# Something so monumentally stupid...



## tirediron (May 12, 2017)

I did, I wonder how I breathe without instructions!

Last fall, I bought a Godox AD360-II and X1 trigger as a cheap & cheerful 'stronger than a speedlight' solution for HSS outdoor work for jobs where I don't need/want to lug a full on lighting system to.  I was pleasantly surprised both by the build quality and the overall functionality.  The HSS was flawless, and while it was a little less powerful than advertised, it did exactly what I want.  The X1 trigger worked very well as well... initially, or so I thought....

The unit sat idle for a month or so over Christmas; it's one of those things that I don't use very often, but when I do, it's really the only tool for the job.  So...  early in the new year, I was prepping gear for a job on a fairly remote beach and I had the light sitting on the tail-gate of my truck, in it's bag.  I connected it to the battery, powered it up, pressed the test-button on the trigger and... nothing.  Okay, that's easy, new batteries for the trigger, right?  Nope.   New batteries, cleaning the [not dirty] contacts... nothing made any difference.  Every now and then it would trigger, but only maybe 1 out 10 times; not a degree of reliability I can live with.  Triggering in manual with pocket wizards worked fine, so that was my fall back.

Anyway...  came back, put it aside for a few days, and then got it out again, took the trigger out, still leaving the light head itself sitting in its bag on my tail-gate (anyone giggling yet?)  Same thing... maybe 1 in 10 presses actually fire the light.  Put the trigger on a body... same thing.  So, based on the way everything was working, I decided that the trigger was faulty, after all, it was just cheap MiC stuff, right?  I ordered a new trigger and....  same thing (again without taking the light out of the bag, and the bag sitting on a bench (You should be laughing and pointing by now).  

So...  now I'm thinking that it must the wireless receiver in the flash head that's at fault.  I'm a little depressed as I really like this thing, and the idea of having to return it is NOT something that I like.  Last night, sitting on the couch a brain storm hits.  This thing is low-power RF, right?  Where is the receiver...  as it turns out, the receiver in the actual flash unit is in the front above the AF-assist.  You know...  right where it was resting on either the sheet metal of my truck's tail-gate or the work bench.

Take the light out, put it on a light stand, and it works perfectly.  Funny that... a clear transmission path and radio-waves get through.  I now have a severely bruised butt from kicking myself all around the house for the last 24 hours.  

You may all now point and laugh uproariously!


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## Gary A. (May 12, 2017)

I've never done a dumb thing in my entire life.


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## EIngerson (May 12, 2017)

I'm with Gary. HAHAHAHA!!!!

I can't back that up.


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## weepete (May 12, 2017)

Mate, happens to all of us. I'm an engineer by trade (by that I mean I did an apprenticeship in fabrication while going go college). Recerntly I had a War with an Ikea wardrobe that I put up in my weans room. If I ever saw anyone else displaying the level of incompetance I did on that day ....

Anyways, happens to us all and I'm sure the results you did get were despite "equipment" failures!


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## Gary A. (May 12, 2017)

weepete said:


> Mate, happens to all of us. I'm an engineer by trade (by that I mean I did an apprenticeship in fabrication while going go college). Recerntly I had a War with an Ikea wardrobe that I put up in my weans room. If I ever saw anyone else displaying the level of incompetance I did on that day ....
> 
> Anyways, happens to us all and I'm sure the results you did get were despite "equipment" failures!


LOL ... I was in construction ... if you run into a problem, get a bigger hammer ...


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## table1349 (May 12, 2017)

Welcome to the club.


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## weepete (May 12, 2017)

Gary A. said:


> LOL ... I was in construction ... if you run into a problem, get a bigger hammer ...



Aye mate, I'm mechanical by trade (though sidestepped into civils now) I'm also a fan of the "small problem, big hammer" philosophy. I have a massive respect for the building trade as well. I'm more of a designer nowadays but I really do like contracting. Other than acutually physically making stuff designing is a close second.


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## weepete (May 12, 2017)

gryphonslair99 said:


> View attachment 139860
> 
> Welcome to the club.



Aye, that's a pretty well shot portait with good detail on the shadows. I think they might have added the background though.


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## zombiesniper (May 12, 2017)

Just think of it as a learning experience. One with a comical story.


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## Gary A. (May 12, 2017)

weepete said:


> Gary A. said:
> 
> 
> > LOL ... I was in construction ... if you run into a problem, get a bigger hammer ...
> ...


Yep ... making stuff where there was nothing ... gives a lot of gratification.  Engineering is similar, seeing the stuff you design actually work gotta make you feel good.


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## Derrel (May 12, 2017)

You deserve a loud,rousing Homer Simpson cry of "*Do'ah!*"

Reminds me of my school days and the ribbing statement of, "Smooth move, Ex-Lax!"


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## KmH (May 13, 2017)

The devil lurks in the details.


