What happened: During an interview, after I pressed "Record", the display started displaying an "X" in a red circle.

"X" on the screen:
http://www.instantclassic.org/dv/photos/recording-x-on-lcd.jpg

I tried playing the tape, and the LCD screen flickered between solid blue and an image "broken into" alternate stripes which seemed to consist of scenes recorded one minute apart. (see below)

Blinking Screen:
http://www.instantclassic.org/dv/photos/playback-blink.jpg

Twilight zone time warp:
http://www.instantclassic.org/dv/photos/playback-2-in-1.jpg

2 hours (and 2 cancelled interviews) later I returned home and played the tape in my other, "deck" camera - perfect playback. I tried recording with the DVX again, on the same tape - and the camera recorded OK. Tried to play the tape - played OK!


What should I do?
Technical uncertainty doesn't fit in my workflow - high stakes interviews, live events, etc.
Has any of you experienced AND resolved a similar issue?
Should I send the camera for cleaning (and if yes, who do I send it to under my 2-year MACK warranty?).


A few facts:
- I only use brand new AY-DVM63MQ tapes. No other tape has ever been inserted in this camera. Last 20-30 tapes are from the same 50-tape box I bought (EVS Online).
- The camera is used for recording only, never playback (with the exception of checking the recording quality in the field).
- 47 hours on the heads
- I found a thread here which deals with what seems to be a similar issue but doesn't reach a clear conclusion/solution: http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=8936&highlight=unplayable+tape

Thank you in advance,
-- Andre
-- andreinla,
-- gmail dot com

It's saying its heads are dirty. You need to run the cleaning tape.

I've also been told that the X can sometimes be an indicator of one of the gyros jamming.

That error message is usually something like PSD NG.

I looked at the picture Andre posted, and it's most definitely the head clog warning.

that it is.. also with the glitch your seeing, its perfectly consistant with dirty heads or bad media..

usually bad media is what causes the dirty heads in teh first place..

use a dry lube tape like the MQ series tapes and u wont have a problem..

I havent cleaned my cams heads now for 60hrs and its still crystla clear..

He is using clean MQ media from us, so I agree with Barry that somehow the heads got dirty. I used to get the red "X" and also the blue screen of death saying "Cylinder Lock error" on my camera every time I tried to shuttle across media. My DVX never liked shuttling, and even playback, but it recorded fine. I had it professionally head cleaned and never saw the error again, but then I also stopped using it for playback, unless it is a dire emergency. For a quick fix, I would say run a cleaning cassette through, and as long as the media plays well on another deck, then the recording heads are working to par. Or use Barry's guide to personally clean the heads properly with denatured alcohol and non-linting swab.