Trying to transfer Digital 8 to DVD

[Johnny Kilo]

I have some old Digital 8 (and some standard 8mm and some Hi 8mm) tapes that I am looking to convert to DVD. I have a Sony Handycam (I believe it is the TRV340). A few years back I was able to hook it up and put together a nice little video from Hi 8 quality. Now the camcorder seems to be misaligned (I cleaned the heads, I don't believe that is the problem). I am in the Chiacgoland area, so I might be able to find a repairman. I would rather not buy someone else s old piece of junk camcorder and the Sony Walkman is like $1000. Anyone have any ideas?

[gadgetguy]

What makes you think the heads are misaligned? In other words, what symptoms are you seeing? Do the symptoms change with the different types of tapes (D8, Hi8, standard8)?

[Johnny Kilo]

the symptoms are consistent regardless of the media format. The player acts like it wants to play but it displays a "scrambled" signal. It displays a picture for a few frames but it is misaligned and then the camcorder stops playing. I hooked it up to my firewire hoping that would work but i got the same problem. If i remember correctly the audio did not work at all.

[gadgetguy]

I'm not sure what it is and I could be wrong, but that doesn't sound like head misalignment to me. I would expect different results from D8 than from Hi8 if the heads were misaligned and I don't think it should just stop playing. I think I'd try taking it to a service shop and have them look it over before I'd look at a replacement.