My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.
--
tbl

Donate to Salvation Army? Trash it?

Dead camcorders from that era can be found for a few bucks just about
everywhere. Usually the problems stem from bad caps or tape path issues.

"tbl" wrote in message
news
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

There's a great deal of satisfaction to be had, I would imagine, from
placing it gently in the middle of a concrete drive, putting on a pair of
protective goggles and OBLITERATING IT WITH A SLEDGE HAMMER .....before
gently placing the bits into a bin !

regards, Richard


"tbl" wrote in message
news
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.
--
tbl

tbl wrote:
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
Now... what to do with it?

A sixteen year old camcorder?

Hahahhahahaha.

tbl wrote:
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.


Tear it apart and see if you can make anything useful with the bits.
Often they have a couple of fairly nice gearhead motors for the focus
and zoom, and the tape transport assemby has some neat mechanical
components.

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:17:20 GMT, tbl wrote:

My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.


It's vey likely that some of the components still function.
servo motors, audio circuitry etc...
I canabilize old camcorders often.
The mikes on older units are generally better than the new ones and
the audio preamp circuit is usually a separate circuit board so the
whole thing can be extracted and made to work. just a matter of
matching the voltage.
The lens assembly can be removed and tested by applying voltage to the
zoom servos and iris servo.
You can then mate it up to a cmos or ccd chip from a cheap security
camera or webcam. With decent glass these little chips can produce a
half-way decent image then.
All the connectors can be salvaged for future projects. rca
connectors, mike jacks, switches and pots.
I find the zoom switch priceless for building homemade security camera
control consoles.(I take alot of old camcorders, 8mm and c-vhs, that
have had the tape units crap out and make security/surveilance cameras
out of them. By mounting a multipin panel mount connector on the
camcorder housing wired to the zoom and iris gain control you can have
control of those function via a cable and remote control box. the zoom
toggle switch from totally dead units are perfect for the control
boxes.)

"tbl" wrote in message
news
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.
--
tbl

If you're not a tinkerer who enjoys building things from scratch, give it to
someone who is. I'm sure there would be a neighborhood kid who likes to
take things apart. Or maybe a high school with an electronics program (rare
these days) who would like to have it.
I cannibalize this stuff for the tiny screws -- which come in very handy if
one is lost during a repair -- and gears, motors, etc. that are useful in
robotics projects. Of course, if you're handy with SMD's, there are loads
of useful parts on the boards, though most of the SMD lytics probably are
bad.

Here are a few suggestions:
1. Paperweight
2. Doorstop
3. Boat Anchor
4. Balance for an uneven table leg.
5. Firing Range Target
6. Dummy Camera for use as a theft deterrant
Or if you're really bored, you could actually try to repair it.........
"tbl" wrote in message
news
My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.
--
tbl

none ha escrito:

On Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:17:20 GMT, tbl wrote:

My attempts to repair a 1990 camcorder have failed, and it's
totally dead.

Now... what to do with it?

Any thoughts appreciated.


It's vey likely that some of the components still function.
servo motors, audio circuitry etc...
I canabilize old camcorders often.
The mikes on older units are generally better than the new ones and
the audio preamp circuit is usually a separate circuit board so the
whole thing can be extracted and made to work. just a matter of
matching the voltage.
The lens assembly can be removed and tested by applying voltage to the
zoom servos and iris servo.
You can then mate it up to a cmos or ccd chip from a cheap security
camera or webcam. With decent glass these little chips can produce a
half-way decent image then.
All the connectors can be salvaged for future projects. rca
connectors, mike jacks, switches and pots.
I find the zoom switch priceless for building homemade security camera
control consoles.(I take alot of old camcorders, 8mm and c-vhs, that
have had the tape units crap out and make security/surveilance cameras
out of them. By mounting a multipin panel mount connector on the
camcorder housing wired to the zoom and iris gain control you can have
control of those function via a cable and remote control box. the zoom
toggle switch from totally dead units are perfect for the control
boxes.)

great to see someone doing something creative with redundant
electronics as opposed to smashing it or junking it. One question
though; don't many camcorder units auto-power off if there is no tape
movement after a certain time? how do you get around this without a
schematic?
just curious..
-B.

great to see someone doing something creative with redundant
electronics as opposed to smashing it or junking it. One question
though; don't many camcorder units auto-power off if there is no tape
movement after a certain time? how do you get around this without a
schematic?
just curious..
-B.




Every one that I've come across does, I'd be curious how to defeat that
though as even old ones tend to have excellent quality picture.

On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 07:00:04 GMT, James Sweet
wrote:



great to see someone doing something creative with redundant
electronics as opposed to smashing it or junking it. One question
though; don't many camcorder units auto-power off if there is no tape
movement after a certain time? how do you get around this without a
schematic?
just curious..
-B.




Every one that I've come across does, I'd be curious how to defeat that
though as even old ones tend to have excellent quality picture.

Depends on the make of camcorder. Some of the older one's don't have
auto off, though most major brands do. I have a box full of old
Sony's, the early to mid 90's ccd 8mm camcorders and some have this
function and some don't.
I'm currently using a CCD-301 and I believe a 701 and neither seem to
have this function.( I am running them off an ac adapter. Perhaps the
auto -off function only kicks in with the batteries, or perhaps it
died when the tape unit konked out.)
I have a friend locally who does alot of chip burning and he did
manage to kill the auto-off on a JVC camcorder I have.( I liked the
camera for it's sharp chip so when the tape unit died I had him hack
the logic chipset and make a few changes. I use it mostly with a
portable DV deck or my S-vhs deck.)

I have seen threads over at rec.video.production on hacks for most of
Sony's offerings, though I've never tried it myself.( very busy,
though I'm trying to clear my calender with the hopes of trying my
hand at modding some of the older junk gear I have.)

From what I understand you access the program functions via the keypad
of the camcorder using the factory key codes.
Try asking over at rec.video.production , most of the pros there have
modified the functions on their camcorders using this method.

In article UtCFf.35726$DV2.33612@trnddc07,
James Sweet wrote:

Every one that I've come across does, I'd be curious how to defeat that
though as even old ones tend to have excellent quality picture.

Some don't auto-power off if you take the tape out and leave the door
open. I've got a Sony one like that -- it auto powers off under most
other circumstances, but an open tape door leaves it stuck on. Try it,
see if it works for you.
--
--------------------------------------+------------------------------------
Mike Brown: mjb[at]pootle.demon.co.uk | http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/