Cactus V4 question

[SilverBullet07]

I purchased a set of Cactus v4's when they first came out last year. The transmitter has a plug to flah sync that I thought could be used to fire a flash off camera but I could never get it to work that way.

Well, almost a year I decided I was having to many misfires with the wireless and decided to sent the set back and have them replaced with a better working set. This set fires much better wireless but I still can not get the sync plug on the transmitter to fire a flash.

The plug on the reciever does work and fires the flash fine. I'm just wondering what the proplem is? This is the second transmitter that the plug in sync will not work for me. It does fire it pre-mature as I stick the plug in the flash if I have my flash on.

By the way, I'm trying to use it with my Canon 580 EX II.


Thanks

[inkista]

Let me guess. You're trying to fire the 580EXII from the sync port, while using its master capability to fire your 430EXIIs? That won't work. The 580EXII's "master" mode is disabled when you use the sync port and vice versa. You'd have to use a TTL-capable cord.

[SilverBullet07]

No, I was just trying to see if the port on the Cactus would fire the flash. I have my 580 on manual and plugged in with cable that came with the cactus v4. One end into transmitter Tx and the the other end into the sync port of the the flash.

Does other that have the cactus v4 work this way?

[inkista]

Think I found the answer in this Strobist discussion thread about the introduction of the V4s. One page 6 of the thread:

pictureguy12 says:

What is the X-sync port on the transmitter used to?

I tried to connect it to a monolight, using a audio cable (no receiver used), and nothing worked. However, pressing the test button fired the monolight.

Any ideas?
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rockpowered says:

@pictureguy12 the port on the transmitter is for cameras that do not have a hotshoe.

Synch cord from the cam pc socket to transmitter would be used for triggering

*Do not connect a flash* I made that mistake and the trigger stopped working until I took out the battery to reset it

Apparently, the PC port on the transmitter is for firing the transmitter, not a flash. Some folks use it with an optical slave to pimp up a P&S off-camera flash set up (i.e., you tape the optical slave over the pop-up/built-in of the P&S, and when it fires, the optical slave fires the V4 transmitter.)

[zona5101]

maybe you're trying something that I am not familar with...but in most set ups the flash will be plugged into a reciever unit. The TX unit will be on the camera.

[SilverBullet07]

I see and thanks Inkista. It had a port so whats a guy to do but try pluging something into it..LOL

[inkista]

Snort. Hey, it was worth a shot. I think on some of the eBay triggers the transmitter's PC port does both the send and receive of a sync signal, so you weren't unreasonable to make the assumption.

[bhursey]

Originally Posted by SilverBullet07

I see and thanks Inkista. It had a port so whats a guy to do but try pluging something into it..LOL

So it works now? II have the pc cord from my receiver to the port on my 580EX II and it works fine. I bough the set the day cactus v4's came out... the actual hot shoe fire stopped working in October for some reason. However I was removing and putting back in the plate.

[SilverBullet07]

Originally Posted by bhursey

So it works now? II have the pc cord from my receiver to the port on my 580EX II and it works fine. I bough the set the day cactus v4's came out... the actual hot shoe fire stopped working in October for some reason. However I was removing and putting back in the plate.

The PC cord from Receiver to the port on my 580EX II worked fine. I just thought the port on the Tx Transmitter was suppose to fire the flash but it must be a input from the camera's pc out if your camera does not have a hot shoe.

[Car2n]

You could also plug the transmitter into a light meter and fire your flashes right from the meter.