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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Pocket Wizard Pains
Dan Powers, Photographer
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Appleton | WI | USA | Posted: 8:46 PM on 05.06.08 |
->> Lately I've been having issues using my Pocket Wizard Plus to fire a remote camera during baseball and softball games. They only fire when I'm within about 30-40 feet.
So, today I borrowed a colleagues set. I placed it along the third base line pointing at home. I was positioned along the first base line and this was a softball field. My tests (when I was standing on homeplate to check my focus before the game) were great. But as soon as I walked over to first base...evidently...it stopped firing. I had a nice play at home that would have been nice from the remote and I got nothing. Oh...batteries were brand new. Any thoughts? It's pissin' me off! Thanks guys...Dan. |
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Alex Menendez, Photographer
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Max Gersh, Student/Intern, Photo Editor
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St. Louis | MO | USA | Posted: 9:42 PM on 05.06.08 |
->> What kind of camera are you using? I had that problem with my old Canon D30 (not 30D). Apparently some cameras behave better with them than others. However, that being said, I have used them with nearly every other canon newer than the D30 with no issues.
I assume you know how to set the camera such as having it set not to go to sleep and such. If I'm mistaken, I'm sure someone on this board can fill you in. |
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Joel Kowsky, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Columbia | MO | United States | Posted: 10:19 PM on 05.06.08 |
->> Are you using a pre-trigger cable or just a motor drive cable?
One other thing... where you remote is set-up, are there any significantly large pieces of metal, like polls holding up the net or large fence posts? This is just a stab in the dark, but if that is the case, then they might be affecting the signal. With you standing on homeplate the line of sight to the other radio is probably pretty good, but when you're at your normal shooting positing the LOS might not be as good.
If everything is good with the cable and it's long enough and if possible you might try mounting the radio higher, that might improve the LOS.
Just my two cents... |
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Bob Ford, Photographer
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Lehighton | Pa | USA | Posted: 11:27 PM on 05.06.08 |
->> Dan, I saw the image of your setup on your blog (http://www.postcrescent.com/ic/blogs/sidelines/index.shtml), and was wondering where you have your Pocket Wizard.
Is it on the ground below you camera? Have you tried raising it by maybe hooking it to the fence to see if that makes a difference? |
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Matt Brown, Photographer
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Fullerton | CA | USA | Posted: 12:35 AM on 05.07.08 |
| ->> Dan you have to get the remote off the ground. You can purchase MD cord extensions at Radio Shack to place the radios in the best location. The higher the better. |
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Shawn Cullen, Assistant
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San Diego | CA | | Posted: 12:56 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Dan,
Since I was not there and I cannot recreate the situation, I can only guess what the problem might be.
The first thing I noticed it the remote camera being on the ground. When LPA (Lab Partners Design) tested the signal range of the Pocket Wizard, they simulated conditions to where the Pocket Wizard was 6' high. When you lower the height of the Pocket Wizard the signal range decreases. If the distance from home plate to third base is shorter than first to third then you may have found your maximum distance when the Pocket Wizard is that low to the ground.
The second thing is how close it is to the metal fence. This can cause problems with frequency changes. I do not know the full explanation for this but I do know that metal can change the frequency of a signal that is bounced off of it. Try to keep it as far away as possible in the situation that your remote is in (I understand where it is and there may not be room to move it out further) so that the fence will be as less a factor as possible.
The last thing is the position of the antenna. Try to keep it in the same position as the Transmitter. This is not always the fix but in some situations it has helped. That’s all I got for you and best of luck in fixing the problem!
Matt, you beat me to it! And your cord is ready! |
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Dan Powers, Photographer
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Appleton | WI | USA | Posted: 1:27 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Hey guys,
Thanks for all of the feedback. Guilty as charged. To start, the camera is on ground level so the receiver is laying on the Overexposed plate. Secondly, it's about a foot away from the fence. The reason the receiver was on the ground was that I was afraid if I had it mounted on the hotshoe it had a better change of getting snapped off by a foul ball. But now that I think of it, that would be the least of my problems...I would be worrying about a smashed camera/lens instead! I'll give it another try at my next game and keep the receiver off of the ground. Thanks for all of the great input! Much appreciated...Dan. (The camera was a Mark IIn) |
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Max Gersh, Student/Intern, Photo Editor
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St. Louis | MO | USA | Posted: 7:15 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Dan,
I know what you mean about being worried about snapping the foot on the wizard. What I have done occasionally is gaff tape the wizard to the back of the camera just allowing the antenna to poke over the top of the camera. It's not like you need to look through the camera. |
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Dan Powers, Photographer
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Appleton | WI | USA | Posted: 8:11 AM on 05.07.08 |
| ->> If any of you are using the Overexpsed plates, how are you getting your Wizard in a higher position when the plate is at ground level? Do you know of any sort of extension tube or something that can be threaded into the plate to get the Wizard a foot or so off the ground? And does it have a hot shoe? If not, I'm gonna just put it on the camera hot shoe and hope for the best. Thanks again...Dan. |
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George Bridges, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | USA | Posted: 9:32 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Dan,
You have several options to raise the PW to a better point.
