National PE-387S - any knowledge?

I've been inspired by a few strobist sites to expand in to flash photography, having previously concentrated on landscapes. I've bought a 430EXii and have some cheap wireless triggers on order.

I hauled out my old film kit as I had a National PE-387S flash gun, which I bought about 20 years ago second-hand to go with my old AV-1. It worked fine with that, but I'm trying to locate a manual for it now, to see how I might best use it with my new kit.

From what I've garnered from Google, it's about the same vintage and spec as Vivitar's 283, which I understand is a popular cheap option for strobists.

Does anyone else have one of these knocking about, or any knowledge of them? If so is it much use to me?

Whilst I wouldn't know where to look to locate my manual! I too have this flash & am fairly knowledgable as to using it within the EOS system.

I see your post is quite old. Should you still require info, please ask

Hello Rog,
I see your reply is also rather old. If you're still looking at he site, I've just turned up my old National PE-387S flash unit, put in new batteries, and established that it works.
I vaguely recall it had some TTL facility, but it was about 35 years ago that I last used it.
Any info you have would be gratefully received.

freuchie wrote in post #15329650
Hello Rog,
I see your reply is also rather old. If you're still looking at he site, I've just turned up my old National PE-387S flash unit, put in new batteries, and established that it works.
I vaguely recall it had some TTL facility, but it was about 35 years ago that I last used it.
Any info you have would be gratefully received.

Any TTL capability that the flash might have had will not be compatible with any digital camera. It does have an auto mode that should give accurate exposures under most conditions.

Also, welcome the the forum.