Triggering pocket wizard with foot switch - problem...

Tobers

Tobers

Suspended / Banned
Messages
3,435
Name
Andy
Edit My Images
No
I am trying to rig up a foot switch to trigger my remote behind-the-goal camera.

The problem is that making a connection on a cable plugged into the camera/flash socket of the pocket wizard plus ii only triggers the PW once when the connection is made, and once when the connection is broken, even though the connection is constant in between.

I had expected the PW to trigger continuously whilst the connection is made, in the same way as it does when the test button is held down.

The result is that my foot switch will only trigger two exposures rather than the required 10fps for as long as it is held down. The foot switch is not at fault. The Pw displays the same behaviour when a wire is used to make a continuous connection to the PW.

Any clues how to get the PW to do what I want?

Ta
 
I know nowt about PW's but presuming you are connecting via a N3 plug I woud think your switch will have to activate the focus as well as the shutter at the same time?

How are you connecting the foot switch to the PW?
 
Don't worry about the camera side of it - that's all sorted. The foot switch is connected to the PW by a 3.5mm mono socket and plugged into the camera/flash socket on the PW.

When I tread on the foot switch, the circuit is made to the PW but the PW only fires once, whereas the circuit stays made and I want the PW to fire continuously while the circuit is made.

Ta
 
Is the camera on machine gun mode?
 
I dont know how to do it, but its possible as ive seen an AFP photographer using that setup..! i wanted to try and make something up but ive been beat to it!
 
Perhaps it is the foot switch. Is it a one click for on and another click for off or a press down for on and lift foot off for off, if that makes sense?
 
nope - the foot switch is a momentary one ie you press and hold and it keeps the connection.

If I totally remove the foot switch from the equation, and just join the two wires together, the PW still just fires once when the connection is made and once when it is broken.

Its weird...
 
Tobers, yonks ago I had a play for awhile triggering PW's with a footpedal ,not altogether successfully as I'll explain in a minute. From memory (which ain't so good nowadays) I had to get a 'sustain' type electric organ pedal from a music store as evidently normal on-off pedals will produce the problem you've been having.
I think I had to get a mini-jack adapter too so you could plug it into the PW.

This worked well after a fashion but for some unknown reason (to me) it would work the opposite way round to what you would think, ie. you had to hold the pedal down when you didn't want it to trigger the PW's then release it when you did, :lol: not only that when you had fired off a burst & pressed the pedal down to stop it, if you released it again, it wouldn't fire until you had switched off the tranceiver, held the pedal down then switched it on again.:cuckoo:

There was probably a simple solution to correct all this but I guess I'm too simple to work out how.:D

Maybe someone who specialises in music electricals could provide the answer to this.

Luck,
Stew.
 
Last edited:
Yes, that sounds sensible. I was thinking of a circuit that switches the power on & off 10 times a second when the foot switch is pressed to cause the PW to trigger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top