One is with one of the devices used to hold a flash and an umbrella. You can rig that on the Overxposed plate to mount the Wizard or even use one of the hot-shoe stands that come with Canon (and Nikon) flashes to stand the Wizard up.
It was mentioned that you can buy mini-phone extension cables at Radio Shack and that is a good way to do it in this situation. In your photo on the blog you could use a SuperClamp to mount the Wizard on the fence support pole (on the outside of the fence too to prevent foul balls from getting it) several feet above the camera and then run the extension cable down to the camera. This will give you a protected and elevated receiver helping with your range. And if you use a clamp to mount the Wizard, look at getting an extension bar to extend it out from the metal. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 9:40 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Dan,
If you have a career's worth of accumulated Bogen brass parts and a Big Orange Box home store nearby the solution should be easy. The PW's I own have a 1/4-20 thread receiver in the back.
Head into the Depot, grab a length of threaded rod and cut to length. Not having seen the OverXposed plate, this could be 3/8-16 the description indicates it is threaded for, or 1/4-20 for a hole you could drill yourself. If you go with the smaller size, ad a couple of nuts to both secure the rod and keep it from bottoming out in the PW socket. Use the larger and you'll need a few brass parts to change thread size and gender. You could also use an umbrella tilter to go with a vertical receiver orientation.
The possibilities for gadgetry are limitless! |
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Ron Scheffler, Photographer
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Hamilton (Toronto area) | Ontario | Canada | Posted: 9:54 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> I don't have an Overexposed plate, but just took a look at their site and it appears there are a bunch of threaded holes scattered around the plate.
If you have a Manfrotto/Bogen backlight stand and extension pole (extends to about 3 feet) set, you could take the extension pole and thread it directly onto the plate. Or place the stand and pole directly behind the camera. Then mount the Pocket Wizard to the pole using the 1/4" thread... But that will mount the PW with the antenna parallel to the ground, which I suppose is OK if you're shooting vertical with the sender mounted on the camera's hot shoe. But even if the antenna orientation doesn't match, you should still get enough range to span a baseball field. Or tape the PW to the pole. Or devise another mounting solution.
I'd suggest asking someone to stand beside the remote camera to listen if it's firing when you test it from your actual shooting position. |
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Dave Prelosky, Photographer
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Lower Burrell | Pa | US | Posted: 10:00 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> Ron,
Why didn't I think of that. Probably too simple.... |
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Bryan Hulse, Photographer
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Highlands Ranch | Co | USA | Posted: 10:02 AM on 05.07.08 |
->> I had the same problem and finally decided it was because the PW and camera were on the ground (like everyone else said).
Last week I took the rig to a park and had my son babysit the camera. With the camera and PW on the ground, I could only get about a 25 foot range. But when he held the rig (or just the PW) about 4 feet off the ground, I could shoot from across a very long field.
So, you (we) will need to mount the PW high on a fence, light stand, up the goal post (for soccer), etc.
I wish I would have seen this post 1 month ago!
:) |
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Dan Powers, Photographer
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Appleton | WI | USA | Posted: 10:30 AM on 05.07.08 |
| ->> Thanks guys. All of that advice is fantastic. I'm gonna work on it today. Again, thanks so much for helping me out...Dan. |
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Melissa Wade, Photographer
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New York | NY | USA | Posted: 12:35 PM on 05.07.08 |
->> Different pocket wizard question - I mounted a remote between the tv cameras at an arena (I think one was the scoreboard while the others were broadcast) - tested it while I was up there, seemed fine (this was early so tv cameras weren't in use at that point) - postgame discovered very few images despite pressing it enough to be worried that I'd run out of card space (2 games with OT). The previous day I had the same remote setup in a neigboring box and had no problems.
Is there some sort of competing transmission going on that would block my signals and if so is there a solution? It is a much better angle than my other options. |
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Shawn Cullen, Assistant
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San Diego | CA | | Posted: 12:19 PM on 05.08.08 |
->> Melissa,
Is it possible that there was not line of sight between the transmitter and the receiver? There could be interference from the TV cameras but make sure the two units can see each other. If there is interference from the TV cameras I don't think there is much you can do other than place the receiver in a spot further away from the TV cameras. |
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