Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

W

willgote

Member
I'm a fairly new user of the DVX, so maybe this is a dumb question. But, recently when I've been using the camera, a flashing red circle with an "X" through the center of it appears in the upper left-hand corner of the LCD just next to where the "no tape" symbol would flash. I have NO IDEA what this means. After turning the camera off and then back on it goes away, but often it comes back on a little while later. I've looked through the manual, but the symbol wasn't even shown on their illustration of the LCD. What is this, and is it safe to continue using the camera? How do I fix it?

Thanks a ton for your help.
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

You need to clean your heads. There is a link above by Barry Green on how to clean your DVX. The first part is detailed. Then go through the thread because he gives links to where you can find the stuff to buy to clean it.

If you are new and are not comfortable cleaning it, then send it to an authorized Panasonic service center and let them do it. That way if they break it they pay for it.
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

Boda is correct.

I had the same issue (only 10 hours on the heads! what the...?) and had to dig pretty deep in the manual to find the info, but it is there!
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

Hey guys what's up with this new camera? I just got my camera over a week ago, Have only put 6 hours on the heads and now now playback is all messed up and I have that Blinking red circle sign that doesn't go away.;........What Should I do??? Clean my heads??
How can they need cleaning after only 6 hours with MQ tape?
Is this camera defective?? Help please!
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

1) have you used any other tapes (even if just for a second) other than the MQs?
2) have you reused a MQ over and over? (could cause tape flaking)
3) have you left the deck open to where dust and dirt has entered?
4) are you unlucky?

Any of these may explain it. The red icon means your heads need cleaning. It could be perfectly explainable with a piece of dirt or a tape flake or glue created by mixing tape brands that has caused it. I went 65+ hours before I ever saw that icon. Cleaned the heads and now I'm good to go. If cleaning doesn't fix it, then I'd sent it back otherwise it's not that big of a deal because heads do get dirty from time to time for various reasons.
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

Thanks for the quick input.
The camera has been kept perfectly clean (no dust or other), and I have only used 1 new MQ tape in it. However, I have rerecorded over some parts of the tape a couple of times...still with only 6 or so hours on it.....
..does this mean one should never rerecord over their tapes?

Anyways, I got a hold of the Product Mgr for DVX in Toronto last nite and he suggested I .......HIT Reset.....and then put in a new tape and fastforward all the way and then rewind......This seems to have worked and my new recordings on it are alright....

Now the question is.....was it the RESET buttom or the new tape that fixed it??? Thanks again!
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCDab

Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCDab

Here is a copy of my recent post in the above "head cleaning" thread.

BTW, my camera only had around 10 hours of recording on it:

This happened to me very recently at probably the worst possible moment.

I was taping an event (the only camera in the room, so if I didn't get it, no one would) where a very prominant polititian was giving a speech for a Foundation. I was gathering pre-event B-roll and about 10 minutes before the speaker arrived, I got the error message. I switched to VCR mode to review the tape and was horrified to see a "venitian blind" effect in the video. I had a full case of tapes, so I quickly switched tape and after about 10 seconds, the same problem occurred. I went through every MQ tape and it kept happening.

It was now about 1 minute before the speaker was scheduled to arrive and I was litterally wet with sweat. I started madly running thourgh my menu screen and hitting buttons (I inadvertantly set the tape to LP mode) tryinig to see if something was wrong. When I got the message that the polititian was arriving I grabbed one of the previously tried tapes, slammed it in, and hit record. My prayers to any God listening must have worked because the error indicator ceased and I was able to get the speech and the rest of the event, albeit in LP mode.

I was completly frazzled and all of my careful light planning and settings were totally out of whack. As a result of turning the shutter off, the shot was much darker than I would have liked, but the footage was acceptable, thank God. I previewed as much as possible before handing it off to the client and it looked Okay. After getting back in touch with them a few days later, they seem very happy with the footage. Once again, thank God.

Now I have to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.

I'm not comfortable with poking around the heads myself and after talking with a Panasonic rep, I bought a Panasonic head cleaner. It took a bit of searching to find a place with the Panasonic head cleaner in stock, apparently the AY-DVMCLA is on backorder. I just now used the tape, beforehand spraying compressed air in the chamber to clear off any lingering dust.

I'll reply back after I do a test.
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

Just recorded about 20 minutes of footage with a friend, after blowing out dust from the dock with compressed air and then running 10 seconds of the miniDV Panasonic Head Cleaner (AY-DVMCLA). Good news is that the error message has not reappeared. Played back the tape and checked it out with a s-video cable plugged into a Pro Sony monitor and it looks great.

While I was recording, I did a little bit of goofing off and messed around with the shutter speeds. I love that 1/250 shutter look on 24p. Has that cool "28 Days Later" feel. I didn't really see that much of a difference between 1/250, 1/500, and 1/1000 other than light variations.

Anyway, the head cleaner worked well for me.
 
Re: Blinking red circle w/ X in LCD

the so called fast forward & rewind (plus hit reset) really didn't work afterall, the x came back after a few more minutes of recording.
I then spoke to the Teck guy at Panasonic toronto and he said that even a new dvx can have this problem after only a few hours since it could be the smallest little piece of dust etc.....he suggested I bring it in for a cleaning or try the head cleaning tape....anyways I used the cleaning tape for 10 seconds and now all seems well. :)
 
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