does anyone know of a cheap place that's trustworthy to get my xha1 firewire board replaced?
I'm getting quotes in the $200 to $300 range and for me that's just to much. I'd rather
do it myself for that money. The board is only $34 from Canon. Thanks in advance for
any help.

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear about your firewire board. I've had the repair done twice, and the prices you quoted were about what I paid. But there was general maintenance and cleaning thrown in too.

I shipped to this service here in Florida: Camcorder Repair Service - AV Repair (http://www.avrepair.com/)

They gave me good service and fast turnaround both times.

Thanks Roger, everyone is quoting the cleaning too that ive checked so
maybe I'll just need to bite the bullet here and get it done. I think
when I do get it repaired I'm going to get a right angle 4 pin so the weight of the cord
isn't hanging out pulling on the port and just tape it down n coil it up when not in use so
I don't have to plug in and out and destroy it again. I wish my jvc br-hd50 deck could
read 1080i then my problems would be solved. I bought it misunderstanding that it
up converts 720p to 1080i but wont read a 1080i recording. ehhhh I'm new to the xha1
but as far as I can tell its 1080i or sd 480 stretched to 16:9 letterbox . the jvc reads the
tapes when I record in sd not hd.

I added a right angle cable too. It works better with my DN-60 recorder. Sometimes a straight connector would pop out.

I added a DN-60 for my A1 and also another for my A1S. I got a custom cable for the A1S too, with angled 6 pin connector at both ends, right on one, left on the other. I wasn't able to find a right angle 4 pin and left angle six pin for the A1, so the 6 pin connector that plugs into the DN-60 recorder is straight. But the way I mount it to the camera the connector or cable isn't like to get bumped or pulled. Wouldn't want to pay to get the A1S repaired. It might cost more than the A1 did.

Both cameras have had the tape mechanism serviced and I don't think I've used two tapes in both cameras combined since getting the DN-60s. I know neither camera has even had a tape inserted at all this year. It's just too convenient when a 32 gb card holds 2 hours and 24 minutes of footage. Never have to worry about tape change and having to resynch the two cameras.

I'm a big believer in angled connectors anytime I can find them, firewire, xlr, you name it.