Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I just got my alien bee setup and I'm having a lot of issues.
Equipment:
Cyber Commander
AB800
AB400
AB400
(3) CyberSync Receivers

I set up all my lights as instructed. At first, everything seemed to be working great. I had all three lights on my Cyber Commander, and all 3 modeling lamps were working. Then I started losing my modeling lamps on each light. Now all three modeling lamps are not working while my CyberSync's are attached to them. When I disconnect CyberSync's, they turn on. I was also getting a really bad flicker from one of my AB400's. It seemed to only be flickering while my CyberSync was attached to the light.

I'm not even %100 sure if I am correctly controlling the lights via my Commander.
I tried to follow the directions as well as I could. What am I doing wrong?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Standard checklist would be something like this:
1. CSRB's and CC set to the same frequency
2. Each CSRB has a unique channel
3. CSRB's are connected to Bee's with phone-cords (RJ-11 connectors)
4. Slider on each Bee is set to full
5. All buttons (except test) on the Bee's are pushed in
6. Power up the CSRB's
7. Power up the Bee's
8. Power up the CC
9. Use "Open All from Studio" on the CC
10. Select "Spec Lights" on the CC menu and define each Bee according to its assigned Channel
11. Select "Light Settings" on the CC menu, and adjust each channel (light) to taste. This, by the way, is where you would modify settings for the modelling lights.

You ought to be in business at this point.

Good luck!

Big Iron has pretty good Cliff notes. One thing to add is that you are using a properly grounded outlet, and not using a surge protector (a regular power strip should be OK). Also, make sure something on the same circuit is not introducing a lot of line noise (like an AC, refrigerator, microwave, etc.

What?! I never plug any of my electrical devices directly into an unprotected outlet. Are you saying that I am no longer able to plug my monolights into a surge protected power strip? Where is that stated in the users' manual?

- Wil

The circuiry of the RJ11 jacks and the circuitry of surge protectors do not play nice. It is not to say each and every time a surge protector is used will you have a problem, but it is a good place to start troubleshooting. If you are not using the RJ11 jacks, issues with surge protectors are far more uncommon.

I assume this is not an issue with the Einsteins as they have no RJ11 jack to interfere with? An ABR800 could have the same problem though?