another non canon flash question

some of you will remember me from my cobra flash question the other day. well ive just gotten another flash for only a couple dollars and its a jessop 270tbz zoom multi dedicated thyristor bounce elctronic flash unit lol i checeked the voltage and its only 6 volts so im safe to use it but my question is it also hase 4 other pins on the shoe mount that line up wiht my xti's other pins, should i cover these up with tape as ive read on other sites or are they usefull? thanks

The 'multidedicated' makes it sound like it somehow is compatible with a number of different flash systems from different camera makers! If the pins line up, mount the flash and turn it on in P mode. You should see the flash ready light visible in the viewfinder and the camera should shift to 1/60 shutter speed...and if you see these things, I think you are not running a great risk to try a test photo! Each of the 4 extra contacts aas a specific purpose unique to each brand camera, and if the right information comes in at each pin then everything behaves as it should and you probably have a Canon-campatible flash unit!

well i went ahead and mounted it, everything lines up perfectly, but i put it in p mode and the flash ready light did nto illuminate, so that lead mt to believe that it was not compatable, but i hit the shutter button by mistake when i was pressing it halfway to get the data on the viewfinder and it went off just lovely, works really nice, but since they arent making happen what is su pposed to happen i think its probably safe just to cover the extra pins up with a non conductive material, like masking tape and use it in manual mode, it seems to work really well and i ahve alot of learning to do since this is my first flash and i dont really knwo what all the settings on the flash unit are for, but i didnt want to spend the money for a 580 ex untill i learn the basics. thanks for the help guys, my biggest concern wheni seen this unit was checking the voltage and it seems safe as its right between 5.8 and 6 volts where as my cobra is 250 v. any tips or advice is appreciated!

The shutter trigger uses the big center contact and the one out at the edge of the foot, so triggering is not usually the problem. Since the camera does not detect the flash and make proper use of the 4 data contacts, there are several things you lack:

1. Camera does not shift its shutter speed automatically to a flash-compatible speed.
2. You have no way to see if the flash is ready for another shot without taking your eye away from the viewfinder.
3. The camera does not communicate lens focal length to the flash unit, so that an autozoom flash head would adjust itself to suit the focal length in use.
4. ETTL probably cannot be used to control flash output (have to use flash in Auto mode)
5. Probably do not have access to focus assist beam from the flash