I recently purchased a used PD170, where the owner used Panasonic tapes, and I use Sony tapes.
I know that changing tape brands especiall to or from Sony can cause problems.

So I ran a tape cleaner through the camera before use, and everything seemed fine until Friday, where my PD170 while coming out of "Stand By' gave me a "Cleaning Tape" warning. I turned off the camera and turned it back on and all seemed fine.

I am worried that it might have a clogged head and wanted to send it in for service, but didn't want to send it to Sony, because they would charge me $600 flat fee for servicing.

Also I would prefer a local repair shop in the MD/VA/DC area.

Does anyone know of a good repair shop in the MD/VA/DC area?