Some mis-firing issues

MichelSauret

Hello,

I have a set of 5 individual Cactus V6 triggers. All of them have the latest firmware (V 1.1.019). My wife and I shoot weddings, and during the reception we have been experiencing some really frustrating mis-firing mishaps.

Typically, during the dancing, she will shoot on one camera body, and I will shoot on two camera bodies (all three in Tx mode), and we set up two speedlights with a Cactus V6 on each in Rx mode.

We place one speedlight on group A and the other on group B and we ensure all five transreceivers are on the same channel.

Usually, the night starts fine and we are both able to fire off without problems for the first 30-45 minutes. 

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere the transreceivers will stop communicating together, and they won't fire any longer. I checked to see if the batteries are dead, but no, all of the devices still have battery life left.

Also, something else that has happened several times is the Cactus will fire off the wrong group. So, for example, if I turn on only Group A on my Tx, sometimes both A and B will fire on my Rx receivers. Sometimes they will fire even if I turned both groups off on my Tx.

What is going on?

Thank you!

Class A

I'm not 100% sure whether you and your wife are sharing flashes, but note that the V6 is not designed to allow the same set of flashes to be controlled by two different transmitters. If two V6 transmitters attempt to control the same set of flashes then there will be strange effects, like "wrong group firing" or "incorrect power level".

If you want to share flashes amongst multiple transmitters, you may want to consider the V6II which adds a "multi-master" mode compared to the V6.

I do not know whether your unsupported "multi-master" usage causes  your problems, but it would be a good idea to rule that out as a source.

Antonio

Yes sounds like you need Multi Master that the V6 II offers!

Will you and your wife need to adjust the flash power?
If only one of you is "in charge", then you may consider getting one V5 and set it to TX when you both shoot.

Usually, the night starts fine and we are both able to fire off without problems for the first 30-45 minutes. 

It does not have to do with time, but at that moment when both you and your wife made power adjustments and these commands drove the RX units crazy and they went into limbo mode.

The V5 will solve this problem because all it does it sending a firing signal. No power adjustments involved.

However if both of you need to adjust the power then getting the V6 II would be the option to go for.