Canon off-camera cord mod - It's longer!

[dviv]

Well I finally worked up the nerve and did it:



I cut the cord and terminated it onto two RJ45 jacks - Now I can use any CAT5/6 cable to have the cord any length I need (this has been tested by others up to 50ft. I had a 5 meter cable hooked up last night and got full ETTL into an umbrella

Got quite a nice pic of the better half while testing:

[gstark]

Dave,

What a great mod. Well done.

[dviv]

Thanks Gary

Working up the guts to cut a $60 cord was a hell of a lot harder than the actual mod

The setup with the umbrealla:

[Glen]

David a great and very useful mod. Cat 5 cables are everywhere, even my local $2 shop has a big selection, so very easy to get longer lengths. Well thought out.


Let me congratulate you on the colour coordination of the cables and connectors

[gstark]

Just think: You can now use a network switch to power, say, 8 different flash heads from the one trigger! As if.

And you can now even trigger the flash in a different room from that within which the camera is located.

[dviv]

Let me congratulate you on the colour coordination of the cables and connectors

Michael Jackson would be proud - "it don't matter if you're black or white"

Just think: You can now use a network switch to power, say, 8 different flash heads from the one trigger!

I Wish!

[wendellt]

bravo you should be the 1st to win invention of the week

[MATT]

Cat5.. You should have done the wireless mod

Nice work..

MATT

[dviv]

Cat5.. You should have done the wireless mod

Again, I wish

[PiroStitch]

will it work if you use a hub?

[Mr Darcy]

Just think: You can now use a network switch to power, say, 8 different flash heads from the one trigger! As if.

And you can now even trigger the flash in a different room from that within which the camera is located.

Why stop there. Use VPN and do it all from he other side of the planet

[gstark]

Greg,

Just think: You can now use a network switch to power, say, 8 different flash heads from the one trigger! As if.

And you can now even trigger the flash in a different room from that within which the camera is located.

Why stop there. Use VPN and do it all from he other side of the planet

Damn!!!!

Why didn;t I think of that???

[surenj]

That's awesome!!!

[miikeboyle]

Nice work. Is there any chance of suffering a delay with the flash as length increases?

Miike

[dviv]

Is there any chance of suffering a delay with the flash as length increases?

Don't think so - singal propagation is pretty fast

This mod has been tested on other sites out to 50 feet still working perfectly - I think ETTL stops reporting properly when the cable gets too long and the flash will only work on manual/TTL.

[Wocka]

Great mod, I would be the same as you. Cutting a $60 cord is a big thing if you stuff it up.
But if I had the cord I would do this myself.

Gary, any change of getting these cord ( un-modded ) through the Forum?

Cheers

[Yi-P]

Well done, how is the wiring done in the RJ45 connectors? How many wires are inside the TTL cable?

I wonder if you hook them up to network adapators and through a wireless router, if you could send the exact signal through a wireless 100m range??? That would be a very very interesting project...

[Mr Darcy]

I wonder if you hook them up to network adapators and through a wireless router, if you could send the exact signal through a wireless 100m range??? That would be a very very interesting project...

Seriously, Dont try this.
1. An ethernet cable is a set of twisted pairs of wires. In a network, Each pair is used as data/ground. ie. one wire has the signal. The other is a reference for that signal. OTH the TTL cable probably uses a wire for each purpose, possibly with a ground shield.
2. THe voltages probably do not match

If you connect the TTL cable to the network using this device, you stand every chance of destroying the cables, the camera, the flash and the network router.

[dviv]

Well done, how is the wiring done in the RJ45 connectors? How many wires are inside the TTL cable?

There are 5 wires and some stranded shielding - I terminated the 5 wires into random spots in the socket. It doesn't matter which you use as long as they match up on the other end. The wires are roughly the same as a cat5 cable (though not twisted) so they terminate nicely. You just need a punch-down tool.

I split the shielding into two bunches and terminated them onto two different spots in the socket. Not sure if it was necessary but I thought best to make sure.

re the hub connection - What Mr Darcy said