Is this what I need ??

[bigdazzler]

just got my remote triggers today ... seems I need another adapter plug to connect the hotshoe adapter cable to the PC input on the receiver ..

Is this .. http://www.digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au/prod5311.htm

what i need for this ... ??

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/DarrenGrayPhotography/DSC08222.jpg

[Bax]

I think what you're chasing is a PC to PC cable?

You may not even need it at all? I know the only reason I needed mine was because when clamped in properly it wouldn't trigger for some reason.

Why are you using the cable at all?

[bigdazzler]

My gear is Sony so i need adapters for everything .. the hotshoe dont fit anything straight outta the box :angry0:

so these are my bits ..
1. The transmitter attaches to the hotshoe adapter that attaches to the camera. Do I need to connect the jack on the transmitter to the jack on the hotshoe adapter ?? (jacks shown in pic) or should it work just from the hotshoe contacts ??

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/DarrenGrayPhotography/DSC08225.jpg

2. The flash hotshoe adapter comes with the cord attached. You cant remove it. The flash mounts to the hotshoe end of the cable. The bottom of the hotshoe adapter then slides onto the top of the receiver. Do I need to connect the cable end of the adapter to the jack on the receiver ?? As you can see the Sony flash doesnt not connect straight to the receiver, the adapter cable needs to be used between the two.

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/DarrenGrayPhotography/DSC08223.jpg

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/DarrenGrayPhotography/DSC08224.jpg

hope all that makes sense .. im confused as to why i might need cables when all the connection are made with the hotshoe adapters at each end :confused013

does any of this make sense ?? :o

[Bunyip]

Is there an electronic connection between the 'hot shoe' and the receiver? If not, then maybe the 'hot shoe' wants you to push the end of its cable into the receiver.

[bigdazzler]

Is there an electronic connection between the 'hot shoe' and the receiver? If not, then maybe the 'hot shoe' wants you to push the end of its cable into the receiver.

thats what i was trying to work out in the original post bunyip :confused013 that link is for a female plug to PC sync, which is what I think I might need at the flash end if there isnt a electronic connection there ..

theres what looks to be a small male contact point on the base of the hotshoe and a female equivalent on the top of the receiver and they seem to align when they are attached .. so im not really sure if this is an electronic connection or not ??

heres a pic of what i mean ..

http://i445.photobucket.com/albums/qq176/DarrenGrayPhotography/DSC08227.jpg

[Bax]

Interesting. It looks like it should work straight up if you plug the one from the top left onto your hot shoe, and the one from the bottom right into your flash without any of the cables.

Is there a test button on it? There should be I hope, if you press the test button does the receivers light flash?

If you have the sender unit on your cameras hotshoe, does it's red light flash to show that it's being triggered?

[Bunyip]

I'd wager that the adapter 'hot shoe' doesn't make an electronic contact with the receiver. In fact, it looks like the hot shoe wants to be connected to a PocketWizard, which has the female counterpart to the male mini-plug you've got there.

[bigdazzler]

i think so too Bunyip... but now I need to figure out if the adapter from the link in the original post is what I need to connect that cable to the receiver .. ???

EDIT: After a bit of googling it seems most adapters that are available are male miniphone to female PC ... I need the opposite I think, female miniphone to male PC , which I cant find anywhere :(

might have to bite the bullet and buy some skyports or PWs ...

[kiwi]

I still dont get why you need the jack at all.

Dont you just

a) put transmiterr on camera hotshoe, and

b) put flash on receiver hotshoe

?

[ricktas]

They have 'channels'. have you set the transmitter and the receivers to the same channel?

[bigdazzler]

I still dont get why you need the jack at all.

Dont you just

a) put transmiterr on camera hotshoe, and

b) put flash on receiver hotshoe

?

well yea you would think so wouldnt you ?? I know I did .. :confused013

a) in my case (Sonys case), the transmitter does not fit directly onto the camera without the adapter (right side , pic 1) The adapter then fits onto the camera with the transmitter mounted to it.

b) Again, the flash does not fit onto the receiver without the adapter (the one with the cable built in, pic 2) The flash slides into the top of the adapter and the bottom of the adapter then fits onto the hotshoe of the receiver.

I am not quite sure whether the adapter at the flash end is creating an electronic connection between the flash and the receiver. There seems to be a male contact point on the bottom of the adapter and a female equivalent in the top of the receivers hotshoe, but im not sure if its actually creating a connection ?? (see pic 5 above)

Now in the case that it isnt, im assuming that the cable needs to be attached to the jack of the receiver to create the connection, ( whyelse is the cable even there ?? ) and heres where I may need the appropriate adapter to connect the male miniplug to the female PC sync jack ... (pic 1)

RICK: The transmitter and receiver both have 2 channel switches ( Channels 1 & 2 obviously ), the transmitter also has a test button on the top which when you push it , the red LED light flashes. The receiver has an ON/OFF switch, but ive just now noticed that even with brand new batteries, the reciever wont switch on ie. the red power light wont light up even when the switch is in the ON position ?? now on top of the connection drama, it seems the receiver is just flat out not powering up .. Im confused :confused013

[ricktas]

ah- at least you have seemed to isolate the problem..now to solve it.

