Jeff,
I’ve read in another forum where pro videographers have been blowing circuit boards in their JVC professional HD series camcorders by plugging in the firewire while the camcorder is powered on. The solution is to keep the camcorder powered OFF until everything is connected. GOOD LUCK TRYING TO GET A BUNCH OF STUDENTS TO ALWAYS DO THAT!!!!!
In that “other” forum, someone posted a link to a Comprehensive / Kramer PT-1FW Spark-Guard Pro DV Line Protector that sells for $72. Not sure if that would prevent future occurrences of your problem.
Link to B&H
Funny, but I seem to recall that when firewire was first introduced, one of the selling points was that it was “hot-pluggable”. But maybe I’m just confusing it with USB.
Good luck,
Ken Hull
