Technical Support wrote:
Batteries are a possibility. A corrupt SD card in the CC is also a possibility, but unlikely if everything was otherwise working OK.
This resulting from radio interference from a bunch of phones is highly unlikely, if not impossible.
Not knowing the environment, I would wager a cause could be a failing/flickering fluorescent light flickering at the right frequency and intensity triggering one light and that triggers the rest.
Quote:
Important note, all slave cells were ON. If I'm not mistaken, the units react to both the radio and the light signals, whichever comes first,
In this case, the radio will always get there first. Since it is being broadcast alone, it will reach the closest light first (since there is no flash accompanying it). This closest flash would fire then potentially trigger the other lights, travelling at the speed of light. However, the radio waves from the transmitter are also travelling at (effectively) the speed of light, and were already underway to the other receivers and would have already arrived by the time the closest light fired.
All of this to say, by having both active in close proximity is unnecessary, and active slaves can cause undesired effects in certain locations, with no benefit. I would suggest turning of the slave eyes. If nothing else, it will prevent potential problems, and if this rapid fire problem arises again, it will be easier to trouble shoot by seeing how many lights are affected.
Thanks for the explanations. Flickering of fluorescent lights in the room are suspected, although I know first hand that the tubes are all low mileage, but who knows.
As to radio waves, I know they travel at the speed of light, but the reaction time of the electronics involved is seldom well documented for the general public. I'm surprised the radio signal will trigger before the slave cell do. I always thought a slave cell is virtually instantaneous.
I use to leave the slave cells ON even when syncing with radio, although it does not allow for firing of individual lights for measurements. Kind of a "belt and suspender" approach. But it left me whithout clues as to which flash units were firing spontaneously (or all of them...).
I'll stick to radio-only and fresh batteries for the moment, and see if it ever happens again.