Optical slave trigger problems

[Daniel Bates]

Hey guys,

I bought a Wein HS Slave unit (the 150' model) to use as a cheap "wireless" trigger for my slave flash unit. I haven't been getting anything close to good reliablilty out of it though... in some situations it will trigger the flash every shot, in other situations only about half of the time, and fairly often, it won't trigger the flash at all. I've checked the PC jumper cable that goes from the trigger to the flash--it's good. I've checked the flash--it's good. The only thing left is the trigger...

Is there something I'm forgetting to do? Is there a maximum ambient light level where if it's too bright outside, it won't work? During the times when it is not working, I can put my other flash on full power and blast the trigger's sensor from ten feet away, but it still won't fire.

This is getting a little annoying... I can't trust the little thing to go off, and I need to be able to trust my equipment. I don't have $600 for a full set of PocketWizards, or I'd have done that from the beginning. Any advice?

--Daniel

[engstrom]

Have you tried it by mounting the flash directly in the Wein's hot shoe? Are there any batteries in the Wein that might need to be changed?

[Daniel Bates]

The flash was mounted directly in the Wein, but it kept firing when the flash would pivot in the shoe a little (like when I reposition the head). That got annoying, so I electrical-taped the contacts on the hotshoe.

There are no batteries in the Wein that I know of.

[engstrom]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

The flash was mounted directly in the Wein, but it kept firing when the flash would pivot in the shoe a little (like when I reposition the head). That got annoying, so I electrical-taped the contacts on the hotshoe.

There are no batteries in the Wein that I know of.

Hmmm, that sounds like the flash contact might not have lined up well with the hot shoe. I assume you checked the contact on the flash to make sure it was clean and seated well in the Wein? It was tight too right?

[Daniel Bates]

Mostly tight. The Wein hot shoe is not very snug...

it does have a PC port, and so does the SB 24, so I just used a 12" cable to "patch" the two together. It works... again, sometimes. And I know the cable is good.

[engstrom]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

Mostly tight. The Wein hot shoe is not very snug...

Even after tightening the locking ring on the SB-24? Where is the play coming from - side to side, back to front, up and down?

[Daniel Bates]

It's rotational play. The locking ring on the 24 doesn't "lock down" tight enough to keep it in place.

[engstrom]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

It's rotational play. The locking ring on the 24 doesn't "lock down" tight enough to keep it in place.

Sorry. I'm out of ideas. : Keep us informed of your progress on this problem.