SONY RDR-GX7 Help

[Vijay Batohi]

I live in South Africa which uses the Pal I TV system. I recently asked a friend to buy the Sony RDR-GX7 DVD recorder for me from the US. I was aware of the different input voltage (110 vs 220) but expected the unit to support multisystems. To my horror I found out otherwise. I therefore have the following problems:

a) When connecting my Sony Camera to the iLink port there is control of the Camera but no picture gets recorded.
b) I get a B/W signal when the machine plays from my satellite receiver to my TV via the line input/output
c) When I record anything from the satellite decoder and playback the picture continually rolls in B/W, no problem with audio.

I have tried setting my TV to SECAM and NTSC but without success.
Is there anybody out there who can help configure this machine. I cannot afford to throw away this investment.
My local Sony agent implied "That will teach you to buy a machine from another country".

Vijay Batohi
e-mail batohivb@elec.durban.gov.za

[proxyx99]

You should be looking at Europe rater then USA as a source. If there's a mismatch with regard to systems all you can do is purchase one of the standards converters (a few below 200$ US) that will do it on the fly. But this may degrade video quality. You can convert video on your PC from one system to another but that's not an option as well (not very practical).
You have not specified what equipment you have so by definition noone will be able to give you a specific advice. My suggestion: get to know your hardware and stick to your brodcast system (PAL). USA is not a good place to look for multisystem stuff anyway as it's sold only by small, private companies in large cities only. PAL equipment is a rarity here. You can find a great abundance of multisystem equipment in Europe and SE Asia. I guess it is time for you to get back to the drawing board and find out what you really need.
PS. if your TV is PAL only you may be able to order NTSC decoder board for your TV. that requires expert installation though. Check for system conversion devices as mentioned above or replace your newly aquired Sony with something compatible.