Sony CCD-TR71 issues

[StratLou]

Would like to ask if anyone can help with a few issues. I have this cam that I purchased back in 1992 and has served me well for many years. It was dormant for about 15 years and when I tried to use it, discovered 2 issues which I hope someone may have some history with. First, when I turn on the cam, the viewfinder shows a black background and a bright white stripe vertically and centrally to the field of view. Needless to say, it is useless for recording as such.

Second, when playing back several video tapes, there was much waviness, unclear video and some sound distortion. As I played the tapes longer, things got better but not perfect. Would there be any benefit to using an unopened V8-25CLH cleaning cassette, taking it to a shop where they could try a known good recording to isolate whether it's old/bad tape or dirty heads, and have them clean it, or is it time to say goodbye to the cam corder and have the tapes (if any are good enough) transferred to disc. Thanks for any thoughts as the recordings are of precious moments.

Lou