Success.
According to the manual of my Panasonic DVD/VHS recorder, the Sat and cable STBs should be connected to the AV2 socket, also the external link should be set to RGB/Video in the settings menu, having done that, all it requires to record Digital TV is to press the input button to select which AV you want ie AV1 AV2 AV3 and it works fine on VHS or DVD.
Many thanks Rob and Bensden for the guidance.
Ron.