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Archive 2017 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.

  
 
voidsherpa
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


I've never had so many misfires in my life. Is there a golden rule on how to make this reliable. It seems like the combo has issues with radio/electrical interference? I think I may have recalled reading that somewhere also. Hanging it on the side of the pack seems to help, but still will occasionally not fire depending on where the camera is (then must change side or balance it on the corner). Any hard fast rules to up the reliability?


Apr 15, 2017 at 08:38 AM
rico
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


If you can fire reliably from the camera with a sync cable, then the pack socket is probably fine mechanically. Then, you want to confirm that the Pocketwizard cable has proper continuity. Finally, PW MultiMAX has the ability to set the pulse duration which may be pertinent for these older packs. In theory, the PW antennae are supposed to point upward (or at least be parallel to each other), but I have no problem regardless.


Apr 15, 2017 at 09:57 AM
JBPhotog
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


More info is required, as in which packs, which PW.

FYI, my 2403B and 1205 work flawlessly with my PW Plus III's and my MiniTT1. I use the Plus III's more though due to the better battery, AA's vs 2450.

My packs use the double prong sync socket so I built an AC plug with a 3.5 mm sync cord for the PW mounted on a cold shoe so the PW can be mounted on the packs.



Apr 15, 2017 at 12:00 PM
voidsherpa
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


Mixture of Multi's, Plus III, plus X, Plus III all going to household's on the packs. Then a mixture of 2803's and 4803's I believe (all have the white rocker switches).

Not my gear, it's a magazine production house's.

I have a friend who runs multiple 4803's and has the same issue, and on those we troubleshooted the packs, the cables, the triggers and all we could come up with was hanging the PW off the side fixed 99% of the misfires unless if seemed to be angled just wrong.

Also I like the cold shoe idea.



Apr 15, 2017 at 12:17 PM
JBPhotog
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


Here's my DIY PW sync plug.

PW Household Sync



Apr 15, 2017 at 12:40 PM
tonyespofoto
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


This could just be off the wall, but the Speedo sockets are polarized. I know from personal experience that if the polarization is not observed, misfires or non-firing will occur. The PW likely is also polarized, so you must make sure all the circuits are aligned electrically. Also, there are several varieties of miniplugs with subtle differences in the stem. If the wrong choice is made, erratic firing will occur. Lastly, double check your soldering job in the plugs. You could have a bad connection/broken wire, etc. My own experience is with both Brownline and Blackline packs and Quantum Radio Slaves. Once I had everything properly polarized, firing was very reliable. Curiously, I also used side-pack mounting, employing Velcro, but I don't think the side mounting played into the reliability. I marked one side of all sockets, plugs and cables with a red dot so that in the heat of the battle, regardless of which combination of packs, cables and slaves I used, polarization would be observed. I really like the Speedos. Enormous power, built like a brick outhouse and practically bulletproof. The only downside is size and weight.


Apr 17, 2017 at 06:51 AM
JBPhotog
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


When I built my household plug with cold shoe, I kept the polarization intact and have zero misfires. Even corded connection can have issues if polarization isn't followed, this is usually when a HH to PC cord is used as both tangs on the PC sync can be the same. Get a ohm meter and check for continuity when building cords or plugging them in.


Apr 17, 2017 at 11:04 AM
tonyespofoto
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


I would like to suggest one more possible source of the problem. You may have one or more bad sync cords, i.e. the cord going from the PW to the Speedo. Back in the day, (30 years ago) this was THE most common cause of erratic firing. I started using Paramount sync cords. They were expensive, but VERY durable. Trouble-shooting erratic operation is enough to make you pull your hair out, mostly because the problem will never appear in a pre-shoot testing, only during the actual shoot, usually at the worst possible moment. Back in the day, bad sync cords were such a common problem that many photographers taped an extra sync cord to the flash head so that a fast exchange was possible.


Apr 18, 2017 at 08:46 AM
colinm
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


tonyespofoto wrote:
You may have one or more bad sync cords, i.e. the cord going from the PW to the Speedo. Back in the day, (30 years ago) this was THE most common cause of erratic firing.


Agreed. I know they said they troubleshot the cords, but household sync cords seem to go bad with an unbridled vengeance. If you were just swapping one existing sync cord for another, you may have just been going from bad cord to bad cord.

If I'm working with Speedos, there are always brand new household cords on hand for the inevitable cord failure.



Apr 28, 2017 at 12:50 AM
tonyespofoto
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


I can't tell you the number of times I've tested and re-tested sync cords, exhaustively wiggling while looking at the ohmmeter, only to find (during the actual shoot) that I had missed the bad spot, which the cord had no difficulty finding, once a client was present. Did I mention Murphy's Law?


Apr 28, 2017 at 10:15 AM
JBPhotog
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


It seems a bit odd that people have had a number of sync issues. I think I may have tossed out 3 household to pc sync cords since 1988 when they were hard wired and since marking them with paint for polarity and using PW's to sync, I have had none in 20+ years.

I do agree the household to pc or 3.5mm plug can be problematic for durability but my Paramount cords have been exceptional as have the PW versions of the HH to 3.5mm plug. Wireless is the way to go though if durability is the goal.



Apr 28, 2017 at 05:37 PM
voidsherpa
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


I've been propping them against the carry handle so they are standing up on top of the pack. Seems to fix the issue. Not my packs or I'd JB Weld a cold shoe on them and be done with it.


Apr 28, 2017 at 08:35 PM
markd61
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Speedo Packs and Pocket Wizards.


Another vote for sync cord frailty though my hatred of PWs runs deep.

Can't always blame my enemy.



Apr 29, 2017 at 11:07 AM





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