MM> The cable goes in to the antenna-in of my Hifi VCR. The VCR and TV are
 MM> connected via the antenna-in/out sockets and the A/V sockets.
it's connected twice? what you should probably do is:
      coax cable
        |    _____ 3-way coax splitter
        v   /
          +-+     +-------------------------+
Cable ####| |#####*Coax In                  |  VCR
          +-+     |    Out: Video  L  R     |
           #      +-----------*----*--*-----+
           #                  |    |  |
           #                  |    |  |   <- RCA-type plugs
           #                  |    |  |
           #      +-----------*----*--*-----+
           #      |     In: Video  L  R     |
           #######*Coax In                  |  TV
                  |                         |
                  +-------------------------+
usually the RCA inputs on your tv will be 'Video 1' or something like that, 
so you'll need to switch to that to use the vcr. Using the above method, then 
your regular antenna on the TV will have a clean signal (doesn't go through 
the vcr) and your vcr will get to the Tv using the alternate inputs, with all 
the separate stereo stuff there.
if your TV doesn't work well as a converter (ie only goes up to channel 13 or 
something) then you can just hook the vcr straight into the TV and use the 
VCR to switch channels. 
If you have a mono tv, but want to get the TV in stereo, then you'll have to 
hook the vcr straight in, and then put the audio L/R out signals from your 
VCR into your stereo/pro-logic reciver.
 MM> The TV displays the word "Stereo" when showing off-air 
 MM> channels, why doesn't
 MM> it do the same on the cable channel?
this i'm not sure on, it's probably picking up garbage signals (like the 
video "snow" is) and thinking it's encoded in stereo.
 MM> Also, when the VCR is OFF, the TV can show the cable 
 MM> channels OK, but if the
 MM> VCR is ON, it looks garbled. Anyone know how to fix this?
when the VCR is on, the coax signal going through it gets converted. 
Basically, whatever channel the vcr is set to, gets re-transmitted only on 
channel 3/4 (usually a switch on your vcr to select that) and no other 
stations are carried over (although, because of the way stations are encoded, 
some of the higher channels will come through weakly). If your TV is not set 
to channel 3/4, then it will not work properly.
hope this helps
ttyl, greg
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