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Homemade flash trigger


royall_berndt

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The magazine trigger used an LA SCR.

Good luck finding one of those these days.

 

I built an opto-slave years ago using a photodiode, a transistor and a low gate current SCR. Plus a couple of resistors, a zener diode and a capacitor to power the thing from the flash trigger voltage.

 

These days it would cost more in components, connectors and a transparent housing than you could buy one for.

 

Sunpak and other makers sold little 'peanut' slave triggers with a rubber sucker for mounting. They're quite plentiful and crop up for sale quite regularly and cheaply.

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I came across my old homemade slave trigger the other day. So for the sake of completeness; here's a picture of it and its CCT diagram.

IMG_20210805_155656.thumb.jpg.7aff9f17b0ac5ba1db8367147aeef4ba.jpg

And the circuit -

Flah-trigger-CCT.jpg.58d85c759993aadc1be56d0fa5cc4f03.jpg

The MRD14B is a photo-darlington transistor. Good luck finding one of those these days! As well as sourcing a C-106 sensitive gate SCR... or a small transparent plastic box... or a male line P-C plug.

 

I suppose a photo-darlington could be fabricated by cutting the top off a metal TO-18 cased device and filling it with transparent epoxy resin. But really, is it worth the cost and trouble?

 

Unless constructing junk-bin electronics is your idea of fun.;):rolleyes:

 

Oh, nearly forgot. The circuit was designed to be 'self-powered' using the small current available from an old high trigger voltage flash. Hence the 1.5 megohm resistor. With a modern low trigger voltage flash that resistor could be replaced with a much lower value, or even with a short. And any consequences from using the above design are entirely at your own risk. I take no responsibility!

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I think you can now get photo-SCRs, so maybe no need for photo-darlington

 

My first real electronics project, real enough to get in a box, is (I still have it somewhere) a touch switch from Popular Science.

 

It uses the C106B1, which looks like the one you have. I built that in about 4th grade, after mail ordering the SCR and the NE-83 from Allied Electronics.

-- glen

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Otherwise, you get the reverse PC from a PC extension.

 

I still have the PC cord for my Vivitar 283. One could cut off the PC end, and splice directly onto the rest of the cable.

 

Or splice directly onto a hot-shoe to PC adapter.

-- glen

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