Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Hello all,

I recently got my Einstein and Cyber Commander and CXSCV combination. Very impressive stuff.

However, I've had a few issues with the Cyber Commander being unreliable at triggering the light past about 35 feet. The problem is being handled very nicely by PCB, they are replacing the unit at no cost to me, but it has been suggested that the CST trigger might be better suited for my needs since I shoot in gymnasiums mostly, with lights up to 70 feet away from me.

So my question is for fellow Cyber Commander users, how much actual reliable range can I expect from my replacement Cyber Commander (with line of sight, as in no walls)?

I'm trying to decide wether I need to get the CST or not, I was expecting the Cyber Commander to fulfill this function but I need the lights to trigger 100% reliably at my working range. Luckily the CST and the Commander are very affordable.

Thanks

Range of the Cyber Commander will max at about 150'. Orientation will play a big part in its range. Upright in the hotshoe will give you max range. As well, requiring the signal to travel through the LCD screen will reduce range (i.e. lights behind you).

I had my first real shoot with Einstein and CC. I had the same issues. I was outdoor with the lights both in front and behind shooting baseball team pics. Behind the light was about 75% accurate trigger and in front of light was about 50% accurate trigger. I had no problems on the test shots at home. The batteries inside the CC have no more than one hour of use. I ended up having to switch back to speed lights to finish the shoot with accuracy and lose the depth of field. I was mostly 5-10 feet away from the light and had this amount of strobe mis fire.
I have another shoot tomorrow so I will have to use tether for accuracy since I only have CC transmitter.
I think I read from someone else that you always need a fresh set of batteries but do not think that it should need replaced after only one hour of use in the CC. Does CC have a battery life indicator? What are your thoughts as to not having any problem in the beginning but now having this amount of problem?

Thank you for your support. I will call and speak directly if we cannot get this resolved quickly.

Similar results here. I'm getting just about 90ft at 100% with the CST and about 75ft at 100% with the CC outside with no obstructions. Anything longer seems to be a toss-up if not outright miss. Line-of-sight really means line-of-sight tho, as I'm noticing any obstructions that aren't thin walls and such really play a part in blocking the signals. If I put the light behind a car/wall or walk around the corner of tof a buidling about 50-or-so odd feet away from the receiver, it won't trigger. (These results are with CSRB+/speedlights though, still waiting on my Big E's to ship)

I'm not knockin' it tho, for the price it does solve about 95% of any real-world scenario I've run into. Not to mention the CC's real easy to use & packed with features. I've also had the similar experience rangewise with some Elinchrom Skyports. If I need to ever rent PW's for silly-long ranges it'd be a rare occurrence anyway.

Far as the CC battery life goes, mine seems to be a mixed bag. Using 900mAh rechargeable NiMH's, the most I've used it in length was some solid test shooting I did the other day for like 3-4 hours and it's still ticking. When I first got it tho, a strange thing did happen - I put fresh batteries right out the box, toyed with it for a bit & threw it in a pocket of my backpack. Seems one of the buttons must've been kept 'pushed' by the other contents or walls of the bag, cuz the next morning it wouldn't turn on at all until i swapped cells.

Cyber Commander needs power above 3VDC to operate. This can be hit or miss with rechargeables, as most are 2.4VDC (in a pair). This could affect range and could affect general operability. For longest life, set the back light as low as possible and the timeout to the shortest time feasable. CC has a low battery indicator, but not a "gauge". A good set of alkalines should last many hours if set to a low backlight and fast time out.

Hmmm that's not good news. So it sounds like the CST I ordered to make up for the Cyber Commander's short comings won't make that much difference, 90' is still quite short of the advertised 350', and I wont be able to trigger individual groups with the CST...

It appears that the Cyber Commander's antenna is being redesigned for better performance, looking forward to the new version.

How would rechargeable NiZc AAA batteries do in the Cyber Commander? They do output 1.6v each for a total of 3.2v, would that be too much for the device or would it extend the range? Any risk of damage in trying it out? (I don't think the AAA NiZn are available yet, but when they are)

So, should I bother ordering a CST in an effort to obtain reliable triggering at my working range (about 70' with line of sight but often back to the light)? It sounds like the improvement offered over the Cyber Commander is marginal.

Any hint is greatly appreciated, I just want to trigger my Einsteins 100% reliably. Thanks,

Well, maybe CS can chime in, but I would guess that setting up a extra CS receiver as a repeater should not only extend the range/hit rate for a minimal cost (still cheaper than a PW set), but still allow to maintain max sync on most camera models, even after the introduced trigger delay. Just a suggestion, don't quote me on that, though.



That's good news. I don't have anything but praise for the CC, but any added range would be stellar. If you don't mind me askin' - where'd ya hear this?

Joe from PCB :D

The advantage of the CST over Cyber Commander in range should be significant. Liquid Rhino, have you tried on different frequencies?

Yes, a CSRB in repeater mode will repeat the fire signal, but not adjustment signals (even with a CSRB+)

I have never seen a CST fail to go 300' + line of sight. Same transceiver chip and 2.4GHz frequency as Skyport. In my tests, CST has slight edge over Skyport in range and a substantial edge in antenna orientation. Something really wrong if you're only getting 90' with either.

Lithium batteries beat all other in CC or CSRB+ in terms of life and reliability in cold weather. About $5 per pair.