Hi Guys,

I'm a newbie and am getting conflicting responses to this question (from HN / DSE and the like).
I am about to purchase the 58" Panasonic (TH58pz700A) with built in HD tuner. Im also getting the Panasonic dmr ex77 (want to be able to store on dvd). I have foxtel (not iq).

Essentially i want to be able to watch FTA (standard or digital) and be able to record foxtel at the same time (or vice versa).

Could you let me know if this can be done and if so the likely connections.

thanks in advance

There should be a couple of AV outputs on the Foxtel box - one would go to your TV, the other would feed into one of the Panasonic's AV inputs. I am not familiar with the dmr ex77 but I do have an earlier model. If the Foxtel box has only one video out, use a RCA double adapter - one RCA plug to two RCA sockets.

No problem - I have a very similar setup
Link the external antenna coax into and out of the Panasonic into your TV so that both boxes can tune in the Digital FTA channels.
The Foxtel box has various connections that can connect both to an AV, Svideo or Component-in input to your TV and also into the Panasonic.
I picked up a couple of SCART-to-SVIDEO plugs and cables from DSE to make this easy.
The quality of SVIDEO to your TV is pletty close to as good as Component-in, and anyway the Foxtel digital isnt that brilliant anyway.

Of course you also need to connect the AV left and right Audio cables with RCA connectors

Hope this helped

It frustrates the hell out of me that sales people can't answer a simple question like this accurately

Isn't that like rule No.2 of sales....know your product!

You have the answers to your questions but I suggest you have a good read of this sticky http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=29072 and perhaps, more importantly, get the ignorant salesmen to also read it. These guys should not be let loose to sell gear they do not understand.

John

Yeah - but let's face it, our best and brightest don't leave school with a burning ambition to sell electronics for Gerry Harvey.....


...and if young guy/gal has any flair for sales they soon migrate upmarket and sell for IBM or somebody.....

thanks for all your help with this, much appreciated.

I should have mentioned that I also have an AVR receiver as well (Denon 2308).

Im thinking that all i need to be running between the Plasma and the Denon is an HDMI and also a Tos-Tos.

From the foxtel box I wouldnt need to run anything directly to the plasma, but would run a Scart to component from foxtel to the denon and a Tos to 3.5 (optical) from foxtel to the denon. I would also run a hdmi from the dvd recorder into the receiver.

Does it sound like im on the right track? WOuld this still let me record foxtel whilst watching FTA?

thanks again in advance

HDMI also carries audio so forget about the digital audio link.

Sounds like you still have not read the sticky I referred to so suggest you do so to gain more confidence in all this.

What you cannot do is record one Foxtel channel and look at another. Otherwise what you do with FTA on your TV has nothing to do with what happens with Foxtel and your DVDR.

John