Seth's House

Battery packs, charging up. 2 of them with case off so you can see the guts

Quantum did have a product that I knew I wanted though – their battery cables. I kept my eyes on ebay and after a month I collected 4 Quantum flash cables for the Vivitar 285HV’s I use, and the Canon 430EX.  Retail price is over $50, I didn’t pay more than $20 a cable shipped.

4 AA batteries = 6 volts, so I went on the prowl for some big 6 volt batteries. Luckily for me, there is a Batteries Plus store down the street and they had quite a big selection of 6V batteries. I found waterproof plastic project enclosures and brought them with, and grabbed the battery that fit the best and also was rated high enough for my liking. 

For connections, I went over to the shack and grabbed some 4-pin plugs that also had screw locks so they wouldn’t disconnect unexpectedly on me.  Finishing up the enclosures was a fused link and a power switch.

The guts of the boxes

To charge these, I picked up 2 six-volt battery tenders and modified the packaged cable to charge 2 batteries at a time in parallel.  When they are not in the case, they sit on the charger at home, maintaining a charge.

Impressions? After 2 years of abuse, these things are still kicking.  No problems whatsoever, except for minor user problems like forgetting to plug the chargers in once!   The only time I actually killed a battery was at a two day race, I had at least 1000 full power pops on the 285HV’s before having to change to the next set.

Total cost? About $200 for four battery packs + cables.   Not bad considering I’d spend the same for ONE retail or Al Jacobs battery pack. Don’t get me wrong, those products are awesome, but I’m a DIY’er at heart.

The Quantum cable, with my end on it

Parts List (links to examples, where I can)

• Waterproof electronic project box – search any major electronics store or Google for one
• Werker WKA6-5F 6 volt 5Ah sealed battery
• 4Pin Jack, need male for box side and female for cable side
• On/Off switch
• Fuse Holder
• Quantum Battery cables …  ebay is your friend for this one. You’ll want the Quantum MA2 for the Vivitar 285HV’s
• 2 beers while you solder stuff up
• 6 volt Battery Tenders, you can charge 2 batteries in paralell with each

My RD616 radio transmitters/receivers

When I started shooting drag racing back in 2008, I quickly realized that I’d need flashes to complement my photography equipment.  My requirements were to keep it cheap and reliable, which unfortunately in the photography world, do not go hand in hand.

I spent a good bit of time perusing photography catalogs such as B&H, and drooled over the cadillac of radio triggers at the time – Pocket Wizards.  At over $200 per device, though, these were out of the question for me.

I spent a good bit of time reading POTN and Strobist, and decided to go with some Ebay ‘Poverty Wizards’ care of our friends in China.  I went with the RD-616 transmitter/receiver combo, with some modifications.  The original source for my modifications is located here, along with a parts list. I’ll list the components you’ll need anyways (more for my reference, as I keep losing the original link).

• 433 MHZ Antenna – Digi-Key Part #ANT-433-CW-RH
• Antenna Connector – Digi-Key Part # CONREVSMA004

Be sure to follow the original instructions regarding wire length to keep the wavelength correct.

My impressions?  I used these triggers for 2.5 full seasons of racing, and for what I paid, they worked (still do work) great.  You have to realize that 433mhz radios around concrete and electronics (read: the drag strip) are doomed for failure, but I learned what I could and could not get away with, and adjusted my techniques. My max sync speed with no banding was 1/250, while I could easily get away with 1/320 as the band would only be the bottom 10% of the frame.  Range was a good 150 feet.  All of the real photogs have pocket wizards and not enough channels to use, with these, I never had any sort of overlap problem.

Here’s a thread on YellowBullet where I was talking to the other guys about how I use my slave flashes..  easier to link than type it all again!! YMMV, that is just the way *I* use them.   Side flashes give me the versatility to shoot at night in many different ways, I’m not just limited to a hotshoe flash with the camera at ISO 5 million.  During the day, they are perfect for fill, removing unwanted shadows from the fronts of cars. Shots come out of the camera great, without having to touch anything up.

Flashes in use at Englishtown

The Cons: Sync cables.  I think they are a pain in the ass, personally. I found whatever I possibly needed at FlashZebra (don’t get me wrong, the products themselves are GREAT from FZ) but eventually with my hard use and storage of the cables, I’d have to get new ones once a year.  The 1/4″ connection from receiver to flash sync cord is “goofy,” sometimes I would have to rotate them or push on them for the flashes to fire properly. On a windy day, this became annoying, especially if I was far away.  I tried cords that go directly to the sync port on the 285HV’s, hot shoe adaptors, and while they worked 90% of the time, the other 10% when I had to screw with them was annoying.  In cold weather they seemed to get weird on me.  Also, having the transmitter hanging off a sync cord from the camera and dangling by velcro means sometimes I’d knock it off by accident.

If I were in a studio, or inside, these triggers are awesome for the money – I have 2 transmitters and 5 receivers, and I think I paid $80 for everything.  Not bad considering the price tag of Pocket Wizards.   I adapted to them at the drag strip, and yes they worked great, but time to move on.

The future? Some new gear has come out of China since 2008 when I started using radio triggers, I have some new ones on the way and will post up when they are put through my testing.

Taken from the roof of LVD tower (4 stories)

Flashes in use, night time at MIR World Cup 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• .(don’t mind me, just making space for pics)