Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

OK, have the units had thier power reset during the time you have had problems (i.e. unplugged from the wall outlet, then plugged back in)? This has corrected similar issues in the past.

oh yes. many times. particularly when I was changing radios between the lights for testing/troubleshooting. I wondered myself if somehow some software in the camera needed a refresh so I was sure to do that.

Still no solution to this problem. I know it's been a while, and since the last posting here I have had several conversations with tech support, who acknowledged that there can be intermittent "twinkle flash" problems when used with the vagabond mini. That conversation was a while ago and I don't get to use this setup very often. This weekend I had another shoot and setup the lights as usual. AB800 and AB400 running both from the vagabond mini. Radios seemed to be working fine. Flashes metered fine....for a while. Once it was go-time, of course one wouldn't fire. I switched the csrb+ to my spare and it acted ok at first, but eventually also quit working. If I unplugged the data cord, and used optical slave mode, that would work but everybody else's flash would be setting mine off, so no good.

I had to bail to using just my sb900 and count all the time, energy, and expense of buying and using the PCB system as completely wasted. I have YET to have a shoot where the radios functioned properly (unless using them manually). Correction, the pocketwizard radios worked perfectly....everytime.

After I got home, I did a thorough test of mixing and matching: power sources, lights, radios, frequency, and channel. The ONLY thing consistent is that you couldn't depend on the lights working for more than a few minutes using the PCB radio system. I could find no combination that didn't result in the twinkle flash (zero power) problem.

I am not sure what has been determined in the interim, however, the "twinkle" flash is typically either a settings issue or a grounding issue. If you are or have been using a power strip or extension cord, remove that from the equation. It is also possible for a ground problem to show up in a power cord.

Also, you say everything worked fine then stopped. Between set up and "go-time", did power get interrupted to the light and or receiver (i.e. unplugged from wall, power strip switch, Vagabond turned off, etc)?

no, these were both running straight from the vagabond mini with the supplied power cords that came with the lights. So it was a complete PCB system (lights, cords, power supply (no power strip).

1-Was the power of the VML shut off between when it did and did not work?

2-Did the problem happen with both lights simultaneously?

3- Were the model lamp on/off buttons pushed in?

4-Were the model lamps shut off via the Cyber Commander?

1. no
2. sometimes yes and sometimes no.
3. not sure about that.
4. usually yes. I only use these lights configured to be controlled by the CC. If I use modeling light, it's controlled through the CC. however, since I am usually trying to use these with the VML, the modeling light are usually off.

Set the model lamps in the Cyber Commander to TRACK, and turn the model lamps of at the head when using the VML and see if there is a difference.

Also, does this only happen with the VML, or does it happen in the wall as well?

I will try that. Happens with both.

tested as you recommend, and couldn't replicate the error. Will try long-term test to verify. Thanks.