On Thu, 7 Jul 2005 08:39:58 +0100, "dave @ stejonda"
wrote:

My trusty Sony TRV730e Digital8 camcorder has just started to play up.
The picture is divided by several thick black horizontal bands and the
sound drops in/out continuously.

I've run a head-cleaning tape through but this has had no effect. The
problem occurs on both the just-recorded and older tapes.

Get someone who knows how to perform a ore thorough cleaning than a
tape can manage. This shouldn't be expensive. If this has no
effect, I fear a repair may be uneconomic.