Connecting VCR to PC

Hi. I'm attempting to connect a VCR to my PC using a Video Capture Card that I have installed into the PC. I want to capture some VHS tapes and convert them into files. I understand that this uses a lot of hard drive space so I will be using my 500GB external hard drive as well.

My problem is that I don't know how to connect the VCR to my PC and I don't know what type of cable I need to buy. I've taken some pictures to show you what the ports on both the Video Capture Card and the VCR look like.

I hope someone will be able to help me.

Pierre.


http://img64.imageshack.us/i/file0017i.jpg/
http://img801.imageshack.us/i/file0018.jpg/
http://img137.imageshack.us/i/file0019r.jpg/
http://img843.imageshack.us/i/file0020.jpg/
http://img137.imageshack.us/i/file0021h.jpg/
http://img706.imageshack.us/i/file0022i.jpg/
http://img153.imageshack.us/i/file0023hg.jpg/

 

Basically your VCR has only Male connectors, RF IN and RF OUT (Video IN and Video Out or IN and to TV) and thanks for the pictures , you connect VCR Out to IN in the Card and with the software provided with the card you should be able to see the image in your monitor. Cables, just a coaxial will be fine.

 

I'm not 100% sure on chapincito's solution, running the coax from the VCR (ant out) to the (ant in) coax on the video card might require a RF modulator.
Then you could fire up the software and tune in channel 2 or 3 usually and watch / record the video.

Like:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103095
Channel 3 or 4 on this model.

But if his way works let me know.

BTW - I bought one of these..
http://www.ionaudio.com/vcr2pc

 

Since I already bought the VCR and the Video Capture Card on eBay I want to try and use those to do it. The thing you bought looks pretty good, but it's not cheap.

I'm currently searching to find and buy the 'Coaxial' cable that chapincito recommended. I don't know what one looks like but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

I've just had a look round some websites and I found this.

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/SC303.html

Is this what I need?

I'm not sure if the 3 connections on that one side match the capture card's ports...

 

No, the card does not have a scart connector.

By the way, I want to be sure that I Am giving you the right answer, so which is the model and make of your card??? From the pictures, seems to me that the first connector is a BNC one. Post the model and I will check and give you the right one.:confused

 

Hi. Sorry I've taken so long to get back to you. I've taken a picture of the front and back of the card. They show the make and model.

I hope I can get started with the videos soon.

http://img688.imageshack.us/i/file0072.jpg/
http://img440.imageshack.us/i/file0068m.jpg/

 

You will need an s-video for video, and RCA or 3.5mm for audio.
Thats what I'm getting from the pictures of the card.

But, it looks like your VCR doesn't have s-video...

 

Correction on my last post,

The large connection looks like an older Coaxial connection. That should be all you need.

 

The post before this is correct. The Winstar site post this

# Standard RF terminal (Cable TV) input
# Standard S-Video terminal (Mini-Din 4 Pin) input
# Standard AV terminal (RCA jack, yellow) input
# Sound input (3.5mm earphone jack, blue)
# Sound output (3.5mm earphone jack, green)
# Infrared sensor interface (3.5mm port)

So, you can use a coaxial or a RCA cable.

 

Can you post pics of the cable ends & the connectors on the back of the VCR?
If they are BNC you can get a BNC to RCA plug adapter, then plug into the yellow RCA plug & select composite input on the tuner software.
No modulation needed.
Google BNC to RCA - most likely female BNC to male RCA.

Here is further explantion of why I think the coax connector will not work when directly connected.
The signal coming out of the VCR is composite, the coax connection is for an antenna. Antennas accept radio signals or RF.
So a composite signal needs to be modulated to a RF frequency like channel 2,3, or 4 to be seen by the tuner.

Anyone feel me?

 

Yes, you are right!!!:-o

 

If you have tons of VHS tapes you want to convert, you might want to consider buying a stand alone combination VCR/DVD recorder. Although it may set you back $200 - $250, it could pay for itself in the amount of time you'll save.

Doing video capture on a PC (especially one with a slower processor or under 2GB of memory) will eat up most (if not all) of the system resources. In other words, don't plan on surfing the net or typing a letter during video transfer unless you have a higher end processor with at least 4GB of memory. This is especially true if you're using a higher quality video rate during the transfer.

I have a Panasonic DVD/VCR that, in addition to standard DVD "+" and "-" discs, can use reusable DVD-RAM discs. The benefit of DVD-RAM is it allows you to do editing on the DVD itself (either using the VCR/DVD unit or on your PC) versus having to transfer everything to the HDD first. Hook the unit up to your TV. Insert tape. Insert blank DVD. Push "copy". Done. No PC required. :cool

One final note: Pre-recorded (copyrighted) VHS tapes such as movies usually won't copy a viewable image due to "Copy Guard" features on the tape itself. Your only success will be with tapes that were recorded on a VCR or home video camera.

Hope this info. helps.

 

I would like to point out that in a VCR to TV system a scart cable or s-video cable is used to ransfer picture between the machines. A co-axial or aerial cable is only used for transmission of unedited TV signal from the aerial on the other end of the wire. The VCR cannot pass any signal through the co-axial cable.

Therefore S-video or RCA cables will be needed.

 

Really, because my VCRs have Ant In & Ant Out - the cable goes in the VCR (Ant In)and the Ant Out coax goes to the TV (Ant In)& I see a picture - that signal is coming over coax. Maybe its voodoo.

 

I've been trying to find an 'RCA' cable that looks like it would fit into the ports on the VCR and Video Capture Card, but I'm still not sure what exactly I have to look for.

This webpage seems to have cables that may work.

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/search.php?mode=search&page=1

Could someone maybe post a link to the cable I need to buy?

The pictures of the ports are in my first post, but if you'd like some closer ones then I don't mind taking some more and posting them.

Thanks for all the help so far!

 

Hi.

I'm still very confused and I have no idea what to use to connect the VCR to my computer.

I don't understand what the people above are talking about, so if someone could help me by telling me what I need to do, that would be really great.

Thanks.

 

In my post before (#10) I post something that the card makers -Winstar- said, but also found different makers with the the use of the same chip but different connectors. You can look for yourself and compare pictures with your card. your posted pictures are not clear enough to see if the first connector is an RF or a BNC, but the next ones are for sure RCA.
I know with that card you can watch and record TV -either satellite or Local- in your monitor or computer, so you can connect your VCR to the first connector either if it is a RF or a BNC; if it is RF you only need 1 coaxial cable; if it is a BNC then you will need a coaxial with a BNC male connector (or adaptor) PLUS the audio cable.

 

Hi,

Go find a DAZZLE card. It will have the same three RCA connectors that your VCR has plus an S-Video connector you can also use. The two I have are USB.

Good Luck, Jim

 

Yes, but the problem is that his VCR only have the RF connector.

 

Hi Chap,

I haven't seen a VCR with only RF connections for over 20 years. Standard for many years is as I described it. Sorry for my error.

Jim