Secret menu or anything? - Head usage

D

direktor

Member
Is there a secret menu :o or something on the DVX100A that can give me an accurate indication of how many recording head hours I've logged so far?

I've been trying to keep an accurate record so when I hit the 50-60 hour mark I can get the heads cleaned, but I know I've lost count here and there.

Just wondering.

Thanks!

-direktor
 
Re: Secret menu or anything? - Head usage

Go into the menu... go into "7. Other Functions" and scroll all the way to the bottom of the last page. There's the hour meter.
 
Re: Secret menu or anything? - Head usage

Duh!!!! Do I feel stupid! :P

I guess the reason I ignored the hour meter before is that it is reporting a whopping 17 hours of usage and I had no idea that I'd put that much time on the camera already.

I appreciate the reply.

My question now is - when should I send it in for a good cleaning; 50-60 hours?

I ordered a tape cleaner at EVS and have read that I should only use if for like 5-10 seconds, is that accurate? I've been using really expensive Sony media and now I am switching totally to Panasonic PQ and MQ media. I wish I knew if the Sony Excellance media is wet or dry.

Thanks again!

- :D
 
Re: Secret menu or anything? - Head usage

No problem, man. The menus on this thing are pretty deep. Sometimes I have a hard time finding stuff, too.

I think all Sony tapes are wet lube. At least that's what I keep hearing.

Barry has put a great tutorial on manually cleaning the DVX heads here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/cgi-bin/DVX2/YaBB.pl?board=Events;action=display;num=1091157196

If you don't feel comfortable doing that, get someone else (someone qualified) to do it for you. Try not to use the cleaning tapes, because they are abrasive and can eventually damage your heads.

I've heard that you should definitely get them cleaned every 100 hours. If you do it yourself, you can do it more often than that, though.

Happy shooting!
 
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