What does the inside of the dv input/output on a camcorder look like? What is the connection mechanism to the firewire cable?

I am trying to figure out why my firewire port doesn't work anymore on my camcorder.

I am wondering just how the inside of it works - where the pins meet, but I can't seem to find any information or images of what it looks like. Does anyone know? I have taken apart the cable, but not the camcorder (the camcorder has bent pins). I am hoping I can figure out where the pins are bent and how the cable and the input on the camcorder work together. Any help or images would be great.

Thanks

Reply to
David D
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Reply to
Meat Plow

Reply to
David D

This is a problem you should refer to a qualified tech. If you're embarrassed because you did something "dumb" to bend the pins -- well, it happens to all of us.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Well that's the best I could do. Firewire is actually a serial data port like an RS-232 port. Don't know what damage you could have caused to a 4 pin port considering that they are twisted pair data and clock lines with no power supply IIRC. Best bet is to get the device to a qualified tech and let them determine if the pins have been bent or crossed and if so, if they can be straightened out. Chances are low that any electronic damage was done to the device.

Reply to
Meat Plow

Thanks for that. I would like to get them straighten, if possible, the only problem is that when I phoned a tech place, they want to change the board rather than try to straighten the pins - that means at least $200.00. I was hoping that if I could extend the pins of the cable long enough, I might manage to touch the bent pins inside the camera, but I worried about frying the whole camcorder by doing this...maybe?

Reply to
David D

Go to

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and link to the connector manufacturers' websites to look for specs (yours is likely a 4-pin PCB mount). Or buy a connector from Mouser or Digikey so you can tell what a normal one looks like.

TM

Reply to
tonym924

Looking at the DV jack on my Sony Mini DV I really don't think it's something that can be done. I don't even see how the metal contacts were bent seeing they are well slotted in the plastic center piece. It's understandable that the tech wants to replace rather than repair. If you want to try it, have a big old magnifying glass, a lot of light and some micro tools. You can remove the camcorder battery but really there's no voltages there to fry, just clock and serial data.

Reply to
Meat Plow

I don't really have the tiny tool, but I do have the light magnifier. I was thinking that maybe they are bent and maybe broken, so I was trying to connect them somehow. I can work fine without the battery, but at some point I have to test it, and that is what I am worried about - testing it on my computer (plugged in) and camcordering (battery) and finding it fries the whole board because the 4 pins of the cable hit the 4 pins of the camcorder in the wrong way, or hit the wrong pins-

Reply to
David D

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