High-Performance Flashgun Slave Unit
Last updated 19 December 2005; minor changes 11 July
2006
Stock updated in newsletter, December
2008
Slave units sold by
photographic retailers, and designs sometimes seen in the hobbyist electronics
magazines, are generally poor in performance. They are not sensitive enough for
caving use, and can be accidentally triggered by light from a caplamp beam. My
award-winning flashgun
slave unit out-performs all 'conventional' slaves. Since 1992 I have sold over
800 kits of parts to cavers throughout the world. You can buy a kit of
parts or a partially-built kit (for you to finish off).
Alternatively, a ready-built unit, based on an earlier circuit of mine, is
available from Firefly
Electronics.
In 2004 I introduced a new version of the slave unit that is compatible with
digital cameras. It can be programmed to count the flash pulses from the
camera, and to fire after the appropriate pulse. Kits of parts are now
available, and a fully-built version is available from
Firefly Electronics
Above: The standard slave
unit. The terminal block for connecting to the flashgun is top left. (Note the
cable tie to act as a strain relief in the container). Programming link is top
centre. Photodiode is bottom left. Board measures 46 x 23mm (1.8 x 0.9in.)
Left: I usually house my units in a small translucent container
(it is actually a chemical sample bottle). The tape around the top is
sufficient waterproofing, and I use audio-phono plugs to connect to my
flashguns. (The Firefly units come with a hot-shoe adapter or a PC synch.
lead). Right: The new digital slave unit, in its case.
Further Information
For more information about my slave units, please go to my
Newsletter page
Links to other sites
Contact me at
david(at)caves...etc.
This page, http://site2.caves.org.uk/flash/index.html was last modified on Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:30:00 +0000
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