming on the TV just fine if I put the source as HDMI 1 (where the DISH is connected to the TV) but not when I switch it over to HDMI 2 where the DVD Recorder is hooked up. Is it just impossible to hook up a DVD Recorder or VCR to the Hopper 3 now? I've looked everywhere can can't find anything. Please help!! Thanks!

PS I'm loathe to call DISH tech support because the other day when I called, the woman on the phone couldn't help me hook up the Joey. I had to figure it out myself. She said it's not possible to hook it up. So obviously no one there is going to be able to help me. I could call the local DISH installers and see if they can help me, but I'd rather get a quicker answer if possible.

Hopper has analog composite (yellow) as well as analog component (Green, Red, Blue) RCA connectors and either should provide you a signal. Keep in mind the component connectors output at the same resolution as set for HDMI. Composite always outputs in NTSC. Hopper does not have S-Video or modulated (RF) outputs. The F connector is for the satellite input. There is also a connector that looks like an F connector but is not that is for the UHF remote antenna.

Audio wise, you have your choice of analog (red and white RCA) or optical (PCM or Dolby Digital).

Good luck.

 

[WickedStepMom]

I have my Hopper 3 connected to the living room TV via a HDMI cable. And the Hopper is also connected to a component to composite converter (purchased from Amazon), then to a RF Modulator (purchased from Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc.) and it feeds the coax that mirrors the Hopper to seven TVs in my house with an HD picture. This setup works great, thanks to JSheridan.
I wanted to add my VCR/DVD player/recorder combo to this setup so what is playing on the VCR/DVD will be seen on these seven TVs (it is already connected to the living room TV via a HDMI cable). I had this done previously with my ViP722K where the coax came out the coax output to a sliding A/B splitter. The A input was directly from the ViP722K and the B was from the VCR/DVD player/recorder combo. The output on this splitter fed these seven TVs.
To make my current Hopper 3 system work this way, this is how I was able to do it:
Before I connected the RCA cables to the component to composite converter, I installed three RCA Male to dual RCA female Y cables. I plugged in to one of each Y cable a RCA cable that was connected to the RF Modulator that feeds/mirrors the house with the HD picture from the Hopper 3 but instead of attaching the coax that feeds/mirrors the rest of the house, I attached it to the A side of the INs on the sliding A/B splitter. Then the OUT on that A/B splitter is where the coax is attached that feeds/mirrors the house.
Now I attached another RCA cable to the other half of the three Y cables and attached them to another RF Modulator that has been connected to the IN port on the VCR/DVD player/recorder combo with coax. Then from the OUT port of the VCR/DVD player/recorder combo a coax cable is run to the B side of the INs on the sliding A/B splitter.
With all the various coax, RCA cables and splitters, the picture that is mirrored throughout the house is a tinge less than what it was before but anytime I want to play a DVD in the living room, I can also view it on any of the other TVs in the house.
If anyone has a better way of doing this, please let me know.

 

[Jim5506]

I use a Hauppauge PVR that converts the component output from my H3 to USB and records it directly to a laptop in 1080i with DD 5.1 digital sound through a Toslink cable. From there I can use VideoReDo TVSuite to manipulate them at will. The only fly is you must play the show directly to the Hauppause in real time.