SB-800 with Lumedyne MiniCycler

I purchased a power cord for my Lumedyne MiniCycler that list the

Nikon SB-800 as one of the flashes it will power. The first thing I

noticed is the plug that connects to the SB-800 is very tight and I

almost could not unplug it. While connected, it did not work with

the SB-800. Recycle time is listed as 1.2 seconds. When I look at

the socket on the SB-800, it has a place for three pins, but the pin

on the left is short and I don't think it connects to the plug from

the Lumedyne MiniCycler. When I measure voltage from the Lumedyne,

only the two outside pins appear connected and have about 350 volts.

Does anyone have any experience using a Lumedyne MiniCycler with the

SB-800?

Aside from the 350 volts, why do you need to go beyond the 5-AA cell set-up that is part of the SB-800 kit? [The instruction booklet suggests going 15 or 20 'pops' then letting the SB-800 cool down for a couple of minutes. The thing with a fast (larger) battery suppy is you may 'cook' your SB-800 by using it too much, too quickly.]

The Lumedyne MiniCycler gives you much faster recycle time than a 5th battery. This is required if you need to take several shots with very short time (1 second or less) between (less than 15 images). The Lumedyne MiniCycler supplies most of the charge to the internal capacitor rather than the internal circuits of the SB-800.