news:eoj5sg$1t3$1@e250.ripco.com:

> Gene, Bill,
>
> Thanks for your suggestions.
>
> 1. About removing the coin battery:  I believe Sony tech support
>    also mentioned that.  I'd forgotten about that, since my call
>    to Sony was about three months ago.
>
>    I retried the resetting process, including removing the coin
>    battery, and leaving the camera without power for hours.  No
>    help.
>
> 2. The next step is to try Bill's suggestion of resetting the
> cards.
>    I'll have to work up the courage to do that.
>
>
> Here's an update on what else I've discovered since my first
> message:
>
> 1. Despite my statement that the red dot and the green dot are not
>    discussed in the manual, I have now found them mentioned.  They
>    are the indicators used for "REC" and "STBY" respectively when
>    the LCD screen is turned 180 degrees, to face the people being
>    videotaped. (In that position, the LCD displays a mirror image
>    of what the camera sees.  It also displays text as a mirror
>    image.  That would make "REC" and "STBY" a bit awkward to read.
>     Dots don't have that problem.)
>
>    The camera, however, gives no other indications of being in
>    that reversed-screen mode.  There are several features that are
>    disabled when the camera is in true reversed-screen mode, but
>    none of them are disabled on my camera when those dots are
>    present.
>
> 2. After resetting and leaving the camera in standby mode, the
> camera will
>    display "STBY" for precisely ten minutes.  It will then beep,
>    and start displaying a green dot instead.
>   
> 3. After recording for ten minutes with the red dot showing, the
> camera
>    will beep and shift into standby mode, displaying a green dot.
>
>    After another ten or fifteen minutes, the camera will switch
>    into "Play" mode (no dots).
>
> 4. I make the camera record for more than ten minutes straight if
> I
>    occasionally operate any of the controls on the camera.  Even
>    turning the menu on, then off, will suffice.
>
> Sounds like a RAM problem of some sort.  But could be a connector
> that needs to be cleaned up, as Bill suggests.
>
> I'll keep you posted.
>
> Regards,
>
> Roy
>