Sorry about the title. What I'm trying to do is hard to describe in a few words. I realize the technology I'm working with is a bit outdated but it's what I have. I have a DVD Recorder/VCR player combo. What I'm trying to do is record over the air antenna programs onto a DVD. I have to switch my TV to AV to watch DVDS and switch back to Antenna/Cable to watch TV. I know there has to be a way to get some kind of adapter that would allow me to do what I'm trying to do. I used to be fairly good at this kind of stuff but then new TVs came out with all kinds of settings. Second, I have a digital cam corder that I want to be able to hook up to my TV through my DVD recorder. I film a lot of Church functions, weddings and family get togethers. With the older TVs and video cameras I was able to connect them through the DVD recorder and TV and edit them. Again, with this video camera I have to set my TV on HDMI 1 or 2 and I can watch what I recorded but I'm not able to get it to play through my DVD recorder. I realize there are probably better and faster ways to do this on a computer, but I have a really old computer and I'm used to doing it on DVD Recorders. Thanks in advance!

 

1.
I assume you are in USA. I assume the over the air signal is digital.
Get the converter box. They used to sell new for 25 USD. Some should be around still or find used on ebay/craigslist. The setup is: Antena--> Converter box--> DVD/VCR combo--> TV
Or maybe get a new TV, it will have the digital receiver built in and, I think, most of them still have analog inputs so you can connect DVD/VCR combo to it to record.

2.
Depending on what converter box you get, you might have a digital input that you can connect digicam to.

Honestly, at this point DVD/VCR combo is falling behind times so fast that you probably noticed that it is becoming more hustle than it is worth... You might want to start thinking about opportunity costs of using DVD/VCR combo.

 

Sorry about the title. What I'm trying to do is hard to describe in a few words.

I am having a little trouble following your description, so I am going to go with how I understand it. Please excuse me if any of my answer is too basic, and you know these things already. Clearly you now some of it, but I am hoping to clarify that knowledge.

Let’s reason this out. Here are some facts you already know, but that are relevant:

All these devices have inputs, outputs, or both. Clearly your DVD has input(s) for recording and output(s) for playing. The camcorder may have an input to record, and it does have an output to play. The TV has many inputs for the other devices, but I don’t know if it has any outputs.

This last is critical. You want to record off the air, and the TV is receiving that signal, but can it output that signal to the DVD? It would have to be connected explicitly (say HDMI out to HDMI in, or RCA A/V, or something) for the DVD to be able to record it, is it?

If it is connected, then you’d have to set the TV to what you want to record, then record it on the DVD (which you would not be able to see). If the TV has selectable outputs, it would be possible to set the TV to send the over the air programming to the DVD and to monitor the DVD while it records. Otherwise, you will not see the program as it records. This is all assuming the TV is actually able to output the video from the over the air programming,

Alternatively, the DTV adapter box mentioned by @shteii01, would provide an over the air TV signal that could be connected to the DVD inputs and monitored on the TV by selecting the DVD as the input.

In the case of the camcorder, unless the TV offers that selectable output I mentioned above, you are in the same boat. You will have to plug the camcorder into the DVD and set the TV to DVD in order to monitor it.

All of this depends on compatible inputs and outputs. The trick is probably going to be figuring out how the DVD allows input monitoring which is probably default, or a button.

Good luck.

 

I too had trouble following your description. The critical point is if the DVD Recorder has a feature to monitor recording. If so, I’d consider connecting the camcorder to the DVD input and daisy chain the recorder output to a TV input.

I’ve not done this with a DVD recorder, but used this configuration with a VHS recorder.