Is my brand new DVX broken?? Can't keep timecode

[kidwoo]

I've used two different tapes, both a panasonic version I've used many times before, and upon capturing I'm getting the classic horizontal lines across the screen with two different images in every other line.

The tapes are cheapo AY-DVM60EJ panasonics which I've used for years with a gl2. Just seems sort of odd that I get my very first two bad tapes as the very first two I use in a new camera.

Any ideas?


Letting another brand of tape run in the thing as I type this to see if it happens with it as well.

 

[Robbie Comeau]

Cleans the heads on your DVX! This will get rid of the blockyness.

Use a head cleaner.

Don't capture with the DVX. At least avoid it as much as you can.

Buy a cheap little consumer camera to do all your capturing with, this will save the heads longer
on your DVX.

 

[kidwoo]

Cleans the heads on your DVX! This will get rid of the blockyness.

Use a head cleaner.

Is it a practice for Panasonic to send out brand new cameras with dirty heads?



I just cleaned them. I'll let a tape run in it and see what happens.


I'm not capturing with it. Not even the grand total of 45 minutes I have on the thing.

 

[Robbie Comeau]

Hm. I have heard a story on here before about this happening I think.

Let us know what happens with that tape.

 

[mikkowilson]

New cameras (& decks) have sharper parts that haven't been "worn in" ("Profiled" - to use the correct term) to the shape of the tape across them.

These minutely sharper edges are more likely to flake of more particles than normal from the tape surface, causing more head-clog & dropouts than at other times.

It's kind like how a new set of shoes is more likely to give you blisters.

The best thing you can do is grab a (preferably new) tape of the brand of your choice and run it through your new camera/deck - even just one or two full passes is enough - and rewinding/fast-forwarding counts. This will profile the heads and they'll be just that slight tiny tiny bit duller and won't scrape bits off tape into themselves.

Then quickly run a cleaning tape, and you are set.

- Mikko

 

[kidwoo]

New cameras (& decks) have sharper parts that haven't been "worn in" ("Profiled" - to use the correct term) to the shape of the tape across them.

These minutely sharper edges are more likely to flake of more particles than normal from the tape surface, causing more head-clog & dropouts than at other times.

It's kind like how a new set of shoes is more likely to give you blisters.

The best thing you can do is grab a (preferably new) tape of the brand of your choice and run it through your new camera/deck - even just one or two full passes is enough - and rewinding/fast-forwarding counts. This will profile the heads and they'll be just that slight tiny tiny bit duller and won't scrape bits off tape into themselves.

Then quickly run a cleaning tape, and you are set.

- Mikko

Thank you.


That actually makes perfect sense.


That's probably a better option than calling panasonic and sharing some of the words in my head right now anyway.

 

[mikkowilson]

That's probably a better option than calling panasonic and sharing some of the words in my head right now anyway.

How do you think I learned all that? :lipsrseal

Except it was with a rather friendly Sony (Not Panny) tech who talked me through hand-cleaning [for the first time] a brand new $5400 deck over the phone.


And now I know how to clean decks.

- Mikko