arch, before you give up on it, try to clean your tape heads. these should be cleaned regularly with a quality head cleaning tape. I believe that it is SONY that recommends to do this every 50hrs of recording or playback. Of course, in a more dusty environment, it is recommended that you do this more often. You should get the tape cleaning kit in most every major electronics or department store. Download the level2 service manual [http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3295184/sony-dcr-trv15-trv17-level-2-ver-1-0-et-pdf-november-22-2011-6-52-pm-15-0-meg?da=y|from here.] It will tell you all you ever wanted to know about your camera. Hope it helps, good luck
+
arch, before you give up on it, try to clean your tape heads. these should be cleaned regularly with a quality head cleaning tape. I believe that it is SONY that recommends to do this every 50hrs of recording or playback. Of course, in a more dusty environment, it is recommended that you do this more often. You should get the tape cleaning kit in most every major electronics or department store. If you have a stripe during recording, it is usually your CCD, since it is on playback of others tapes, it is most likely the video head. Download the level2 service manual [http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3295184/sony-dcr-trv15-trv17-level-2-ver-1-0-et-pdf-november-22-2011-6-52-pm-15-0-meg?da=y|from here.] It will tell you all you ever wanted to know about your camera. Hope it helps, good luck
arch, before you give up on it, try to clean your tape heads. these should be cleaned regularly with a quality head cleaning tape. I believe that it is SONY that recommends to do this every 50hrs of recording or playback. Of course, in a more dusty environment, it is recommended that you do this more often. You should get the tape cleaning kit in most every major electronics or department store. Download the level2 service manual [http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/3295184/sony-dcr-trv15-trv17-level-2-ver-1-0-et-pdf-november-22-2011-6-52-pm-15-0-meg?da=y|from here.] It will tell you all you ever wanted to know about your camera. Hope it helps, good luck