On Wed, 5 Mar 2003 05:07:56 +0800, "Alf Morley" <al_morley@iinet.net.au> wrote:

>Please excuse if this is the wrong newsgroup. The on board mic on my Sony

>900 is no longer working. I am using a Sony hot shoe mic at the moment and

>that records my audio fine. The reason for the failure of the on board mic

>could have resulted from the occasion when I plugged in a mono mic into the

>microphone jack. Also, why is the mic jack termed, "Plug in Power"? Any

>advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Alf.

Funny - I just answered a similar question yesterday...

The built-in mic intermittance-problem is fairly

common with this camera and is likely caused by poor

connections in the mini-plug socket. Always clean the

mic plug before inserting it; always insert it straight

and avoid side pressures on it (can deform the socket

connectors inside); clean the socket by putting a drop

of alcohol or electronics "pot cleaner" on a clean

mini-plug and inserting it into the socket and turning

it (do this several times, with a few additions of a

drop to the plug) - this last cured this problem with

one of my TRV900s (the connections in the jack must be

good for the internal mic to work properly...). Also

make sure that the mic plug has a standard shape and

that it is fully inserted when using an external mic

(a mono plug should not damage the socket). BTW, if you

use manual-level control, and the sound hard-clips, the

sound will drop out, leaving silence (this is digital,

not the more forgiving analogue...). The plug in power

is a DC output on the socket to power compatible

external mics plugged into it...