430EX and Cactus V2s

I acquired 285HV's along with a Cactus V2s set and they had been working fine with the 285 HV flashes. I had not really tried it, but decided to test the 430 EX as it has better manual setting so I put it on the receiver. It did not fire in Manual mode. moved it back on the hotshoe a bit and fired for about 5 shots then stopped again. Tried it on other reciever and worked better, but still inconsistent at best. Put the 285 back on it - fired no problem.

Now, the 285's are not firing consistently, but I think it could be low batteries -the indicator lights are very dim, and getting the Tx closer to the Rx seems to help. Could it be the 430 EX is more sensitive to battery levels in the V2s?

Can any 430EX/V2s users chime on on this? I was thinking of getting a 3rd V2s so I can use all 3 speedlites at once, but I prefer to see if the 430EX/V2s combo is not viable. Getting new batteries for Tx and Rx tonight and will report, but I guess a 3rd 285HV is the cheapest option if the 430 will just not work on the V2s?

I went through very similar senario a couple of years ago. Frustration set in and I threw them in the trash. Bought a set of El Skyports and they worked great. Now I am using Cybersync's and couldn't be happier. I have thousands of pops shooting basketball with strobes, a 580 EX II and a 540EZ. everything works together with no problems.

CST transmitter and CSRB receiver for each light.

Hello, I have 2 sets of Cactus V2s. They fire my ABR800 ring flash consistently but when using with my Canon 430EX flash, I've found that if I mount the 430EX directly on the hotshoe of the V2s receiver, the flash will sometimes go crazy and fire continuously non-stop.

What I've done is to move the receiver away from the 430EX and connect using the short PC cable that came with the v2s receiver unit. That means you'll need one of those PC-to-hotshoe adapter though, since the 430EX doesn't have a PC port.


Bigbear.

Are you sure that all the contacts are clean? Finger grease can already interfere with the very low power levels used in the interfacing.
I have Cactus V2 receivers and they work fine with my 430EX.

The V2's are notoriously troublesome with the 430ex. Back when they were the only inexpensive option there were threads constantly on the topic. The set I have work fine with any flash but the 430ex. Mine fire intermittanly and constantly or sometimes not at all. Occasionally I could get them to work but not for too long as I soon migrated to cybersyncs

Sorry... I misread: I am using the Cactus V4. They do not give problems.

Thanks for the comments all...

Tried new batteries...didn't help with the 430EX at all...fired maybe 20% of the time. The 285HV's function fine, so it would appear the 430 is not a viable flash to use with the V2s receivers. The PC to hotshoe adapter will be option 1 - I will test first and then buy the 3rd receiver. If that does not work, then a 3rd 285 would be the final option.

Have a good night!