[Milan6685]

Hi, im looking for a DVD HDD recorder that has a IEEE 1394 6-pin Type ×4 firewire to go along with my sony anycast station.

 

[CitiBear]

There aren't any that have a six pin socket: they all use the 4 pin standard expected by camcorder cables. You can easily find an inexpensive 4 pin to 6 pin adapter cable, which might work for you depending on what your goal is for the IEEE1394 connection. Also, don't assume a particular recorder will accept any random signal you send thru its DV input: current models are all pretty much locked down to recognize camcorders only. (Some older 2003-2004 models will recognize nearly anything you connect, but they're hard to find now and likely heavily used if you do find one.)


Of current models, the most popular in the USA is the Phillips 3576 with 160Gb hard drive and digital ATSC tuner. This same Phillips model number is used in Europe. Current Pioneer DVD/HDD models 460-560-660 and last years 550 and 650 all have IEEE1394 connections. Current Sonys are very similar to Pioneers (made in the same factories). Several Panasonics also have the feature. All are decent machines. In Europe you have access to more "value" brands like LG and LiteOn that are not widely distributed in North America, if you have limited funds these might be worth considering but the minimum "quality" standard in the North America is the Phillips 3576 with Pioneer, Panasonic and Sony models being step-up choices.

 

[Milan6685]

Thanks for a quick reply,


Funds are not the issue, I need the hdd recorder to communicate with my AWS-g500 like a dv-cam so I can quickly record end export material on to DVD's during live production. The IEEE 1394 on the Aws-g500 is exactly i-LINK IEEE 1394 6-pin Type x4 IEC 61883-2 equiv.

 

[7558037]

Here are some Philips HDD recorders sold in Slovakia. They all have 4-pin IEEE1394 sockets, but there are many adapters and cables like these if that will work for you:


Philips DVDR:

3575H/58 160GB HDD

3577H/59 160 GB

3590H/58 250GB

3595H/58 250GB

3597H/58 250GB


Someone else suggested that, if the source was not a camcorder, running the source THRU a camcorder should work since the camcorder is converting the image to its native format???

 

[Milan6685]

I tried to use the adapters with many different models of hdd recorders. Pioneer, Sony, Panasonic, Samsung as the company I work for is the dealer in Slovakia. The models I tried have the 4 -pin FW but the problem seems to be that the recorders are programmed to control to unit that they're connected to. The Sony Anycast station aws-g500 is a broadcast switcher which should control the recorder. Unfortunately Sony doesn’t have an answer for this problem either.

 

[CitiBear]

Ah, now I understand more what you need the recorder to do. Unfortunately what you want is not available in a standalone DVD recorder: they are not able to recognize your switcher as a proper source to communicate with. You have seen this yourself from your experiments with the many units you already tried. These recorders have extremely basic operating systems that allow them to only recognize consumer camcorders and nothing else, half the time they fail to even recognize a camcorder. To get this kind of functionality you will need to build a custom PC, possibly you can configure a laptop to record the stream from your switcher for later editing and archiving. If price is not a consideration, you might look into Panasonic's broadcast laptop line: they have an extensive feature set designed for mobile video applications.

 

[RichardT]

I don't know about the who-controls-who logic, but I have not found any 4-pin to 6-pin adapter that works; 6-pin to 4-pin, yes, but not the other direction. There are 4-pin / 6-pin firewire cables available that worked for us. The additional 2 pins carry power, so should not affect the function of the other 4 wires. (Or am I displaying my ignorance here?)

 

[CitiBear]

It has little or nothing to do with the wiring; these consumer recorders are deliberately engineered not to recognize anything but a consumer camcorder signal. I'm not clear on how exactly they detect this, but they do. Its part of Japan's pact with Hollywood to engineer such limitations. The "screening" is so strict that these decks will often reject as many camcorders as they accept, which is one reason why I refuse to pay a huge premium for the "DV In" feature.


I don't know if you'd be able to find one in Slovakia, but the older 2003-series Pioneer DVD/HDD recorders are known to have the most flexible DV input ever included on this class of machine: about the only one that was fully bi-directional. The model numbers in the USA were DVR-310 (DVD only) and DVR-510 (DVD/HDD). In Europe I believe they were labeled DVR-3100 and DVR-5100 respectively. You might try to locate one for a test. They are quite old now, the editing interface is very crude, and their burners are very picky about current media (they need 8x, very few 16x discs will work). But they record a very detailed image- worth experimenting if you run across one.

 

[Milan6685]

Thanks’ to everyone for your inputs.


I've send the pioneer model numbers to our supplier and I'll definitely try them out if I can get them.


I've tried using a pc system basted on premier studio and an apple with avid and the same problem occurred will trying to communicate with my switcher. Computer always want's to control the switcher because it thinks it’s just a camcorder and there are no drivers for any operating system. I just wonder how the DV communication works on a DV cam or Beta cam because I have no problem with controlling these recorders.

All the functions are controllable from the switcher.