I recently got a set of vivitar 283 flashes and have a vagabond 150. My question is can the vagabond be used to increase recycle time of the 283 thru the ac adaptor? How many 283's can it support at once? If you have any ideas I'd appreciate your input. Thanks.

I have used the Vivitar AC adapters for my 285HV flashes and they are slower to recycle than any of the battery options: alkaline, NiCad, NiMH.

Wow, I've read how the ac power cuts recycle time by half. I plan to purchase an adapter and test it out.

Seems my memory was faulty. I dragged them out of the closet and checked vs NiMH batteries at full power on a 285HV:

NiHM = 8 sec.
AC Adapter = 5 sec.

With Vivitar "faster" is a relative term. Also note that batteries are still required for the control circuits when using the AC adapter.

Ordered them today so hopefully the vagabond will help out in location shoots. thanks.

Just got done with a shoot using 3 Vivitar 283s connected to a vagabond 150. First off I took almost 300 shots and the vagabond was able to power all 3 without any power loss. Secondly, I saw no difference in recycle time when compared to standard 120 home outlets. I plan to purchased 2 more AC adapters and see if the VB can handle it and for how long. Thanks.

cgardner wrote:
Seems my memory was faulty. I dragged them out of the closet and checked vs NiMH batteries at full power on a 285HV:

NiHM = 8 sec.
AC Adapter = 5 sec.

With Vivitar "faster" is a relative term. Also note that batteries are still required for the control circuits when using the AC adapter.

What do you mean by batteries required for "control circuits"?
When I'm using AC with my 283's, I never have batteries in them. Some of the 283's have the original blue/red/yellow controller, and some have the VP1 variable power controller - all work fine with AC only.

You are better off using the Quantum Turbo battery....I do it all the time ....recycle is faster & plenty of power to produce alot of images