STS: Student Technology Services

GETTING STARTED:

Before coming to campus, be sure to pack the following things to make your experience with GW Cable TV an easy one:

Cable ready TV or VCR
the original remote control units for them
a coaxial cable
your owner's manual(s)

The GW Residence Hall Cable TV system allows residents to simply and directly connect their televisions and/or VCRs to the cable outlet in each residence hall room. GW guarantees the cable signals at the outlet and the maintenance and operation of the GW Campus Cable TV system. It is the individual user's responsibility to have working equipment and the relevant manuals to program their equipment to receive the cable signals. Below, you will find basic education on televisions, VCRs, cable connections and what is needed to successfully connect to the GW Residence Hall Cable TV system.

The number one easiest way for an individual to deal with their individual cable tv connection is to be prepared: retain the owner's manual that came with the television and/or VCR and follow its directions.

We understand that some students may not have the owner's manual. So we have compiled this information to aid students in resolving their individual connections to the GW Residence Hall Cable TV System.

I. COAXIAL CABLE:

Coaxial ("coax") cable is what you will be using to connect your television to the cable outlet found on your wall. It is absolutely necessary that the cable be a known working cable. As with any cord, it is very important that the cord be maintained properly. Do not string the cord taut across your room or stretch it beyond its limits. This could cause damage not only to the cord, the end connectors, or to your equipment and the outlet as well. The GW Bookstore sells coax cables in various lengths. If you need a longer or shorter cord, they are widely available for purchase. We recommend the purchase and usage of SCREW TYPE HEX CONNECTORS. Do not purchase "push-on" coaxial cables since they are more likely to fall off your wall or equipment jack. To prevent damage, do not pinch the coax cable behind or under furniture or rugs.

II. HOW TO CONNECT TO CABLE TV IF YOU HAVE A TELEVISION ONLY:

Basically, you will need to program your television so it serves as the tuner for all of the available cable stations by putting it into cable mode. How to put your tv set into cable mode depends upon its specifications. If your television is CABLE-READY (read the owner's manual to see if your set is cable-ready), the back of the set will look like some variation of the following diagrams.

1. One connection "ANT IN" Or "ANTENNA" or VHF/UHF if a new TV If this is the case, plug one end of your coax cable into the "ANT IN" connection and the other end into the cable outlet on the wall.
2. Two connections "ANT IN" and "CABLE" If this is the case, plug one end of your coax cable into the "CABLE" connection and the other end into the cable outlet on the wall.
3. One connection or two connections "ANT IN" and "CABLE" and/or a switch-- that can look like: a. TV/CABLE b. 1 / 2 c. ON /OFF If this is the case, plug one end of your coax cable into the "CABLE" connection and the other end into the cable outlet on the wall and read your owner's manual to see where the switch needs to be in order for your set to receive cable signals. Also, it is a good idea to turn the set off after you make changes and then turn it back on to make sure the change takes place and is stored in the TV set memory.

After you have appropriately connected both ends of the coax cable, you need to program your set in order to receive all the cable channels. There are three ways that this can happen:

1. Your set will automatically run an autoprogram to recognize the cable channels

2. You need to choose "autoprogram" or "autoscan" through a menu on your TV set so it can recognize the cable channels. Make sure that the program is set for "Cable" not "Antenna" or "Air"

3.For sets that are more than five years old, you may need to manually program each cable channel on your tv set, one at a time.

If your television is NOT cable-ready, the back will look like this:
You will have one or two connections on the back that says "VHF/UHF"-- this means that you will only get VHF channels 2-13. This kind of older tv set will NOT receive cable signals 14 and higher when used by itself.

However, you CAN receive cable signals if you have this kind of tv set and use it in conjunction with a cable-ready VCR (see below) or set-top converter* and you program your VCR or set-top unit for usage as a tuner.

* Older sets could be made to work with the purchase of a set-top converter connected to the wall outlet. The output of the set-top converter is connected to the TV set (which should be tuned to channel 3 to receive the cable signals from the set-top converter. Set-top converters are available through Radio Shack for approximately $60.

III. HOW TO CONNECT IF YOU HAVE A TELEVISION AND VCR:

Your VCR does not have to be cable-ready if your tv set is cable-ready. However, if you have a VHF/UHF tv set (unable to receive cable signals), a cable-ready VCR will allow you to receive cable signals if you program it for usage as a tuner. In this case, it is necessary that the tv set be kept on channel 3 to receive the signal output from the VCR whether watching TV or playing back pre-recorded tapes.

There are integrated TV/VCR units-- some are cable-ready, some are not. To receive cable signals, your combined TV/VCR unit must be cable-ready.

1. If the VCR is cable-ready and used in conjunction with a cable-ready TV, the individual user can

a. put the tv set in cable mode as discussed above and simply connect the VCR from the room coax jack and then feed the VCR into the tv set outlet to have both pieces functioning and to display cable signals on the tv set.

b. program the VCR as the tuner by selecting "cable input" through a switch on the back of the VCR or selecting it through the menu and keeping the tv set on channel 3. Again, retaining the owner's manual and following the instructions are the best way to set up your TV/VCR to receive cable signals.

2. If the VCR is cable-ready and used in conjunction with a non cable-ready TV, it is necessary to use the cable-ready VCR as the tuner to receive the cable signals. Follow the instructions on how to put the VCR into cable input and keep the tv set on channel 3 at all times.