4 Channels Wireless Flash Trigger (my review)

Gedi wrote in post #6430681
Canon 580EX II don't to fire with Cactus v2s wireless reciever by GI. Why? Help me.

set the flash to manual.

the battery for the receiver is covered in plastic. make sure you've removed that before installing it inside the receiver.

make sure the radio frequency setting matches between trigger and receiver. check that both trigger and receiver have the same dip switch setting (you can find that underneath the trigger and inside the receiver)

finally, there's also a change that your batteries are dead. note that you need to open the trigger with a screwdriver and take out the its battery.

emdzey01 wrote in post #6430798
set the flash to manual.

the battery for the receiver is covered in plastic. make sure you've removed that before installing it inside the receiver.

make sure the radio frequency setting matches between trigger and receiver. check that both trigger and receiver have the same dip switch setting (you can find that underneath the trigger and inside the receiver)

finally, there's also a change that your batteries are dead. note that you need to open the trigger with a screwdriver and take out the its battery.

That was the problem in mounting foot lock into the wireless reciever. Locked in mounting foot fires don't works . No locked in mounting foot flash fires works. Strangely.

Gedi wrote in post #6431796
That was the problem in mounting foot lock into the wireless reciever. Locked in mounting foot fires don't works . No locked in mounting foot flash fires works. Strangely.

Strangely... I had the same problem. I think that maybe the the pin in the transmitter doesn't line up exactly like the center contact on the hot shoe.

I pulled out my Cactus set today to do some experimentation, and they wouldn't fire. The transmitter battery measured 11.82 volts. But I couldn't find my spare to test the "factory" voltage, and my 1/4 wave external antenna is also missing (grrr).

I've ordered a new antenna, but I'm pretty sure that it used to work both with and without the antenna. Now it doesn't fire even when I hold the transmitter right next to the receiver. It also seems to me that the red LED isn't flashing as brightly as it used to.

I'm going to try to find a new transmitter battery tomorrow. But I'm wondering exactly where the threshold lies. Usually, battery-operated equipment will still work at about 2/3 the rated voltage. But perhaps these things are more sensitive.

Ok I confirmed it yet again..when left inside the transmitter the 23A battery will be unusable in about 12 hrs. It will hold about 10-11V but thats not enough juice for the Red LED to come on.

DealExtreme wants to give me a discount on my NEXT purchase but I don't think I will do business with them again. I guess even in the Cheap Chinese Generic world you get what you pay for the 4-Ch Flash Trigger are a bit more expensive on eBay and I should have bought it from there.

Giman, it sounds like you have a turkey of a transmitter. My battery is over a year old and has dropped only about 1 volt (I picked up new ones today; unfortunately they didn't fix my problem).

FWIW, about six months ago I tested my two receivers and found that one was very flaky. So I bought another one. Now I'm thinking that I might have to buy another transmitter too, which can only be had in combination with a receiver. (I'll have to wait for the new antennas to arrive before I can be sure where the problem is.)

So far I figure I've spent over $75 on a transmitter, two receivers, a replacement receiver, and a set of parts for the antenna mod. If I have to buy another transmitter, I'll be over $100, and I'll still have flaky hardware.

This is making me reconsider the Gadget Infinity equipment. I still think it's a great way to experiment and find out whether you really want wireless stuff. But at this point, the Cybersync ($200 for a transmitter and two receivers) and the Elinchrom Skyport ($320 for the same set plus PC-to-hotshoe adapters) are starting to look pretty attractive.

Well I am still pouting that others (including you) got a good hand in this Chinese Generic Roulette. Now that I think of it, I was sent a lemon the first time I ordered a generic shutter release but the eBay seller promptly sent me a replacement. The other generics like Angle finder C etc seem to work fine.

So the moral of the story when it comes to Chinese Generics.
1) BUY from a ebay seller. At least you can screw them back with a bad review.
2) If has any sort of battery in it and hence electronic perhaps you might want to buy the OEM.

PS: It's gjman not giman (it's a J).

Gjman, sorry about misreading your handle. I'd blame my eyes except my screen seems to be in perfect focus.

My new Digi-key antennas arrived, and now my system works again (even with the partly used battery). I guess the antenna mod is a "you must use the antenna" mod.

Sorry to hear you had bad luck, but I'm not hugely surprised. I've gotten several Chinese and Hong Kong things that either arrived non-working, or broke shortly afterwards. Fortunately, the sellers have always been good about quick replacements. To some extent, I look at it like any other ultra-cheap thing: if it's defective, you toss it and buy another; that's part of the price of buying cheap.

my cactus transmitter failed me today
the transmitter just didnt fire when i needed them for a shoot
a buddy of mine took out his STE2 for planB....but we were also using AB800s on optical slave so i wasnt sure if the pre flash would fire the ABs
weird thing is...the preflash didnt..
i guess they were not strong enough to trigger the ABs

but my other buddy was there and was kind enough to drive to his office and let me borrow his transmitter that i modded for him

i added just a short wire inside his transmitter...

but with mine..i had the short wire plus the antenna mod

his had misfires during this shoot
i almost never had any misfires with mine...i miss it

i just ordered 2 more transmitters from GI
too bad they dont sell just the transmitters anymore....
ill end up having 6 receivers

Gedi wrote in post #6430681
Canon 580EX II don't to fire with Cactus v2s wireless reciever by GI. Why? Help me.

My 580EXII works just fine with my Cactus triggers...no misfires at all.

Got it. After skimming through the posts.

i said a final farewell to my transmitter

two from gadgetinfinity should be on their way
just gotta redo the antenna mod

How to replace battery on jiansi transmitter

Hi, Look i profusely apologise for what could be a lame question but can someone please inform me of how i am to open the casing on the Jianisi Flash Trigger transmitter? There has been talk on this forum of a screw yet i cannot see one one externally? nor can i see an indent (for fingernail) as one finds on the receiver to pry it apart. Am i to assume that i just use force to get it apart?

Thanks in adavance for your advice in this groundbreaking post!

SnipeR - Were you able to just order the transmitter or did you have to buy another transmitter and receiver set?

had to buy the set
too bad they dont sell just the transmitter

ill prolly upgrade to the ABs later..
its just hard for me to get them since im not in state