EggXpert

Personally I had not thought about this as I have not used my vcr in years but I was recently asked about vcr recording after the conversion by my mom.  My parents do not have cable and just get the ota tv signal.  They recently got a converter box (not one of the free ones my brother gave them one) and it does make regular channels look better on their regular tv but my mom was wondering how she would record things once she can no longer record on the analog channels, as this is how she was recording since she couldn't figure out how to record from the converter.  So I have looked around online a bit to see how this is addressed and it appears there is one sort of work around but basically it is not a convenient workaround as it limits what you can do.  The best description I found online states

Can I continue using my existing VCR with a DTV converter box for timed recordings?

Yes. However, after the digital transition, the tuner in the VCR won't be able to pick up over-the-air programs for recording. Instead, the input to the VCR must be connected to the output of the DTV converter box. You must set the tuner in the DTV converter box to the channel you want to record prior to the start of each recording period programmed in the VCR.

Yep, that's all you can do because you are completely bypassing the VCR's tuner. You can still record stuff just fine though but like you said but you have to manually tune the ATSC/Digital tuner to the desired channel; the VCR can no longer do it.

This is nothing new though and is really unrelated to the switch to ATSC, anyone with any set-top box, satellite, digital cable or any other external tuner setup has had this 'issue' for years.

If for some reason you still have the desire to record stuff to VHS tape just like you used to after the switch to ATSC, you will need to get yourself a VCR with a ATSC tuner:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-12760_7-9675202-5.html

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EggXpert Founding Member. Once You Know, You NewEgg. Once You NewEgg, You EggXpert.

Well, that's basically what I've had to do for years since I get cable from Cox. Just run the Box through my VCR then to my TV and it records just fine. However now that we've got digital cable I just use the DVR from the cable company to record things. It is nothing short of awesome.

Lotaguns

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Of the 2-3 different brands of converter boxes I have seen, you will also have to turn off the "Auto-Standby" feature which is usually set to 4 hours. 

 If you don't use your converter box within 4 hours it goes into energy saving mode.

I am not sure where you get your vcr's are no longer made info but I see them in stores such as Best Buy and Circuit City as of yesterday when I was in a CC.  Though the are now mostly vcr/dvd player combos. 

I have not used a vcr in years already but I know a lot of people that do still use them, especially people that are not what you would call a techie and generally are a bit older (not necessarily old old like 70 or 80 but 40's and up).

wow VCR...you know I never even set a VCR to record a show.

Why people hold onto outdated equipment is beyond me. My grandmother-in-law still has a very, very old Zenith TV and an old VCR. The TV gives off the worst picture you have ever seen. It is blurry and some channels mix images. She swears by it though. Maybe in twenty years ill be holding onto my LCD like a shrine too. 

When I had my store TV's Satellite,and computers. older people would request Zenith TV  instead of Toshiba or Sony,as aesman said the were awful(paper circuit boards so on. Older people are set in there ways so as long as vcr's are sold they are going to buy. Town I had my store in had a population of 475 nearest big town was 60 miles away as you may guess most of my customers were old.  Ps ran out of customers

TIVO and DVR/PVR (and to lesser extent, Windows Media Center) killed the VCR. The DTV conversion is just the final nail in the coffin.

Get her a TIVO that's ready for DTV and she'll never look back.

My DVD player killed my VCR like 10 years ago.

I didn't miss copying VHS tapes that much then...especially when I introduced DVD Shrink (and nero) to my Sony DVD Burner...Using it right now in fact.

I never got into the Tivo phase. When I had a TV Tuner card installed I just recorded TV that way. I cannot use it anymore since I installed Vista so I to upgrade to a TV tuner card compatible with Vista....then My Window Media Center will stream right to my Flat Screen. (Footnote)

Tech life rocks

Maybe if I get cable again I will try Tivo or DVR/PVR. 

I can only use XP to operated my outdated TV Tuner card but I can't stream media via Window Media Center to my Xbox Window Media Center Extender using XP. I need Vista to do that but then I can't use my outdated TV Tuner card. Catch 22

I guess I could keep both OS on my hard drive record in one and transmit in another....to much work

or 

I can just buy a new vista compatiable Tuner. Logical option.