Quantum Radio Slave 4i Set

[george_bourke]

I just (rather impulsively) acquired the Quantum Radio Slave 4i Set

from a local dealer that was closing them out ($144...mine was the

last one). I know that it is LARGER than current favorites...any

other downside? I've tried it with my D70 and Bowens Prolite 100s

and it seems to work well.

 

TIA,

George

[bruce_rubenstein___nyc]

I have 2 sets of the Quantum 4i's, both bought used, and they work fine for wedding gigs. I know other folks prefer the Pocket Wizards, and other things like meters & packs have PW radios built in. However, for what you paid you a good radio slave at half the cost of a PW set. The only thing to watch out for is the somewhat brittle plastic on the shoe mount foot of the transmitter. It was broken on one set I bought, and I've seen them broken on a number of other transmitters I've seen. The transmitter can also slip back in the shoe, losing electrical contact, even with the locking ring turned down.

[ellis_vener_photography]

As Bruce pointed out " you paid (for) a good radio slave at half the cost of a PW set."

Absolutely no quarrel with that statement. I got rid of my radio Slave 4 units as I had

problems (twice repaired the third time not) with frequency drift. Either the receiver or

the transmitter went out of tune with the other. The other potential drawback is that if you

ever need to get additional receivers or transmitters you'll need to make sure that they are

the same frequency (A,B,C, or D) as the ones you now have.

[george_bourke]

Bruce and Ellis: Thanks for the info. Sounds like they'll do just fine for my purposes.

 

Concerning the frequency drift...that sounds a bit strange since the cheap way to get a stable frequency (and it has been used for years) is to simply use a crystal oscillator (and these are VERY cheap). I used to work for a company that developed "steering" electronics that learned the time-aged drift (crystal oscillators drift for about 3 weeks then settle down...most companies don't use "un-aged" oscillators) and provided the minute amount of correction required to make their performance approach that of an atomic clock. Maybe, Quantum was popping in brand new, non-aged crystals...if so, they should have known better.

 

George

[twmeyer]

I've been using a set for about three years, no drift, but be careful of the cheesey wires for the 9 volt connector. The biggest problems I have is when something nearby stimulates them into constant firing. It's usually in an industrial setting but sometimes happens when I'm just near a busy road. It's intermittant, and not a frequent occurance, but it sure is annoying when it does happen. I always carry a 20 ft sync cord and an optical slave as back ups... t