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## tirediron (May 13, 2017)

zombiesniper said:


> Just think of it as a learning experience. One with a comical story.


Comical stories happen to_* other *_people!   This happened to me!


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## tirediron (May 13, 2017)

Derrel said:


> You deserve a loud,rousing Homer Simpson cry of "*Do'ah!*"
> 
> Reminds me of my school days and the ribbing statement of, "Smooth move, Ex-Lax!"


Wow... that takes me back.... to about 1980!


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## tirediron (May 13, 2017)

Gary A. said:


> I've never done a dumb thing in my entire life.


Oh come on... I'm sure just once you must have chosen a marginally less than stellar bottle of vino...


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## table1349 (May 13, 2017)

tirediron said:


> Gary A. said:
> 
> 
> > I've never done a dumb thing in my entire life.
> ...


Oh I can say the same thing, I have never done A dumb thing in my life.   I have done many dumb things, not *A *dumb thing.


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## table1349 (May 13, 2017)

tirediron said:


> I did, I wonder how I breathe without instructions!
> 
> Last fall, I bought a Godox AD360-II and X1 trigger as a cheap & cheerful 'stronger than a speedlight' solution for HSS outdoor work for jobs where I don't need/want to lug a full on lighting system to.  I was pleasantly surprised both by the build quality and the overall functionality.  The HSS was flawless, and while it was a little less powerful than advertised, it did exactly what I want.  The X1 trigger worked very well as well... initially, or so I thought....
> 
> ...


Dear Grandchildren, let me tell you a really funny story that Grandpa did years ago.  You see this was when people still used a thing called a camera and lighting, not just a smart communicating do all device.......................


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## pgriz (May 14, 2017)

Gary A. said:


> I've never done a dumb thing in my entire life.



We must be operating in different universes.  If I haven't done at least five dumb things on a given day, then I'm being lazy.  But keep in mind that's "dumb" things.  Really, really dumb things that could have life-terminating consequences, I try to avoid mainly because I'd probably do a half-assed job and end up being a burden on my family.  But you can't really grow without pushing the boundaries, and every so often, you step over.  Just make sure that the other side isn't a half-mile drop.


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## tirediron (May 14, 2017)

pgriz said:


> Gary A. said:
> 
> 
> > I've never done a dumb thing in my entire life.
> ...


Stepping over is one thing...  tripping and falling flat on your puss in the middle of the street...  that's more my speed!


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## The_Traveler (May 27, 2017)

I have a photo related stupidity that happened yesterday.  I was refilling 5 ink cartridges on a Canon Pro 1. It isn't difficult but a bit tension-inducing because one is working with messy stuff with the potential of a major costly screw up.

Finished, went to print and a print error popped up on one of my newly filled cartridges. Removed it, checked contacts, reseated, all to no avail. Even changed chip. Nothing.
Finally after staring at it for a while, I thought to weigh the cartridge. In the pressure of doing something for the first time, I had done every step but actually fill that last cartridge with ink.

With ink, it worked fine.


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## tirediron (May 27, 2017)

The_Traveler said:


> ...With ink, it worked fine.


Funny how that works!


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## Derrel (May 27, 2017)

Reminds me of the Tech Support 101 Caller Reply List: Support Personnel Question One:

 "Okay sir....is the device plugged into a working electrical outlet?"

"Uh..well, of course it is! Jeeze, whaddaya' think I am some kind of idio.... oh, wait, it's working now! Bye!"


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## fmw (May 28, 2017)

tirediron said:


> I did, I wonder how I breathe without instructions!
> 
> Last fall, I bought a Godox AD360-II and X1 trigger as a cheap & cheerful 'stronger than a speedlight' solution for HSS outdoor work for jobs where I don't need/want to lug a full on lighting system to.  I was pleasantly surprised both by the build quality and the overall functionality.  The HSS was flawless, and while it was a little less powerful than advertised, it did exactly what I want.  The X1 trigger worked very well as well... initially, or so I thought....
> 
> ...



I made a mistake once.  If I remember right it was in 1982.


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## pendennis (May 28, 2017)

Derrel said:


> Reminds me of the Tech Support 101 Caller Reply List: Support Personnel Question One:
> 
> "Okay sir....is the device plugged into a working electrical outlet?"
> 
> "Uh..well, of course it is! Jeeze, whaddaya' think I am some kind of idio.... oh, wait, it's working now! Bye!"



For a number of years, I managed several buildings as the IT support manager.  We kept logs of help calls; always heavily edited for publication purposes.  However, one of my techs invariably included the acronym "ID10T" as the code for user-induced problems.  And, yes, any number were for folks who failed to power up monitors, or accidentally unplug equipment from surge protectors.


