"World Time": How Do I Set The Time?

[Dave Largent]

Every time when I turn on the cam, it says "CLOCK SET".
I go into the menu, and World Time is grayed out.
Anyone know how to set the time?

[Steve McDonald]

Dave, how long have you had this camcorder and have there been long periods when it's been unused?

The "Clock Set" notice coming up each time it's turned on, sounds like the built-in rechargeable memory battery may have lost its charge. On another group, someone reported having a VX2000 that had a memory battery go dead and it couldn't be revived. No one seemed to know how to replace it or even find where it was located. It normally recharges from the main battery or power supply and is supposed to last 6 months, before the camera needs to be used, to recharge it.

When I first fired-up my VX2100, I immediately set the time and date. Then, I turned it off. When I put the battery back in, half an hour later, the time and date setting was gone and I had to reset it. This happened a second time, an hour later. I then realized that the memory battery hadn't had time to charge enough, from the few minutes I'd had a main battery in the camera. After I'd had the camera turned on for half an hour continuously, the memory battery has had enough charge to hold the settings.

If one of these non user-replaceable memory batteries needs replacing, I guess it's a trip to the shop.

The World Time setting mode came up on the Menu and I set it without a problem.
Not that I see myself needing to refer to it, as my G-Shock watch has a World Time reading in a little corner box.

[Dave Largent]

Steve, finally someone has responded!
I find it almost hilarious that the folks who frequent
here have an opinion about the most esoteric of
problems, but when it is asked how to set the time
on your camera nobody knows nothing!?
Anyways, to answer your question, my 2100
arrived from B&H with this situation.
That is: when it is first fired up
there is the message: CLOCK SET for
about 10 seconds before anything
else goes on.
What is the procedure to set the time?
Nobody here knows how to set the time
on a camera?????
And consequently, I can get no time code
with this cam -- it all reads 00:00 throughout
the tapes.

[Allen Brodsky]

Dave,
Steve explained in his post how to set the clock. The timecode recorded on tapes is not related to the time of day; it's the running time on the tape in minutes/seconds/frames. AFAIK, there is no connection between the timecode and clock setting on the VX2100.
If your cam is not taking the clock setting and isn't recording timecode, it may need repair.
Hope this helps.

[Steve McDonald]

Dave, as Allen said, there's two separate time problems with this camcorder. I assume you know how to use the Data Code
button on your remote controler to call up the Date/Time onscreen, either live from the camera or from tape and also the Display button to bring up the Timecode. It wouldn't be registering 00:00, if it weren't being displayed. Obviously, if there's no Date/Time set in Memory, it won't appear onscreen. Timecode should appear, regardless of your Memory working or not.

When you call up the Data Code from tape playback, do the camera settings appear, even though the Date/Time part does not?
The camera parameters at the time of recording are embedded on the tape and are not dependent on the Memory function to be registered. The Date/Time is part of the recording also, but needs the Memory to be working to feed it to the recorder in the first place.

If you can play back the recordings you make on this camcorder on another Sony DV unit, you could try calling up the Timecode. Even though it isn't displayed on your unit, it might still be recorded by it and another recorder might be able to display it. Are you using Sony tapes?
There's a slim chance, that another tape brand might be interfering with the display----getting desperate for an explanation here.

It would be nice to determine for sure that this is all due to a real malfunction, rather than just a mistake in the settings, before you send it off to a repair shop.

There is a place in the Menu for Clock Set, that shifts to the World Time Set, if it's working right. You can always re-record your footage on another DV deck to get Timecode added to it. Does this camcorder still have some time left on its full warranty? Good Luck.

[Dave Largent]

The camera is brand new! It arrived this way.
But thanks guys, I'll look into the built-in rechargable battery; that may be the problem. The manual says to plug the cam into
AC for 24 hours. I think I've already done this but I'll
try again. This time I will plug it in to AC *but remove the
battery*. The manual says this "vanadium-lithium" battery
will be discharged
if the cam is not used for four months.
But now I see the manual says to, alternatively,
leave a charged battery in the cam for 24 hours to get the time clock corrected. This has been done, hopefully the AC does the trick. I have my doubts at this point. I'll get back.
I had a Sony TR101 Hi-8 that needed a flat watch battery.
The problem is that the option for setting the time is
grayed out. I'll take a closer look at the date/time code
relationship to make sure I've got this right.

[Dave Largent]

Well I plugged it in for 24 hours, without the battery,
turned it on, "CLOCK SET" came up, I went into the
menu, and the option was not greyed out this time
so I was able to set the time.

[Steve McDonald]

And how about the time-code?

I never saw the reference in the manual about connecting it to the AC adaptor for 24 hours for memory-battery charging. Of course, I never read the manual-----surest way to get confused. How would they imagine a new owner of a VX2100 could let it sit there untouched for that long?

[Dave Largent]

Sorry for the confusion, guys. I looked again at some
tapes and the timecode *was* working.
Yeah I, too, don't read manuals like I should.