Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

The Cybersync series of remote controls has been very popular among the members of my camera club. They are used at almost every group shoot in several setups and in most regards, I love them. The price and features make an unbeatable combination.
That's why I recently made a major investment in PCB equipment (Two B1600s, a B800 and an E640 and a complete Cybersync system including CyberCommander and a CST!

There is one problem that has plagued these club shoots though. Since there is a big variety of cameras getting used, the CST gets connected to many different hot shoes in the course of an evening (even only counting the Canons and Nikons, Sony is another can of worms...).

Invariably, some people will have trouble with the strobes not triggering on certains sets and until this weekend when my own CST was one that had this problem, we hadn't identified the exact cause.

The problem is that the little ball contact that is supposed to touch the hot shoe contact gets pressed into the plastic case by a few thousanths of an inch and even though it looks fine, it doesn't make contact.

Being an engineer, my first instinct was to take the damned thing apart, but it looks like its glued shut. The only opening is the battery compartment. Through the battery compartment I can see where the contact is soldered to the PC board.
If I use a jeweler's screwdriver to push the contact down a bit I can get the CST working again!

As an engineer, it seems like a no-brainer that the contact should be spring loaded so it can change depth as needed, but it looks like it's simply a foil tab soldered directly to the board.
I know Buff has excellent CS and if I return it, they'll get it working again, but it seems to me this is a design problem that will keep recurring.

I was surprised not to find discussion of this in the forum (maybe I'm blind...)
Sorry for the long winded explanation, but this is frustrating.
Gary

I don't think that I've seen the issue discussed in as much detail as you've provided here (relating to the ball connection being foil tab construction). CST to hot shoe contact discussions on the board usually come up in troubleshooting a reliability problem and don't often extend beyond "push the CST down in the hotshoe and try to trigger."

While it has happened, it is not a commonly reported problem. I will pass this info along, but do contact customer service for warranty solutions.

I want to be clear that I'm not down on PCB for this issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. I LOVE the Cyber Sync products, but this contact thing prevents the CST from being usable when it happens, and I hate to keep a set full of naked girls waiting while I get my jeweler's screwdriver! :)
I think your engineers could design a retro-fittable contact out of phosphor bronze, that will solder to the same spot, but be springy enough to solve the problem.

While I'm on the subject of hot shoe contacts, the one on the Cyber-Commander (CC) seems to be done very well! It has a nicely spring loaded contact. Unfortunately, the ratchet on the foot is so asymmetrical it allows the CC to flop over in one direction and feel like it's going to break when you lift it back up. :(
I just let it flop, rather than take a chance on it breaking, since it won't stay up for long anyway.
I just downloaded the V36 firmware for my CC and have high hopes that it will resolve the battery life issue I've been fighting. [ edit: Yes it did!!!]
It sure would be very cool to be able to adjust those hair lights on the booms without getting the ladder!
How about adding a remote controllable servo to the Einstein mount, so I can steer them too! :) Those 10 deg. grids are pretty touchy.

[UPDATE: Mar 16th, 2012]:
I should have done this a while ago, but better late than never I guess...
I reported in the original post that the CST can't be taken apart. It turns out that you just have to have the nerve to use a little more force. The two shell halves fit very tight but do unsnap apart.
Once I got my unit apart I could see my problem more clearly. Part of the contact problem in my CST was NOT the center contact, but was one of the little fingers that contacts the edges of the hot shoe (ground). When I separated the plastic shell halves, the finger fell right out. It was supposed to be soldered but the joint was defective. I re-soldered it and all was well! :)
I still feel that the center contact should be spring loaded since I still need to flex the solder tab once in a while to ensure contact.
[END UPDATE]

Gary (A big PCB fan!)