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What can I do with a TRV103 with dead heads?

I have a DCR-TRV103 which I really liked, but the heads went on it and I'm not willing to spend $250+ for a head transplant when I can (and did) get a newer model for not much more than that.

Is there anything I can do with the old one (use it as a webcam?) without the heads?

Mark Z.

Mark Zellers
Mon, 14 May 2007 16:07:45 -0700

You can use it as a real-time streaming video camera to your VCR. Or maybe turn it into a security camera. How about a motion detector for your computer?

Chieh Cheng
Mon, 14 May 2007 16:23:50 -0700

Interesting... I am currently having a problem that I suspect could have something to do with the heads.

I have a DCR-TRV103, purchased December 1999, and used rather heavily (in amateur videographer terms, anyway). I've probably recorded some 150-200 hours of video with it, have used the camera for playback quite a bit, and have also done quite a lot of importing footage into my computer for editing.

I have seen over the years that presumably dirty heads cause the picture to pixelate in spots. You'll see squares and rectangles on the screen whenever the camera is in motion within a shot, and increasingly, even when the camera is relatively still. In the past head cleaners did seem to help solve this problem, but I've noticed in recent months that the problem seems to be remarkably persistent. Use of my head cleaner does not seem to have any noticeable effect. (Granted, I should change the head cleaner and see if it helps, but I was having this problem before I even bought that particular head cleaner).

Oddly, I've done a few non-scientific tests and discovered that video recorded in the last 30 minutes (of the usual 60 minute tapes) does NOT seem to exhibit the problem to any significant degree, but it is pronounced and intolerable in the first 30 minutes or so of each tape. I can only guess that perhaps the weight of the tape on the spindle makes something work more effectively.

I also conducted some tests this evening in which I removed the camera battery entirely and used the cord to plug in while shooting. It seemed to make a very material difference, but there were still a small handful of issues. Not to mention this is not feasible as a solution when shooting outdoors.

I also can't tell how to isolate the tape from the situation, since I have no other way to check the tapes without the camera in question. It happens on a remarkably high number of tapes, though, for tape defects to explain it away.

Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff Becraft
Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:45:15 +0000

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