Skyport triggering range outdoors.

Morning all,

I've just got back from a weekend of shooting in the mountains, and I had a problem with my Skyports I wanted to share with you.

While they're fine for studio work in terms of their working triggering range - I haven't yet shot in a building big enough to give them any mis-fires - I found their range outdoors to be very weak indeed.

I was looking to recreate the classic 'glowing tent' shot, with a small lake reflecting sky in the foreground and dusky mountains in the distance. Sadly, I could only get maybe 25-30 feet from the tent before I was out of range, which was very disappointing. Having normally used them for close range work outside this came as a real shock. Fortunately, the shot was still good, but the experience was a wake-up call for me when planning future shoots of a similar nature.

So, does anyone know of any *EASY* mods to Skyports to increase their range?
(I don't want to buy PWs, as their extra size and bulk make them less desirable when carrying hiking packs etc, and I wouldn't use them indoors as I have BXri lights, so Skyports rule in the studio).

There aren't an easy mods, they simply aren't as good as PW's are. If you want the range and reliability of the PW's you have no other choice then to get the PW's.

belgianbob wrote in post #12777702
Sadly, I could only get maybe 25-30 feet from the tent before I was out of range, which was very disappointing. Having normally used them for close range work outside this came as a real shock. Fortunately, the shot was still good, but the experience was a wake-up call for me when planning future shoots of a similar nature.

I have not had a need to use my Skyport Universal trigger system (I have six receivers and two transmitters) at long range, but I tested them shortly after I got them and found that I got reliable triggering at distances in excess of 200 feet outdoors. I have used them at distances up to 50 feet indoors several times.

It's possible that your batteries (transmitter, receiver, or both) were not fully charged when you found the 25-30 foot limitation.

dutchmen345 wrote in post #12777733
There aren't an easy mods, they simply aren't as good as PW's are. If you want the range and reliability of the PW's you have no other choice then to get the PW's.

Sure, I realise that PWs are *much* more powerful. But they'd sit in a cupboard for 49 weekends of the year, and would have cost me £400 for the privilege.
Hiring might be an option though. Will have to look into that.

SkipD wrote in post #12777894
I have not had a need to use my Skyport Universal trigger system (I have six receivers and two transmitters) at long range, but I tested them shortly after I got them and found that I got reliable triggering at distances in excess of 200 feet outdoors. I have used them at distances up to 50 feet indoors several times.

It's possible that your batteries (transmitter, receiver, or both) were not fully charged when you found the 25-30 foot limitation.

Hmmm... Maybe. The Tx battery was fresh, certainly, as I suspected this and swapped it for a spare on the spot (I always carry spares, I've learned the hard way.)
There was no way to confirm the condition of the Rx unit's battery, but it does get charged regularly, so I was fairly confident that it was ok. Like I say, it hasn't ever been a problem indoors. May spend a while checking with known full charge/new batteries and report back.
200 feet currently sounds unrealistic for my units, unfortunately.

One thing I've discovered with my Skyports: They do NOT work as reliably when the Rx is down low to the ground as they do when they're up on stands.

I did a shoot a while back where I had bare Speedlights sitting on the ground in their respective "feet" and I had all kinds of mis-fires. Once I moved on to some other stuff and got the Speedlights into modifiers and up on stands, everything worked much, much better.

Don't know if it's the signal propagation or if the Rx need 360-degree "vision" but something about being down low made them fail.

dutchmen345 wrote in post #12777733
There aren't an easy mods, they simply aren't as good as PW's are. If you want the range and reliability of the PW's you have no other choice then to get the PW's.

Wrong. I have cybersyncs by PCB and I can honestly say I've tested them up to and over 100m (350 feet). They're bullet-proof!

EDIT: My friend has the RF-603's and the range on those work pretty damn well too. I'm thinking you must have a bad copy or the batteries were low. I'm curious to know what the issue was now. Keep us informed!

Weird. I tested mine for distance and got pretty far. Let me find the post.

https://photography-on-the.net …p=10735576&post​count=1814

there it is!

how old are your batteries?

I also find mine unreliable and disappointing outdoors (transmitter + built-in receiver in quadra) so I stick with PW for now.

Aressem wrote in post #12787978
Wrong. I have cybersyncs by PCB and I can honestly say I've tested them up to and over 100m (350 feet). They're bullet-proof!

No they are not, you know where the OP lives, you know what frequency the CST works at opposed to PW ?

You know which band is most prone to have interference in EU countries ?

Doesn't make much sense for anyone in EU to buy Paul C. BUFF gear.

Right, I'm back with data (well, some updates, anwyay.)
New battery in Tx unit: check.
FULLY charged battery in Rx unit: check.
Range with Rx at ground level: about 40 meters (120 feet for those of you in the US)
Range with Rx unit at waist height, sitting on top of the meter box by my front door: 100+ meters (I ran out of line of sight from my house!)
So, there's plenty to take away there: They don't work too well when the Rx unit is at ground level, but hitch it up a few feet and you're golden. It helps if the Tx unit is not being operated by a child, dwarf or someone lying in a dug-out as well.
Put both aerials up, or in the same plane and you make the whole thing 100% more reliable.
Fresh batteries are my friend

As for the subject of interference, well I don't anticipate any in the highlands of Scotland, as I was one of only two humans within a 10 mile radius, so interference wasn't an issue in this case but I realise that would be a very different story in towns, factories, etc.

All told, I am now very happy with my Skyports and certainly won't be buying PWs in the near future. I think I'll spend that money on a graphic tablet!

belgianbob wrote in post #12805877
Right, I'm back with data (well, some updates, anwyay.)
New battery in Tx unit: check.
FULLY charged battery in Rx unit: check.
Range with Rx at ground level: about 40 meters (120 feet for those of you in the US)
Range with Rx unit at waist height, sitting on top of the meter box by my front door: 100+ meters (I ran out of line of sight from my house!)
So, there's plenty to take away there: They don't work too well when the Rx unit is at ground level, but hitch it up a few feet and you're golden. It helps if the Tx unit is not being operated by a child, dwarf or someone lying in a dug-out as well.
Put both aerials up, or in the same plane and you make the whole thing 100% more reliable.
Fresh batteries are my friend

As for the subject of interference, well I don't anticipate any in the highlands of Scotland, as I was one of only two humans within a 10 mile radius, so interference wasn't an issue in this case but I realise that would be a very different story in towns, factories, etc.

All told, I am now very happy with my Skyports and certainly won't be buying PWs in the near future. I think I'll spend that money on a graphic tablet!

Glad to hear. I should mention that my strobe and transmitter were at the same level.

I used Skyports to trigger a remote camera at a high school baseball game and they worked very well. I was around third base area and the camera was a good 40 feet past first base aimed at the bag. 123 feet across the diamond plus about 10 feet and another 40 feet. the remote was on a tripod and the transmitter was in my main camera hot shoe.