[kiwi]

:confused013 change to Nikon ? lol


Seriously, maybe time to call for help on the Sony forums (i'm assuming there is one)

[Bax]

RICK: The transmitter and receiver both have 2 channel switches ( Channels 1 & 2 obviously ), the transmitter also has a test button on the top which when you push it , the red LED light flashes. The receiver has an ON/OFF switch, but ive just now noticed that even with brand new batteries, the reciever wont switch on ie. the red power light wont light up even when the switch is in the ON position ?? now on top of the connection drama, it seems the receiver is just flat out not powering up .. Im confused :confused013

Now I'm getting confused. The red light should not be permanently on if it's anything like the others I have played with.

The red light only appears for a brief moment when the signal has been received/sent. I.e. you press the test button, red light on transmitter lights up for a second, and if it's all working - the receivers red light will also briefly light up.

May sound silly, but make sure you're not getting the channel buttons confused with being an on/off switch. I believe they say

1------2
ON---ON

Or something along those lines, which basically allows for 4 channels from memory.

The first thing you want to do is get the transmitter and the receiver lights working. Until you do that there's no point connecting your flash.

Make sure the channels on the transmitter and the receiever are exactly the same, Push them both up on both devices for example.

Sorry if I'm off track, but that's how it works with the ones I have and I can't imagine they'd be too different.

[I @ M]

A quick addition to this thread, Bax is correct, the little red lights only flick on and off on both the receiver and transmitter when either the "test button" is pressed or the transmitter is fired through the hot shoe.

I have 2 transmitters and 2 receivers, but only for use on monoblocs and both operate the same way. I have just finished using them and thought I would include a couple of shots showing the switch configuration I use. Darren, if you have the channels set the same and then press the test button both red lights should flash on and off quickly, if the receiver isn't doing that then it only leaves a few options,

#1 It isn't switched on.
#2 The batteries are in the wrong way round.
#3 It is faulty.

I hope it something simple mate, start at the beginning again and track it down.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh294/ImagesAtMarlo/RT2.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh294/ImagesAtMarlo/RT1.jpg

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh294/ImagesAtMarlo/RT3.jpg

[bigdazzler]

Seriously, maybe time to call for help on the Sony forums (i'm assuming there is one)

theres quite a few Darren ,, ive posted on Strobist also ,, well see what the flash gurus in there can come up with


Now I'm getting confused. The red light should not be permanently on if it's anything like the others I have played with.

The red light only appears for a brief moment when the signal has been received/sent. I.e. you press the test button, red light on transmitter lights up for a second, and if it's all working - the receivers red light will also briefly light up.

Sorry if I'm off track, but that's how it works with the ones I have and I can't imagine they'd be too different.

OK well theres something to check, I assumed the red light on the receiver would stay on constantly as long as the power switch was set to ON .. thats something ill check Bax, but from memory I dont remmeber seeing the receivers light flicker at all, even when i fired the test button on the transmitter. The transmitter seems to be working ok, the light is firing.

Ill check the channel switch positions again as well , but im pretty sure they were all where they should have been.

Everything keeps coming back to the receiver getting the signal , and I still think it might be due to the electronic connection (or lack of) and whether or not this miniplug needs to be connected to the receiver .. the more I think about it, I think the adapter at the flash end doesnt create a connection from the flash to the reciever and is there just as a means to mount the two together, I think the cable needs to be connected , otherwise whatelse is it used for and why is it there ?? mmmm ...

[bigdazzler]

Darren, if you have the channels set the same and then press the test button both red lights should flash on and off quickly, if the receiver isn't doing that then it only leaves a few options,

#1 It isn't switched on.
#2 The batteries are in the wrong way round.
#3 It is faulty.



thanks Andrew ,, its definitely a process of elimination from here .. ill have a good play when I get home and work my way though it.

