Sony TRV57 shows red dot instead of "REC"

9 Jan 2007 5:23 PM

Roy Lipscomb

We have a Sony TRV57 analog videocam. It worked flawlessly for
three years, up to about five months ago. Then it started acting
wierd:

1. The LCD screen used to display "REC" and "STBY" to signal
   record mode and standby mode, respectively.

   But now the LCD screen displays a red dot instead of "REC",
   and a green dot with two bars next to it, instead of "STBY."

   The user manual has nothing about such display.

2. The off switch no longer turns the camera off. To turn
   the camera off, I have to jiggle the slider switch so that
   it's halfway between "Off" and "Play."

3. At odd times (after maybe twenty minutes), the camera will
   jump out of record mode into standby mode.

I've contacted Sony tech support. They were baffled by the dots
problem. For the rest, they recommended the following procedure
to "reset" the camera.

1) Remove the battery and the power cord.
2) Slide the "Record/Off/Play" mode switch to "Record."
3) Toggle the "Record/Standby" switch to "Record."
4) Wait ten seconds.
5) Plug in the power cord (leaving the battery disconnected).
6) Check whether the problems are solved.

I tried that, and the "REC" and "STBY" indicators were restored.
But two minutes later, the red and green dots again replaced them.

I tried the above procedure several more times, after fully charging
the battery, and after waiting several minutes in step 4 instead only
ten seconds. Same result.

Anyone have any idea about what's going on in our camera?

Thanks,

Roy

--

9 Jan 2007 11:18 PM

Gene E. Bloch

On 1/09/2007, Roy Lipscomb posted this:
Show quoteHide quote

> We have a Sony TRV57 analog videocam. It worked flawlessly for
> three years, up to about five months ago. Then it started acting
> wierd:
>
> 1. The LCD screen used to display "REC" and "STBY" to signal
>    record mode and standby mode, respectively.
>
>    But now the LCD screen displays a red dot instead of "REC",
>    and a green dot with two bars next to it, instead of "STBY."
>
>    The user manual has nothing about such display.
>
> 2. The off switch no longer turns the camera off. To turn
>    the camera off, I have to jiggle the slider switch so that
>    it's halfway between "Off" and "Play."
>
> 3. At odd times (after maybe twenty minutes), the camera will
>    jump out of record mode into standby mode.
>
> I've contacted Sony tech support. They were baffled by the dots
> problem. For the rest, they recommended the following procedure
> to "reset" the camera.
>
> 1) Remove the battery and the power cord.
> 2) Slide the "Record/Off/Play" mode switch to "Record."
> 3) Toggle the "Record/Standby" switch to "Record."
> 4) Wait ten seconds.
> 5) Plug in the power cord (leaving the battery disconnected).
> 6) Check whether the problems are solved.
>
> I tried that, and the "REC" and "STBY" indicators were restored.
> But two minutes later, the red and green dots again replaced them.
>
> I tried the above procedure several more times, after fully charging
> the battery, and after waiting several minutes in step 4 instead only
> ten seconds. Same result.
>
> Anyone have any idea about what's going on in our camera?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roy

My first thought is that the drawer where you keep your camera is just
inside a gateway to an alternate universe :-) The red and green dots
kind of clinch that, I'd say.

If your camera has an internal battery - usually a lithium coin cell -
to preserve its settings, try removing that battery (*after* removing
the regular battery and the DC power cord). Wait a long time - minutes,
not seconds. Then plug that battery back in - use a new one if the
original one is not a rechargeable battery.

Now do the tricks recommended by Sony before returning to normal power.

You'll have to set the time and all of your personal settings, but if
it fixes the problem, what the heck!

--
Gene E. Bloch (Gino)
letters617blochg3251
(replace the numbers by "at" and "dotcom")

10 Jan 2007 3:15 PM

Bill Fright

Roy Lipscomb wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

> We have a Sony TRV57 analog videocam. It worked flawlessly for
> three years, up to about five months ago. Then it started acting
> wierd:
>
> 1. The LCD screen used to display "REC" and "STBY" to signal
>    record mode and standby mode, respectively.
>
>    But now the LCD screen displays a red dot instead of "REC",
>    and a green dot with two bars next to it, instead of "STBY."
>
>    The user manual has nothing about such display.
>
> 2. The off switch no longer turns the camera off. To turn
>    the camera off, I have to jiggle the slider switch so that
>    it's halfway between "Off" and "Play."
>
> 3. At odd times (after maybe twenty minutes), the camera will
>    jump out of record mode into standby mode.
>
> I've contacted Sony tech support. They were baffled by the dots
> problem. For the rest, they recommended the following procedure
> to "reset" the camera.
>
> 1) Remove the battery and the power cord.
> 2) Slide the "Record/Off/Play" mode switch to "Record."
> 3) Toggle the "Record/Standby" switch to "Record."
> 4) Wait ten seconds.
> 5) Plug in the power cord (leaving the battery disconnected).
> 6) Check whether the problems are solved.
>
> I tried that, and the "REC" and "STBY" indicators were restored.
> But two minutes later, the red and green dots again replaced them.
>
> I tried the above procedure several more times, after fully charging
> the battery, and after waiting several minutes in step 4 instead only
> ten seconds. Same result.
>
> Anyone have any idea about what's going on in our camera?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Roy
>
>
>

I'd reset the cards inside it. Often the connections corrode slightly
and cleaning and reseating them solves all kinds of strange problems.