Lawmate PV-500 Video Camera Problems

Yesterday was video day. I did four video jobs in a row. After I got home, I played back the videos for quality. The picture and audio were fine on the first three. The fourth video job, however, had no audio. The picture was great. I replaced the SD card and checked the settings to make sure the audio was "enabled." I tested the DVR several times, but no audio on any files. I even tried a different button camera, but still no audio. Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong? Where can I take (or send) a Lawmate PV-500 ECO to be repaired? The camera is too expensive to just throw away. Luckily, I also have a newer model Lawmate Lite3 to use, but I still want my ECO camera too.

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Have you tested a second cam? It's much more likely that the cam is broken and not the DVR. Also check the nipple at the end of the connector and male sure it looks right. The tip has been known to fall off before.

There's a guy who repairs them. I can't remember his name but I'm sure someone here can give you his contact information.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

The camera, mic, or end goes bad about once per year with me doing about 100 video shops per year. McCall Technologies will repair this promptly for about $35.

You are lucky the mic or plug did not go bad until the last shop of the day. Check (skim through the playback) of the shop you just completed before going on to the next one. Never assume the rest of the shops will record fine just because the one you just completed did.

I am an Android user, and I've found that the easiest way to playback the video skimming through it to check for sound, subject in frame, etc., is to put the memory card from the PV-500 into the USB port on my phone. I always have my phone and USB cable and small card reader with me. These will fit inside a fist. I do not normally carry all the cumbersome attachments necessary to play it back on the PV-500. I do not have a touch-screen PV-500.

Yes, McCall is who I was thinking about. SUPER nice guy.

There are reasons that a body stays in motion
At the moment only demons come to mind

Thanks, AZwolfman and bgriffin. I will look for McCall Technologies on the Internet. I checked the video taken prior to the last (bad) one and it turned out fine. Good picture and audio. Really, there was only about 20 minutes between the two jobs. I feel super lucky that only the last shop bombed. I went back the following day and did the shop over using my Lite 3 DVR and the same button camera as the previous day. The video was good. I believe the problem is in the DVR, not the camera. Hopefully, McCall Technologies can figure it out. Due to family obligations, I could not attend the video workshop in Dallas. Do either of you know what the recommended DVR and camera are these days? Is it the Lawmate EVO2 I wonder?

Dandy,
Although it was not the case with your equipment failure, this seems like a good place to remind video shoppers that SD cards also fail (and possibly, more often than the most reliable versions of the PV-500). So, to avoid losing too many shops on a long day of video, many of us will never put more than 2 video shops on a single SD card. I seldom have the time on a video route to stop and review video between shops, so it's really important for me to stick to this routine.

BTW, you were fortunate that you were, apparently, doing v-shops where you could return and reshop to save the fee. In 10+ years of video I have never had one that was not a "one-and-done." That, and the large fees for such shops (and travel bonus on many) really increses the stakes for a failed shop. I'm curious what industry you were shopping, as there is so little video done in retail, dining, etc. on the Mid-Atlantic region where I find most of my shops. Always nice to hear from another v-shopper.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

I have a PV500 EVO2-the touch screen model with the high definition camera. A couple of suggestions. 1-Never record more than two shops per SD card. 2-Don't use over an 8GB SD card and stick with name brands. 3-Never use micro-SD cards, they are reported to have a higher failure rate.

If you don't have it, download the VLC Media Player. It's a free download and is a universal media player. There are times when I can't get the audio to play on Windows Media Player, I play the file in VLC, and the audio is there. Windows Media Player is finicky on occasion with the high definition camera.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

Dandy, I have had that exact situation as well. Frustrating, because I never was able to figure what went wrong. I have also had an SD card become corrupted after I recorded a 2nd video without swapping it out and a button cam fail in the middle of a shop. So this is my routine now: if I have 3 video shops in one day, I use 3 different SD cards. I do a test run to check for proper video and audio before every single video shop, even if they're just a few minutes apart, I don't care. One or two failed shops will make you overly cautious! Test runs of course can't prevent equipment failure - when it's ready to go, it goes - but it should alert you if you have an audio/video issue before you start rolling. Also, it sounded from your post like you didn't check any of the videos until after you got home. I always check them as soon as possible, and definitely before starting the next shop. Easy for me to say now and it doesn't help your failed shop, but just wanted to share some hard lessons I've learned.

On a side note - thanks AZWolfman for McCall's name. I have a bad button cam and a DVR that I need to have looked at, so I will be giving them a call tomorrow. Man, I love this forum!

McCall Technology Inc.
4465 Hendersonville Hwy.
Pisgah Forest, N.C. 28768
828-862-8406

He's fantastic and just fixed my EVO. He mentioned he will be out of the country until June 24th.

Not my circus - Not my monkeys @(*.*)@

~Polish Proverb~

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/2016 06:55AM by cubbiecat.

McCall is great. Since he is sometimes out of the country, if you cannot reach him you can also use Greyhawk (or Grayhawk). He posts here or you can google him.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

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Lawmate PV-500 Video Camera Problems

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