rjgscotland
New member
So, a local production company I do work for had a DVX100A that's sat in the cupboard broken for some time. They've long moved on to the HVX200, Red ONE and Red EPIC-X. Aware that the camera was lying around and previously discovered the tape transport was knackered, I wanted to borrow it for use at an event next week where I'd use its composite video output into a video transmitter to give some roaming shots for a web stream. That's the plan, anyway. For this the camera works fine. I was told I could keep the camera as even in a working state it's just not worth anything money wise these days. It is worth something to me though, I really like using it and for a SD camera the images are really nice, plus I just love getting broken old tech running again. I'm doing this entirely as a hobby and for the challenge of getting the camera recording to tape again. It's certainly not worth paying to send it away for repair - I'd much rather put money into buying something newer.
I'm looking for help from anyone experienced in repair of the DVX100A. It could be that someone might have a useful piece of information that might make repair easier. I'm confident in my ability to carry out the repair with the right information, but having never tackled a Mini DV mechanism before, any pointers are most welcome. I dropped an email to Panasonic who advised that they normally replace the entire mechanism unit and that I should talk to some of their service partners who might be able to give advice on repairing the existing mechanism (they supplied a couple of company details) so I've emailed them too.
Research on here has shown that the S REEL LOCK issue is quite common. The actual solution isn't that clear though, with most answers being along the lines of "send to your nearest service centre". Now, in this case, consider me the service centre, just without specific Panasonic training! I read one thread that suggested the service manual came with a flyer specifically addressing the S REEL LOCK problem. I have a copy of the service manual and I've not found anything like that. It does cover generally dismantling and maintaining the mechanism though. With nothing to go on my immediate thoughts are to examine and lubricate the brake assembly on the supply reel as well as looking at adjusting the reel table height. Some maintenance operations require use of special alignment plates or tools though so I may be limited in what I can do. However if someone could suggest anything it would be much appreciated. I've had the DVX100 apart to the point of the entire mechanism being exposed, but I've since put it back together.
I have a number of consumer grade Panasonic camcorders lying around (I've seemed to ended up being somewhat of a collector of them without really realising). I have a VHS NV-M5, a NV-DX100 and two NV-MX300 Mini DV cameras. The DX100 is interesting in that it was dropped in a river yet afer a couple of days on the radiator functioned flawlessly afterwards. It didn't take me too long to recall that the tape garage mechanism operation of the DX100 was of similar operation to the DVX100, and indeed the're from the same era. Closer inspection has revealed that the entire transport mechanism appears to be identical. The only difference is that some of the angle guides are white and blue plastic versus the metal ones in the DVX100. However, I've read in the tape head cleaning guide sticky that the guides were white and blue, which suggests there's variations of this mechanism and both are used in the DVX100. I've already dismantled the DX100 and removed the mechanism ready for potentially transplanting into the DVX100 if I have no joy in repairing the existing mechanism.
The second problem is another one I've seen crop up. The analogue audio output, both on the RCAs and the headphone socket exhibits high noise and distortion. The RCA outputs barely work at all with only a distorted crackling at high input levels. The headphone output has a loud hiss in the right channel and slightly noisy and distorted but nevertheless usable audio in the left channel. Thoughts here include examining the DAC and amplifier circuitry. I'll need to study the circuit diagram in greater detail for this. Audio outputs via firewire fine. Again, if anyone can give me any pointers then do let me know.
Thanks!
The NV-DX100 just prior to removing the tape mechanism:
I'm looking for help from anyone experienced in repair of the DVX100A. It could be that someone might have a useful piece of information that might make repair easier. I'm confident in my ability to carry out the repair with the right information, but having never tackled a Mini DV mechanism before, any pointers are most welcome. I dropped an email to Panasonic who advised that they normally replace the entire mechanism unit and that I should talk to some of their service partners who might be able to give advice on repairing the existing mechanism (they supplied a couple of company details) so I've emailed them too.
Research on here has shown that the S REEL LOCK issue is quite common. The actual solution isn't that clear though, with most answers being along the lines of "send to your nearest service centre". Now, in this case, consider me the service centre, just without specific Panasonic training! I read one thread that suggested the service manual came with a flyer specifically addressing the S REEL LOCK problem. I have a copy of the service manual and I've not found anything like that. It does cover generally dismantling and maintaining the mechanism though. With nothing to go on my immediate thoughts are to examine and lubricate the brake assembly on the supply reel as well as looking at adjusting the reel table height. Some maintenance operations require use of special alignment plates or tools though so I may be limited in what I can do. However if someone could suggest anything it would be much appreciated. I've had the DVX100 apart to the point of the entire mechanism being exposed, but I've since put it back together.
I have a number of consumer grade Panasonic camcorders lying around (I've seemed to ended up being somewhat of a collector of them without really realising). I have a VHS NV-M5, a NV-DX100 and two NV-MX300 Mini DV cameras. The DX100 is interesting in that it was dropped in a river yet afer a couple of days on the radiator functioned flawlessly afterwards. It didn't take me too long to recall that the tape garage mechanism operation of the DX100 was of similar operation to the DVX100, and indeed the're from the same era. Closer inspection has revealed that the entire transport mechanism appears to be identical. The only difference is that some of the angle guides are white and blue plastic versus the metal ones in the DVX100. However, I've read in the tape head cleaning guide sticky that the guides were white and blue, which suggests there's variations of this mechanism and both are used in the DVX100. I've already dismantled the DX100 and removed the mechanism ready for potentially transplanting into the DVX100 if I have no joy in repairing the existing mechanism.
The second problem is another one I've seen crop up. The analogue audio output, both on the RCAs and the headphone socket exhibits high noise and distortion. The RCA outputs barely work at all with only a distorted crackling at high input levels. The headphone output has a loud hiss in the right channel and slightly noisy and distorted but nevertheless usable audio in the left channel. Thoughts here include examining the DAC and amplifier circuitry. I'll need to study the circuit diagram in greater detail for this. Audio outputs via firewire fine. Again, if anyone can give me any pointers then do let me know.
Thanks!
The NV-DX100 just prior to removing the tape mechanism:
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