Hello!

I've recently acquired a DSR-11 DVCAM player, it was in a box labeled "Weird, obsolete, and/or free to go home" and I have an appreciation for tech that can be described as such. Well, I found that some tapes are still being manufactured, and I bought one online, and when attempting to record with it, the red warning light kept flashing after a few seconds. I then ordered a cleaning tape, since who knows how long it had been sitting unused. The cleaning tape ran fine, I made sure to follow the instructions which were to only run it for a short amount of time. No warning light. I tried the first tape again, and the warning light was still coming on. So, I bought a different kind of tape, the first one said it was compatible but it was an HD tape. The second (not including the cleaning tape) was standard definition. No red warning light, but also still not recording.

I was searching online to troubleshoot, and came across this forum. I figured I'd sign up in the hopes that maybe someone has advice.

Might be good to have this unit connected to a TV or similar monitor when operating it. It's possible that you've got a repeated head clog, but it's hard to remember back that far. Not even sure it's a head clog situation.

Here's a link to the manual for the device: https://cinequipt.com/cms-files/sony-dsr-11-manual.pdf

Try playing something back with a known good tape that has worked elsewhere. Also, both standard and HD tapes will work in the deck. (The HD versions were merely better quality tape media so you had less chance of a dropout when recording.)

Andrew

Longshot Ace, and welcome. The record tabs in the tape housings are not missing?

Cheers.

Might be good to have this unit connected to a TV or similar monitor when operating it. It's possible that you've got a repeated head clog, but it's hard to remember back that far. Not even sure it's a head clog situation.

Here's a link to the manual for the device: https://cinequipt.com/cms-files/sony-dsr-11-manual.pdf

Try playing something back with a known good tape that has worked elsewhere. Also, both standard and HD tapes will work in the deck. (The HD versions were merely better quality tape media so you had less chance of a dropout when recording.)

Andrew

I should mention, it is in fact connected to a TV. I've found the manual before but it didn't quite answer my question. Idk if I can get a good tape. How could one fix a repeated head clog?

Longshot Ace, and welcome. The record tabs in the tape housings are not missing?

Cheers.


Brand new tapes, unless you mean something in the player. If it's something I'd need to open up the machine to check, I'm not sure I'd know what to look for.

Back in the day we would discuss (right here) whether we would use a tape a second time or not, such was the desire to absolutely avoid drop outs from something not reading back properly. You'd always use a brand new tape for something important.

Ahh, those were the days. Solid state recording is nowhere near as exciting, thank goodness.

Andrew

Some things I've done today to try and troubleshoot:

Cleaned the heads with a cotton swab. I didn't have isopropyl alcohol, but I got some muck up with dry swabs.
Actually, before I did that, I carefully opened the player to try and get easier access to the heads, and to see if I could visually tell if something was wrong inside. I could not. Closed it all up, then swabbed.

Ran the cleaning tape again.

Messed with some settings on the thing I am inputting into the player.

Still not recording.

Ace, maybe time to take it into a repair shop, knowing the folks who know about magnetic recording technology are disappearing. You might look around for an older shop.

Cheers.

First thing - cleaning with tapes is a get you out of trouble if all else fails solution, because they rarely work, and the muck from the tape you scrape off with each platy or record cycle goes into the slots either side of the head. These need cleaning with IPA. dry cleaning just makes them shiny. Each cleaning cycle abrades the heads too, so once they're too low, the unit is no longer usable, and repairs far too difficult as you need test gear, for people to generally do.

Somebody mentioned the tabs in the cassette = check these are in place or record does not engage.

I still have 2 here. One needs new heads, the other must be getting close - so it's for when somebody brings me a vital tape to stick onto an SD card or stick.Spending ANY money on it is pointless now I'm afraid.

Ace, does the manual have anything definitive to say about what the flashing of the red warning light would be? Sometimes it could be a humidity issue and you have to keep the tape deck on for a while. Guessing the manual might have something to say about it.

Andrew

First thing - cleaning with tapes is a get you out of trouble if all else fails solution, because they rarely work, and the muck from the tape you scrape off with each platy or record cycle goes into the slots either side of the head. These need cleaning with IPA. dry cleaning just makes them shiny. Each cleaning cycle abrades the heads too, so once they're too low, the unit is no longer usable, and repairs far too difficult as you need test gear, for people to generally do.

Somebody mentioned the tabs in the cassette = check these are in place or record does not engage.

I still have 2 here. One needs new heads, the other must be getting close - so it's for when somebody brings me a vital tape to stick onto an SD card or stick.Spending ANY money on it is pointless now I'm afraid.

:(
I'm still willing to try. I'm stubborn. And yes, brand new tapes, and the record tabs are fine and slid over to record.

Ace, does the manual have anything definitive to say about what the flashing of the red warning light would be? Sometimes it could be a humidity issue and you have to keep the tape deck on for a while. Guessing the manual might have something to say about it.

