tabeteh

Be very aware of four things before you try to use that pack.

 

Dear Ellis,

Just to thank you for the advice you have given on the Speedotron Black line 2401A power pack. I am getting one, and I'm also not sure when it was last used. I find the warning messages you have posted very valuable. They date over 10years, but I still have faith in the Speedotron technology.

Once more, sincere thanks.

<p>Thank you all so very much for the responses. Peter's mail frightened me a little, as he talks of a major repair. Craig, those packs do not have a switch that changes the voltage from one to the other. Maybe US manufacturers should start considering making that standard, since so many other countries use 240V. Bernard, I live in Cameroon, after having studied in Germany, spending quite some time there. I have spoken with some technicians here and they say I should bring the pack over to their workshops for them to take a look at it. Henry, the pack although bought used, still looked very clean and new. And it was working perfectly, IMHO. At least, I was very happy with its performance. Could surges in current and/or the lack of an earth terminal just cause a sudden death of the capacitors? Also, could someone tell me if capacitors are voltage-sensitive i.e. could one use capacitors found here in a country with 240V electricity on a piece of equipment built for 120V? That way, it could be easy to have replacement units here. I'm sure I should ask a specialist technician, but I'm just curious. I guess I'll just haul the unit to a local technician. If as Henry says, I would have to consider other options, then I don't have much to lose by letting a technician look at it. Just too bad its happening to someone on a budget like myself, and it was quite an effort getting it from the US here.<br>

Once more, thanks to you all. Again, if anyone still has some ideas, I'll appreciate them.<br>

Gerald.</p>

<p>Hello all,<br>

after reading the great reviews about the durability of Speedotron equipment, I went ahead and got myself a fairly used D402 Powerpack kit. I have been pretty impressed with it. I have to say I live in a country having 220/240V as the electrical voltage, as opposed to the 110/120V used in the US. I therefore have to use a step-down transformer in order to put the set to use. Last week, I was doing some experimental shooting. The power-pack was connected via an adapter to a transformer with a two prong connector without an earth terminal. After a while, there was some flickering of the modelling lights. There was then crackle in the power-pack, and the room was filled with a smell reminiscent of paint. No loud explosive noise, no smoke, just the smell. The Ready light went off, and would not come on again. I turned the unit off, and then on again after a while. But the Ready light would still not come on. I was using a Quantum wireless trigger, and on releasing the shutter, the flash would flash but with much much reduced power. I unfortunately did not meter how strong it was.<br>

My question is if anyone knows whether it is a capacitor or capacitors that could be blown or it is just something in the switching circuitry. I live in a country far from the US, and it would be good to know if something like this could be shipped for repairs, or I could venture giving it to a local technician to try and fix it, without any guarantee that it would come back whole. Maybe it would be more economical just trying to get a replacement from the US if the damage is grave.<br>

I'd appreciate any feedback from those who have ideas.<br>

Tabeteh.</p>

<p>Hello all,<br /> I have a problem I hope someone in Photo.net could help me with. When I try to print a photo containing grayscale components using my hp Deskjet 6943, the white parts do not appear as I see them on screen. Of course, while that may be expected to some extent (since I cannot swear I have 255 in all the RGB channels), it is not the case when the printing is done using a Canon printer!<br /> I had been thinking it would be at least similar for most common printers, especially if the settings have not been played around with, but I was wrong. The pictures from the Canon printer had such a bright white, where I expected white, it was amazing. From my hp, the white contains a slight tint. Also, anything like just 20% black (border etc) is not rendered as such but as light gray brown. Just printing in grayscale is not an option here since some of these pictures contain "hand-colored" sections in them.<br /> Is there some option to set I am missing on my hp printer? I just can't afford a Canon printer in addition to this one. It is way too difficult getting ink for Canon printers around here. <br /> Also, I am interested in doing some A3 (about 11.7x16.5inch) prints once in a while. Normal print quality would be acceptable for my needs. They must not qualify as "fine-art". Any affordable recommendations?<br /> Thanks in advance for your help.<br /> Tabeteh</p>

Thanks a lot Mark. At least, now I am aware of my limitations, and it helps to know that the fault lies not in my flash but that the wireless e-ttl system is designed to work that way.

Best regards.

I, also think Chuck Gardner's site is THE one to visit before the others. It is concise, precise, and has lots of illustrations that are just invaluable. I found it terrific.

Gerald

Hello all,

I can't get my speedlite 550ex work in 2nd curtain mode when set to "master". I was thinking that one should be

able to use 2nd curtain flash sync even in master mode, so as to trigger off the slaves. Since I only have 420ex

speedlites as slaves, I can't test if it is this particular 550ex that is faulty. Setting the 2nd curtain sync on

the camera body does not help, since functions present in the speedlite override settings done on the camera

body. Is my speedlite faulty (far as I can tell, all other functions are normal; 2nd curtain sync works fine if

flash is set to neither master nor slave), or is it so that 2nd curtain sync cannot be used with wireless e-ttl?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Tabeteh