1. Sounds silly but easily done. I check and rechecked this bit and the receiver was definitely on.
2. Again, checked and rechecked batteries.
3. Worst case, maybe it is :(

First of all, ill concentrate on getting a signal from one to the other and then worry about the connection from the flash .. stay tuned :rolleyes: :confused013

[bigdazzler]

Everything keeps coming back to the receiver getting the signal , and I still think it might be due to the electronic connection (or lack of) and whether or not this miniplug needs to be connected to the receiver ..

correction after rethink .. this obviously is not going to affect whether the signal gets from the transmitter to the receiver ( ie. given its a radio signal :rolleyes: ) only the connection from the flash to the receiver, so scrap that comment .. :o

[bigdazzler]

ok just got home and had a good play around with the camera/triggers .. and established a few things

1. Both the transmitter and receiver seem to both be working as they should be.

The transmitter is mounted onto the hotshoe adapter onto the camera. When I push the TEST button both the red lights on the transmitter and the receiver flash briefly. This tells me that the hotshoe adapter and the transmitter/reciever are working fine and signal is getting from the camera to the receiver, a good start :th3:

2. However, although the receiver seems to be getting the signal, the flash wont fire. This tells me that there is no connection between the flash and the receiver or I have the flash settings in camera set wrong. Ive tried all the different flash settings in the flash menu and on the flash itself and it wont fire. Can anyone suggest as to how the flash menu/ flashgun settings should be set in case ive missed something ??

If its not the settings, im back to the original issue, I think the cable needs to be plugged into the receiver to make a connection, because the hotshoe adapter at the flash end doesnt seem to be doing zip other than a way to mount the seperate components together ..

The good news though is the triggers arent faulty...

[ricktas]

So when you have the camera set to flash mode and press the shutter, do the lights on the trigger and receiver light up to show a signal was sent/received?

[I @ M]

OK ----
Test #1 Darren, mount the transmitter on the camera and hit the shutter, don't worry about the receiver or flash just yet.

Does the indicator light on the transmitter light up when you hit the shutter?

[bigdazzler]

check :th3: when the transmitter is on the camera , the red light flashes when I hit the shutter button and the TEST button .. this part seems to be ok.

Further, the receivers red light is also flashing in both instances. So signal seems to be getting through. Both independent channels ( 1 and 2 ) seem to be working also. I tested them individually with correct switching config and got red lights at both ends. When I mixed the channel config.up, I am only getting a red light at the transmitter.

[I @ M]

Jolly good. :th3:

Now, how about you post some photos of the connectors ( both sides ) of all the devices, the flash foot, the adaptor and then the receiver.
I am thinking from what I can see that the receiver and adaptor need the synch cord to be plugged into the flash unit.

Does the Sony flash have a synch port?

[bigdazzler]

ok ive just had some email contact from the place i bought the flash adapter shoe/cable and theyve cleared up a few things for me ..

The base of the "shoe" on the flash adapter cable is not hot, has no contact points, and is there purely for mounting purposes.

So, the only way to connect the flash to the receiver is to use the coiled cable miniplug. Now to find a suitable adapter .. :eek:

I knew that flash adapter cable was made for Elinchrom Skyports, PWs, and CyberSync triggers, the mistake I made was not researching the connection jacks on the PHOTTIX triggers before buying, I assumed they would be the same female miniplug, not only a PC ..

Lesson learned .. :o

[bigdazzler]

Now, how about you post some photos of the connectors ( both sides ) of all the devices, the flash foot, the adaptor and then the receiver.
I am thinking from what I can see that the receiver and adaptor need the synch cord to be plugged into the flash unit.

Does the Sony flash have a synch port?

yea ive now established that the foot of the flash adapter has no contacts and the only way to connect the flash to the receiver is to use the cables miniplug.

nah mate, the 36AM doesnt have a sync port , thats why I needed the adapter
bloody Sony :angry0: Im starting to regret my approach to steer away from the big 2 ...

[I @ M]

So, the only way to connect the flash to the receiver is to use the coiled cable miniplug. Now to find a suitable adapter .. :eek:



That sounds like a minor drama at the end of it all Darren, Tandy or Dick Smith etc. should be able to put together a few terminal ends to make it all work.

As for not going with the "big 2" , I have said it before and I will say it again, I reckon Sony will become part of the "big 3" sooner rather than later. Their new gear is getting better and better all the time ( there are plenty of excellent Sony shots on AP to prove that ) and the existing KM lenses are beaut, plus, they are a company that is better prepared to weather poor economic times by not having to rely solely on camera sales to stay afloat.

[bigdazzler]

That sounds like a minor drama at the end of it all Darren, Tandy or Dick Smith etc. should be able to put together a few terminal ends to make it all work.

As for not going with the "big 2" , I have said it before and I will say it again, I reckon Sony will become part of the "big 3" sooner rather than later. Their new gear is getting better and better all the time.

Yea I know, I was just ranting .. this bloody unique hotshoe will be the death of me :rolleyes:

I just ducked into Dick Smith and got a female/female minplug connector , now just gotta get a male minplug to PC plug, they are readily available ..

The place I bought the cables from were going on about my flash having a "very low sync voltage" and the PHOTTIX triggers might not fire it anyway ??