DIY: Hardwire PC Cable to Flash (canon 420ez) Project

I've been thinking about performing this little mod for some time now and finally had the time to sit down and tinker with it.

If you're a BD like me and cannot afford PW or cybersyncs (aka still running cheap ebay triggers but they work just fine) but HATE how flimbsy they are this is the mod for you. When i first got my ebay triggers, I did a lot of studying about wireless signals and antennas. After a lot of research I was able to mod the trigger with a 433mz whip antenna with rg174 grounded line to hone in the exact frequency and REALLY boost it's range. I won't talk much about that, but the consistency and range has made these inexpensive triggers reliable for me. If you want to read more about that check this out

http://www.flickr.com …n/sets/72157610​173957672/

here's an example of the range I am able to get:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/btmlinedan/3496​488470/
distance test for poverty wizards by btmlinedan, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/btmlinedan/3677​751866/
test by btmlinedan, on Flickr

BUT BACK ON TOPIC. The only thing I DO NOT LIKE about these little guys is the crappy little plastic case with a metal bracket. With the flash attached, and after regular use i've found the black plastic cases end up cracking or getting destroyed.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/btmlinedan/3171​732717/
umbrellas by btmlinedan, on Flickr

SO. what was my solution? Hardwire a cable out of the flash that plugs directly into the trigger, so I am able to mount the flash directly to any stand gaining stability while still using my same wireless receivers. A few of these have pc sync slots so I figured that would be the easiest route to go. I believe you can buy pc sync's at radio shack but I haven't been there yet so don't hold me to it. My receivers are $9 a piece new with a pc sync so i may just order a few spares. MIND YOU, I could've hard wired the flash to the receiver, but then I was afraid it would get snagged up on something and won't fit in my little flash case, so industrial strength velcro would have to do...ok let's get started.


Shown here is the Flash hot shoe, the trigger, and the cable that comes with the trigger. It has a 1/16th plug (that we'll cut off) and the pc sync cable. I HAVE noticed that the plugs need to be really tight in the pc sync for it to work.


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Shown here is the weak link where the flash mates to the receiver. Now with this modification I still wanted to be able to use the hot shoe on both units JUST IN CASE there something goofy happened on location and the hardwire no longer worked for whatever reason. It's always safe to have a backup plan.


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Here are the guts of the receiver. You'll notice the pc sync cable in the top right hand corner of the box. You'll also notice it's wired to the board WHICH THE HOT SHOE is also wired to. The positive terminal is on the south side of this picture and the negative is on the top. the outside of the hot shoe AND pc sync are negative while the middle of the hotshoe and the pc sync are positive. This is important to know because you'll be wiring the hot of the flash in this manner too and don't wanna switch em up.

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The cable will plug in to the side of the receiver here.

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Snip the 1/16th plug off the end and strip the wires. You want to make sure you don't have too much wire hanging out b/c it does get cramped inside the flash.

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These wires are basically going to take place of the hot/cold of the flash feet...inside. Start by removing the 4 tiny phillips head screws

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IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/btmlinedan/4886​764879/

SLOWLY open the hot shoe foot and observe how everything comes out, it's tight in there and will need to go back the same way.

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Remove the 2 screws holding the infa red. I chose to keep this part just in case I wanted to use the flash on camera or sell it or something. you can ditch it if your only purpose is for strobist stuff.

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Here you'll see the wires and plugs of the flash. You can either tap into the wires or solder directly from the feet. I chose the feet b/c they are more stable. the Red white is the hot and the Blue wire is the cold.

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I used a voltmeter to verify that WHITE is hot and RED is cold. so you want to wire the WHITE to the RED of the flash and the RED of the cable to the BLUE of the flash.

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Make sure to strip the wires close b/c you don't have a lot of room.

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Once you've soldered everything securely, test it out to make sure it works.


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Now it's time to put everything back together. You are going to need to route a path to allow the cable to exit. You can either use a dremel tool or your soldering iron, i've done both. I did it on the hotshoe and the underside, but on other units only did the hotshoe and didn't have a problem. a quick piece of gaffers tape kept it in place. THen the fun part of putting everything back together.


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I used velcro to hold the receiver on the side. Now you can attach the flash SECURELY to the stand instead of worrying about the weak link of the plastic box and metal bracket.

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Sit back and enjoy! PS : i don't have a picture of it, but I can still slide the flash onto the hotshoe and it still fires. If you had a flash bracket with 2 flashes you could probably use 1 sync and 1 hotshoe ...basically 2 flashes off 1 trigger, but now that's just getting nerdy!

hope you guys dug. cheers.