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## bluewanders (May 28, 2017)

tirediron said:


> I did, I wonder how I breathe without instructions!
> 
> Last fall, I bought a Godox AD360-II and X1 trigger as a cheap & cheerful 'stronger than a speedlight' solution for HSS outdoor work for jobs where I don't need/want to lug a full on lighting system to.  I was pleasantly surprised both by the build quality and the overall functionality.  The HSS was flawless, and while it was a little less powerful than advertised, it did exactly what I want.  The X1 trigger worked very well as well... initially, or so I thought....
> 
> ...


Just so you know... that may not be about a clear transmission path... it may likely be about what mode the X1 was started in.  I have that commander... it has a normal mode... and a close mode.  If the commander is within 12 feet (iirc) and hasn't been turned on in close mode you'll start getting intermittent failures to fire... and the closer the two get the more frequent the failures become.

More information:
GODOX PHOTO EQUIPMENT CO.,LTD Download
"Q: Why X1 can not trigger in near distance
A: Please upgrade the newly version(X1C V15,X1N V16,X1S V13), long press the TEST button and turn on the power simultaneously until STATUS blink for 2 seconds,0-30m remote control can be selected."

EDIT:  This FAQ answer suggests it isn't 12 feet, but rather 30 meters.. which seems off considering that would be 100 feet.


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## tirediron (May 28, 2017)

bluewanders said:


> Just so you know... that may not be about a clear transmission path... it may likely be about what mode the X1 was started in.  I have that commander... it has a normal mode... and a close mode.  If the commander is within 12 feet (iirc) and hasn't been turned on in close mode you'll start getting intermittent failures to fire... and the closer the two get the more frequent the failures become.
> 
> More information:
> GODOX PHOTO EQUIPMENT CO.,LTD Download
> ...


Interesting; I wasn't aware of this, but I do normally use the light  within a couple of feet (<5) of the transmitter, and I've never had a problem when it was on a stand.


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## bluewanders (May 28, 2017)

tirediron said:


> bluewanders said:
> 
> 
> > Just so you know... that may not be about a clear transmission path... it may likely be about what mode the X1 was started in.  I have that commander... it has a normal mode... and a close mode.  If the commander is within 12 feet (iirc) and hasn't been turned on in close mode you'll start getting intermittent failures to fire... and the closer the two get the more frequent the failures become.
> ...


It's sort of a crapshoot.  There are days when the only way I can get something done is remembering close mode... and other days when the light is a foot from the commander and firing every time.  They released a firmware update for the X1 which made it more reliable (you should download their firmware updater and take care of your X1 if you haven't yet.)

I haven't had any problems at all with failure to fire when the receiver is near/against metal... but I have had a problem with it failing to fire with my flashes inside a nearby softbox... switching to close mode has cleared it up 100% of the time.


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## The_Traveler (Jun 2, 2017)

If this thread includes other issues beyond photography, I might include one of my decisions to marry.


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## gckless (Jun 19, 2017)

I sorta did this when I got my first Nikon SB-700 an was using the onboard flash to trigger it. I thought the sensor was on the opposite side of the flash that it actually was. So I thought the whole system was crap, couldn't get far away from the camera and it sometimes wouldn't trigger and so on. Was like a month or so before I figured it out.

It wasn't all bad though, since that made me buy some RF flash gear. Sooooooo much better.


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## bribrius (Aug 2, 2017)

Huh? So how did you get it working?


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## Jamesaz (Aug 2, 2017)

Folks, please. As photographers you know they are not mistakes: they're tests.


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## tirediron (Aug 2, 2017)

bribrius said:


> Huh? So how did you get it working?


Lifted it off of the metal truck bed so that the RF from the transmitter could reach the receiver!


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## bribrius (Aug 3, 2017)

tirediron said:


> bribrius said:
> 
> 
> > Huh? So how did you get it working?
> ...


Whats RF?


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## tirediron (Aug 3, 2017)

bribrius said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > bribrius said:
> ...


What Gryph said, in short, the metal of the truck bed was blocking the signal between the radio transmitter and flash receiver because the flash unit was laying on the truck bed with the receiver (antenna) against the metal.


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## benhasajeep (Aug 5, 2017)

tirediron said:


> bribrius said:
> 
> 
> > tirediron said:
> ...



But just think, if you had put enough energy through it.  You could have tripped off every flash unit on the same channel for 120 mile radius.   

Get's me to thinking, wonder if I combine a trigger with an old satellite dish.  And kicked up the power.  What kinda range we could get.       Flashes would be popping off for no reason confusing the heck out of people.


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## tirediron (Aug 5, 2017)

benhasajeep said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > bribrius said:
> ...


Reminds me of an occasion a few years back.  I was covering a dance event and unknown to me there was another photographer shooting a different event at another hall in the same building... both of us were going nuts trying to figure out why are strobes were randomly firing... until I tracked her down and we figured we were both using PWs on channel 1!


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