Sony DSR-11

[Joel Alan Decker]

I just got a VTR from someone today. Checked the drum hours and it's showing 89x10H.

Just wondering what that means in terms of hours?

[Don Bloom]

890 hours of drum run which means it's hardly broken in. The DSR-11 is good for many many many hours with proper care. Don't abuse it, every once in while have it checked out by an authorized Sony Tech and I'll bet you get a couple thousand more hours out of it, probably more. IIRC mine had like 4K on it before it died and it wasn't the head that died.

[Joel Alan Decker]

Doesn't sound too bad, really the only thing with a lot of hours was the run time. They must have kept the thing on for 3 years straight lol.

[Warren Kawamoto]

My unit has over 7,000 hours on it, and it's still going strong! It went in once to align tape path and change heads.

[Joel Alan Decker]

Nice! When did you have to replace the heads and how much did they charge you?

Also does anyone here not have a door/dust cover on theirs? Mine doesn't and was wondering what you all used to keep a lot of dust from entering? Make a door for it?

[Don Bloom]

I never got to replace the heads but I know someone that had a DSR-11 that had about 10,000 hours before he replaced the heads. It's like my old PD150, about 2500 hours of operation and 1500+ of drum rum. Never replaced anything on it but it went in to be checked every year by an authorized Sony tech. The DSR-11 is more robust than the camera or at least seems to be, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. I bet the motor will die before the heads!

Door, hmmmm, did the DSR-11 come with one? Oh yeah, they all ahd one when new, but mine fell off after about 500 hours and I don't know anyone that has an 11 that still has the door. THAT was a real weak spot for some reason. As for keeping dust out, I never worried about it, maybe I should have. Honestly, I didn't do anything except leave it on my desk in my office, turn it on, load up tapes then turn it off. BTW mine died because of a power surge and it killed the electrics inside. That and a couple of thousand dollars of othr goodies that had to be taken care of before the DSR-11. Go and have fun with that puppy. Load tape and prosper! ;-)

[Joel Alan Decker]

Sounds like it'll last me a good while I hope. I don't plan on beating it to death either so I probably wont put more than 200 hours on it myself.


The only thing I've noticed is the fan is a bit loud, is there a solution or an easy replacement for it? Kinda drives me nuts when I'm working on the comp and importing stuff.

[Thomas Smet]

She is a loud beast. Haven't used mine for years. Should probably sell it but it is my only device left here to read my library of tapes (like that will ever happen)

I am not aware of anyway to upgrade the fan. If you can put it on a shelf under your desk so it isn't blasting in your ear.

[Bill Rankin]

This is a little different subject but, I use my deck to output to the TV while editing. The cable to the TV monitor is the standard RCA jacks (yellow,red,white). Does anyone know what can replace the deck that has a HDMI output? Something under 500 dollars?

[Jeff Pulera]

Hi Bill,

No need to replace the deck, not that there is a DV deck with HDMI output anyway. I just went to Amazon and searched "composite to hdmi converter" and several options came up in the $30-40 range, that accept yellow-red-white RCA inputs and convert to 1080 HDMI signal for HD displays. Be careful reading specs to be sure it is Composite TO HDMI, there are some that go HDMI to Composite as well. One direction only.

Thanks

[Bill Rankin]

Thanks I'll look into that.

question: will the monitor display a better picture just by using the adapter to HDMI?

[Allan Black]

The question is, how long has the door been missing? How much crap is in there?

Try shining a torch in there, looking for dust on the deck. Keep a towel or dust cover over the rig while you're not using it, and the power is OFF.

If you didn't get them, download a manual and get a cleaning tape from BnH NY.

Cheers.

[Ken Plotin]

I wouldn't run a cleaning tape on an old deck. Better to take off the chassis cover and gently clean the heads with proper head cleaner and chamois swab. Better yet, as Don Bloom sugests, find a local Sony tech and have the unit cleaned and aligned. Worth it in the long run. I clean the heads and guides on my old Sony DSR-30 (ca 1997) every year or so...still going strong.
Ken