Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I have recently purchased an X1600 and would like to know if I can use a remote transmitter unit I have with it. The receiver has a mono 1/4" plug, not stereo. Of course, both types have the center or "signal" connected to the tip of the plug extending approximately 1 cm in length. For the stereo plug the "ground" is connected to the second "channel" extending about 0.5 cm with the rest of the plug shaft being NC with respect to the sync cord. For the mono plug, the entire portion behind the insulator is ground. So will the mono 1/4" plug work, and will I run the risk of damaging something by trying it?

Second question, the transmitter has a 3.5 mm female mono jack. Could this be used with a mono 1/4" plug wired as described above to a 1/4" stereo plug for sync cord operation of the X1600?

(I have double-checked the outlets I'll be using and everything is correct; hot, return, and ground.)

I have read the FAQ and noted the hot shoe adapter you recommend. From the picture, it appears that one unit has both make and female Pc jacks.

PS... love the X1600 and heavy duty stand. Next purchase will be a set of honey comb modifiers.

Hi John,

I had the same question when I got my X1600's. I use pocket wizard plus II's and I bought my cables from flash zebra.com because I didn't want to spend to money for the over priced pocket wizard brand cables. They are mono plugs (2 wire) and work just fine. The transceiver is an 1/8 (3.5mm) female socket. I called TS and was told it didn't matter if a 2 wire or 3 wire cord was used.

Maybe TS can chime in and answer why there sync cables use 3 wire instead of the 2 wire.

a tip positive mono plug will be fine, in fact that is what we ship with our Cyber Syncs. The stereo cords that we use are for insulating the plug from the housing when used with a less than satisfactory power source. Generally, this is not an issue. You can use the 1/8 to 1/4 adapters, but you may want to be sure extras are on hand, as these can go bad rather frequently.

We have two devices, the hot shoe adapter (HSA), and speedlite foot adapter (SLFA). The HSA is designed to use on a camera that does not have a PC terminal. This would sit in the hotshoe, where a speedlite would normally go, and gets a signal from the bottom, and does not pass it through to the top. It has two PC female connections. The SLFA fits on the bottom of the speedlite foot. It passes a signal throught the top, but cannot accept a signal from the bottom (there is a 1/4-20 female thread). It has a PC female and 1/8" female connection. This is used to trigger speedlites without a sync jack via radio remote.

They look similar, but are very different, and not interchangeable.

Thanks, TS. I need the HSA, Hot Shoe Adapter. That should allow me to connect the supplied sync cord to my cameras. And thanks for the explanation on the 1/4" stereo plug.

10/18 follow-up... Received the HSA today and it works flawlessly with the supplied X1600 cord. Thanks so much for your guidance.