You say you`ve plugged the outside aerial lead directly into the DVD recorder aerial input socket, you connected an aerial link lead from the aerial output socket on the DVD recorder and you`ve got a Scart lead from the TV output socket on the rear of the DVD recorder into the AV1 socket on the TV. I`m saying all this because in the past, I`ve had customers say this to me only to find when I call round that they`ve plugged the aerial into phono sockets instead of the earial input socket. The aerial lead will fit physically but not electrically. Have you got a good picture on your TV with the DVD recorder switched to standby?? If yes, Does it play a DVD perfectly through the TV?? If yes, then everything is connected up correctly, When you press the virgin menu button to your DVD, it should show setup/install?? When you do get to the free-view or channel setup/install menu, and you tell it to search for new channels, does it scan?? Does a bar or do the numbers rise and the % number rise as it finds new channels?? If they do and everything is connected and working as I described earlier but still no channels are found, Try unplugging from the mains and reboot your DVD recorder, then repeat the whole menu install procedure sequence again. Other than that, there`s nothing else you can do, Basically, you`ve got a faulty machine where it requires an engineers eye I`m afraid. Ian