Andrew
Yes, it says it's humidity and to leave it running for a really long time. The thing is, I tried that, and it didn't help, and it only flashes with the HD tape.

Then get the alcohol out and clean the heads - rotary and linear. Lint free cloth, side to side NEVER up and down, they fall out. They have no strength at all in the vertical plane. Tape tension on these is critical, so watch the way it travels very carefully. I suspect the heads have gone, and this is what is triggering the red warning light - which comes on for a load of fault reasons - poor tension, no lock etc etc.

Hello!

I've recently acquired a DSR-11 DVCAM player, it was in a box labeled "Weird, obsolete, and/or free to go home" and I have an appreciation for tech that can be described as such. Well, I found that some tapes are still being manufactured, and I bought one online, and when attempting to record with it, the red warning light kept flashing after a few seconds. I then ordered a cleaning tape, since who knows how long it had been sitting unused. The cleaning tape ran fine, I made sure to follow the instructions which were to only run it for a short amount of time. No warning light. I tried the first tape again, and the warning light was still coming on. So, I bought a different kind of tape, the first one said it was compatible but it was an HD tape. The second (not including the cleaning tape) was standard definition. No red warning light, but also still not recording.

I was searching online to troubleshoot, and came across this forum. I figured I'd sign up in the hopes that maybe someone has advice.

Hi , there have been a few suggestions here already .

The first one to check is that the record tabs on the rear edge of the tape are closed ( no hole left ) to allow recording . These are just like the tabs you may have known on VHS tapes , which you snapped off if you wanted to prevent a valuable recording being erased , only on DV cassettes the tab slides to one side and can be slid out again .

Secondly , this deck is DV or DVCAM , both standard def formats ; it won’t play back a tape with HDV recorded on it , at least not properly .

I’ve had a few of these decks in the past , and still have and use the HVR-M15 , which is the HDV version of that deck . See photo .

The red caution light can activate for a number of reasons , and will normally be accompanied by a warning on screen or a fault code , telling you more specifically what is wrong .

There is a menu which can be accessed either by the remote control ( which I presume you don’t have ? ) or , at least on the deck I have , via the front panel , allowing you to choose what information is displayed on a monitor connected to the video output ., you need to allow information to be displayed to see the warnings , it has been a while since I had one , but I think a head clog comes up with a message saying just that , or you can get fault codes in the format C-xx-xx-x or similar and you need to look them up in the service manual or check online , I don’t think the user manual covers them in any great depth .

As said already DV , HDV , DVCAM blank tapes are all essentially the same , but if you have a tape with an HDV recording it won’t play back .

Head cleaning has been covered , you can clean the tape path and static heads with a cotton bud soaked in IPA , BUT for the rotating heads on the drum use a lint free cloth or chamois tip gently held stationary over the gap in the drum , and rotate the head past it by hand . Even lint free cloths can leave fibres in the head gap , which is so small you will struggle to see it , the chamois tip is better , but not sure where you’d get one now .

Also see the pictures of the rear edge of a mini DV cassette . The one with the green tab showing can be recorded on , the second picture showing the tab slid out of the way cannot be recorded on . You may also see rec and save faintly imprinted on the plastic .

Finally , just looking at Paul’s picture of the DSR11 , there are no menu controls , so you would need the remote control , which was somewhat similar to the one I have for my HDV deck . Your user manual will give the type number of the remote , and if you search on eBay you might find one .

The Remote

Ace , further to all of this , I'm wondering what and how you're trying to record on this machine ?

What are you using as a signal source ? Is it a video camera , another recorder , or what ?

How are you connecting to the DSR 11 ? Are you using composite video , on a single phono plug and going into the yellow video in socket on the back , or are you using S-video , with the 4 pin mini DIN connector , marked S-Video in on the back , or finally are you trying to record from a DV source , such as a DV camcorder , and going into the DV 'Firewire' socket , which Sony variously call i-Link or IEE 1394 ? In each case you would need to set the input select switch on the front panel to match whichever input you're using .

Also , if you can connect a monitor to the output of the DSR-11 , you should be able to see whatever source you have connected to the input on the monitor - this is end to end signal or E-E . Even if you haven't started to record , you should still see your source signal passing through the recorder .

If this isn't working , there may be a fault within the machine , and this could be why it was being given away .

Most people just use these decks to playback in order to capture footage into their computers for editing , usually through the DV ( Firewire ) connection in order to save wear and tear on their camcorders , so even if the machine does not record , you may still find that it plays back tapes that have been recorded on a camcorder .

One other advantage of these decks is that they accept full size DV cassettes , which run for something like three hours ; while a few professional camcorders also take the large cassettes , most camcorders only accept the 'Mini DV' cassettes with a running time of 63 minutes . Some people used to export longer edited programmes back out to tape using the larger cassettes . Others would burn a finished film to DVD or export the file to some other media . Everyone had their own preferences .