Elinchrom skyport USB questions

I bought a kit from B&H a while back that included two 600RX strobes with skyports (receiver for each and a hotshoe transmitter). I was considering getting the skyport USB and EL software to be able to remotely and wirelessly adjust my lights from a computer when the actual controls are out of reach. However, in reading reviews, I see a couple of things that worry me. First is that the skyport USB is only compatible with certain variants of the skyports, and so far, I can't tell if the ones that came with my 600RX kit are compatible. Second, I read a review that says the sofware doesn't (or didn't) work properly on XP, and that's what I'm running at home on the computers I had in mind for this. Does anyone know if the skyport USB would work with my setup? Thanks.

I can't speak first-hand yet, but I just ordered a set of 600RX's with the same skyport set you're talking about, and I also ordered the USB as well. According to the elinchrom website, the USB is compatible with the RX transceivers, which is what the kit came with. I'll post feedback with Windows XP as soon as mine comes in.

sdipirro wrote in post #10237918
I bought a kit from B&H a while back that included two 600RX strobes with skyports (receiver for each and a hotshoe transmitter). I was considering getting the skyport USB and EL software to be able to remotely and wirelessly adjust my lights from a computer when the actual controls are out of reach. However, in reading reviews, I see a couple of things that worry me. First is that the skyport USB is only compatible with certain variants of the skyports, and so far, I can't tell if the ones that came with my 600RX kit are compatible. Second, I read a review that says the sofware doesn't (or didn't) work properly on XP, and that's what I'm running at home on the computers I had in mind for this. Does anyone know if the skyport USB would work with my setup? Thanks.

The Skyport RX's are the transceivers you got with your kit. Those are the Skyports that are compatible with the USB transceiver and computer. The Skyport Universal is only a receiver and thus can't give you the bi-directional communication between strobe and computer.

All you need to get is the USB transceiver and you're good to go. If you need to get additional Skyports then you need more Skyport RX's.

I've had the Skyport USB dongle for some time and haven't experienced any issues with it and the Skyport software on my XP laptop:

Is that the latest (version 3, I think?) software?

Edit: Never mind. I saw the answer to my own question on their website.

Hey Dave,

I haven't gotten the USB transceiver yet but the other day I was wondering about what can actually be stored in the setup information. Without the dongle it's hard to get a feel for the software.

In particular I'm interested in knowing if you can have a setup with a 600RX and a 300RX and create proportional modeling by reducing the output of the 300RX's modeling light by one stop and having that stored so when you bring that light up again it 'remembers' to reduce the output of the modeling light.

If there are no issues with the software on XP, looks like this would be pretty useful for me! Thanks for the feedback!

So I picked up one of these and downloaded the beta 3.0 version of the Elinchrom Skyport software and USB drivers, and while the installation had a few quirks, I got it working. I have to say that this is pretty cool. I installed the software on an old laptop running XP, and it seems to work just fine. I was able to adjust the power of the two 600RX units, turn the modeling lights off and on, test fire the strobes, etc...This will be handy when the physical controls are out of reach.

sdipirro wrote in post #10264244
So I picked up one of these and downloaded the beta 3.0 version of the Elinchrom Skyport software and USB drivers, and while the installation had a few quirks, I got it working. I have to say that this is pretty cool. I installed the software on an old laptop running XP, and it seems to work just fine. I was able to adjust the power of the two 600RX units, turn the modeling lights off and on, test fire the strobes, etc...This will be handy when the physical controls are out of reach.

TMR Design wrote in post #10240369
I haven't gotten the USB transceiver yet but the other day I was wondering about what can actually be stored in the setup information. Without the dongle it's hard to get a feel for the software.

In particular I'm interested in knowing if you can have a setup with a 600RX and a 300RX and create proportional modeling by reducing the output of the 300RX's modeling light by one stop and having that stored so when you bring that light up again it 'remembers' to reduce the output of the modeling light.

Since you now have this working and Dave hasn't chimed in to answer my question then perhaps you can answer it. I've quoted it above.

Well, I'll have to experiment...and it may be different with different versions of the software. I downloaded the beta 3.0 software, and the user manual is only in German! I didn't see anything obvious, as far as doing what you want. I'll try to poke around with it more this weekend.

sdipirro wrote in post #10264338
Well, I'll have to experiment...and it may be different with different versions of the software. I downloaded the beta 3.0 software, and the user manual is only in German! I didn't see anything obvious, as far as doing what you want. I'll try to poke around with it more this weekend.

If you know how to save a preset or setup and you can recall a setup then I would just set one strobe to a 'free' modeling light setting and see if it retains that in the setup.

Robert, I finally got around to trying this. I don't know if it's a new feature or not, as I've only used the Beta 3.0 software. However, it appears to do what you're asking. You can save configuration settings to a file (as many as you want, apparently) and recall them later. I selected one of my 600RX lights and set the modeling light to "free" and changed the setting. I then did a save. I quite the program and restarted it. Since I hadn't changed anything, it retrieved the current settings. I set that light back to proportional for the modeling light. Then I went to "open" and opened the settings I had saved. It set the modeling light back to "free" and the power I had saved. It allows you save a bunch of stuff with the configuration, including diagrams of the lighting setup. Seems like you could save all your favorite lighting configurations and load them in a snap.

sdipirro wrote in post #10285314
Robert, I finally got around to trying this. I don't know if it's a new feature or not, as I've only used the Beta 3.0 software. However, it appears to do what you're asking. You can save configuration settings to a file (as many as you want, apparently) and recall them later. I selected one of my 600RX lights and set the modeling light to "free" and changed the setting. I then did a save. I quite the program and restarted it. Since I hadn't changed anything, it retrieved the current settings. I set that light back to proportional for the modeling light. Then I went to "open" and opened the settings I had saved. It set the modeling light back to "free" and the power I had saved. It allows you save a bunch of stuff with the configuration, including diagrams of the lighting setup. Seems like you could save all your favorite lighting configurations and load them in a snap.

That's great. Thank you for doing that.