Question: are the dropouts visible before capturing and rendering or after? And what is the speed of your processor? Do they occur when there is sudden, rapid motion?

OK...I am now very frustrated.

I thought perhaps my problems were based in the fact that I have been using the camera outside in cold conditions...and perhaps the CMOS could not handle them.

BUT now as I am digitizing my footage from indoor shoots...the same issue...

Dropouts...every few minutes or more....some long 5-10 frame dropouts...real shot killers.

What do I do? This cannot be s.o.p. for HDV....I must have a bad batch of tapes...or a lemon....what is the best way to clean heads? A cleaning tape?

Eric, this is the argument for using better tape. Use Sony/Maxell, as they come off the same factory line. JVC, Fuji, and Panasonic all come off the same line. Not that they're bad tape, but someone in this thread says they've had problems with the Pansonic tape.
Anyway, it's not the cold, unless you've got a bad cam. We've left A1's sitting out all night, same with the FX7 in sub zero weather, running without any issue. I typically have an A1 in minus 20 temps, no issues.
Cleaning is just a matter of a head cleaner, and you do want to run the head cleaner every 20-30 hours or so, not to mention running it immediately after buying/opening the box.
HTH

I use only Sony PHDVM - 63DM

Have used tapes from 2 different boxes.

I am NOT happy.

Can you post a screen cap? Are you seeing the problem during tape playback, or only during capture/after capture?

I have the screen captures...but I don't know how to post them on this website? (sorry...I'm a newb)

I dont' see a BROWSE button on the bottom of my posting screen....as the FAQ suggests?

The dropouts (as I am calling them), appear on the camera viewfinder...so they seem to be on the tape...no matter if I fast forward, or rewind and play back at the same spot...they are still there.

They seem more frequent when the camera is moving rapidly....

Drop outs or pixelation during rapid motion of the camera or the subject suggests that the processor is not keeping up. Try the same tapes in a different HD camera, and if they are ok, get a new camera.

Drop Out Issues
 

If you try to record to a firewire hard drive system from Sony, Citidisk or Firestore at the same time this would help eliminate any dropouts that you will get on tape.

Is that what your dropouts look like? - see video cap from V1U attached.

I got 2 of those on the first Sony HDV tape used on a brand new V1U.

Did not clean the heads beforehand.

The dropouts seem to be mild comparing to Z1U's, which lasted for about a second - V1U's were only 1 frame long.