Strange Audio Problem, Please Help if you Can. Going Cuckoo

This is driving me batty. I hope somebody can help me before I jump off the nearest cliff. This is my plea for help!!! I use my DV Camera (Panasonic PV-GS120) to record off the tv, like a VCR. I have it connected to my direcTV using a S-Video cable and a Stereo Y-Adapter (2 RCA's on one end, Stereo MiniPlug on the other) The only problem is that I only get audio on one channel - left channel. I have isolated the problem but cannot for the life of me, figure out why this is happening. On the RCA side of the Y-Adapter there is one black plug and one red plug (obviously). What I noticed is that the audio only works when the black plug is connected. The red plug gives NO AUDIO to the camera (I tested it by listening to the camcorder audio). So I tried it on my vcr. Sure enough same thing, if the black plug is plugged in (on either right or left audio output), then it feeds audio to the left channel of the camcorder. But if I plug in only the red cable, it feeds NO AUDIO. I have tried all camera settings and they do not fix the problem. I am so confused and tired. I don't know what to do. I figure there are only 3 possibilities here: 1. The camera only supports recording from an external source on one channel. I have found nothing to indicate this is the case however. 2. I am using the wrong cables? I have tried 2 sets of cables from two manufacturers. This is a standard Y-Adapter cable. The stereo mini plug has 2 bands on it, the other side has two rca cables (red and black). The other cable is similar but it has red and white rca's. Is there some other type of cable I should be using? 3. The camera is defective. Could it be possible that a camera would only record external audio on the left channel? But then why is it that in regular camera videotaping mode, it records both channels fine? Any help would be appreciated. As I said before, I am going crazy.