Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Equipment:
Einstein with Cybersync Transciever
AB1600 With CSR+ (AC-powered Cybersync+ receiver)

Sometimes when working outdoor events I'll get a client-supplied power feed (usually from a generator) that has a ground issue. This causes issues with the CS+/AB1600. The Einstein doesn't seem to care about the ground and still works fine. The only way the AB works is if I unplug the CS+ receiver.

Does anyone know whether the battery-powered CyberSync+ receiver will work in this situation?

CSRB+ receivers can be a little more tolerant of grounding issues, but are not immune, and grounding may not be the issue at hand.

What characteristics are you seeing when having problems?

The AB isn't triggered by the Cybersync Receiver, even when pressing the test button directly on the receiver itself.

I assumed it to be a ground (or some type of electrical) issue. A couple of my power strips actually have LEDs that indicate if there's a non-working ground and that was showing a problem the last time this happened. In one case the only change I made was moving to another circuit (with a good ground) and the problem went away.

The Einstein seems immune to such issues though, or at least it has been for me so far.

Failure to fire via the RJ11 cable is possible with a bad ground, so that is the likely problem.

I decided to experiment a bit.

I tried running power without ground through both and it wouldn't fire. (expected)
I then tried plugging the flash and the receiver into separate power feeds. One with a ground and one without. Regardless of the configuration, if either the flash or the receiver had a faulty ground the flash wouldn't trigger when the RJ11 was connected.

I'm wondering if anyone with a CSRB+ has (or would) try this to see whether it behaves the same way.

The CSRB+ receiver would not be grounded in the same way as an AC power receiver. This leaves the light to have or not have a proper ground.

I have seen the problem persist when using a CSRB+, as well as being remedied by using a CSRB+. Much of will have to do with the nature of the problem and the specific tolerance of a given light. Someone else's experiment may not match your results.