MaxTech Transceiver manual

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3 Congratu lations on y our pur chase of the n ew Po ck et Wiz ard Mult iMAX digi tal rad io trig gering syst em. T he Pocket Wizard MultiMAX is a m icrop roces sor-b ased radio slave s ystem that us es advan ced digita l sig naling to inc reas e trigg ering rang e, reliability, an d rejec tion of radio noi se fro m othe r sour ces. Sin ce i t ut i[...]

4 FCC & IC Compli ance I nfor mati on W AR NIN G : Ch anges or mod ifications to this u nit not expres sly app roved by the p arty resp ons ible for c omp liance c ould void the u ser's authority to operate the eq uipm ent. NO TE : This equipm ent has been teste d and found to comp ly wi th the li mits for a Class B digita l dev ice, pursu[...]

5 Ta ble of C on ten ts Icon s U sed in this Man ual .................................. ..............8 Featur es .................................. ............................ 9 Communicati on Technol ogy .................................. ........9 Bas ic F eatures .................................. ..................9 Sp ecial Featu res .......[...]

6 Men u S ystem .................................. ....................... 24 Navigation .................................. ..................... 24 LCD C ont rast Adjustment .................................. .... 24 Num eric Entry .................................. ............. 25 Main Me nu .................................. ...................[...]

7 O ther F eatures .................................. ...................... 39 Key pa d Lo ck .................................. ................... 39 Hig h V oltage Protec tion .................................. .......... 39 Rela y Mode .................................. .................... 40 Sof tware V ersion D isplay ......................[...]

8 Ic ons Used i n th is Manual N N Read t he i nforma ti on fo ll owi ng thi s icon. It shows impo rta nt no te s about the subje ct bei ng discussed. L L Fol lo w thi s icon fo r more det ai le d info rmati on o n the subje ct in ano the r secti on. ë ë Find v al uabl e t ips a nd te chnique s with thi s icon. Ref er to ht tp :/ /w ww. po cke tw[...]

9 Feat ures Communicat ion Tec hnol ogy • Fu ll Digital R adio C omm unic ation • Micropr ocessor contr ol le d • 32 di gi ta ll y co de d cha nne ls • Com plex 16 or 2 4 bit c oded s ignal • Sele ctiv e Quad-Tri ggeri ng Basic Feature s • Bu ilt-in hot sh oe • 1/4-2 0 femal e mount ing t hrea d • Bui l t- i n AC a da pt e r j a ck [...]

10 Part s Desi gnat ion[...]

11 LCD Infor mati on[...]

12 Powe r Swi tch PORT 1 / PORT 2 / Sta tu s LED Keypad Co ntrols Powe r Swi tch • TRANS MI T U nit is pow ered on in TR ANS MITT ER (T X) mode • RECEIVE U nit is pow ered on in REC EIVER (R X) mode • OFF Unit is p owe re d OFF Keypad • A B C D L Selec ts Q uad-T riggerin g Z ones and Lo cal. Also use d in me nu navi gatio n and num eric en[...]

13 Batt ery Compart ment Battery Ic on Gett ing St art ed Bat ter y Inf ormati on The Multi MAX requi res t wo AA size (IEC: LR6) batteries. T he M ultiMA X will operate norm ally with Nic kel Metal H ydride (N iMH ), Lithium Ion (Li), N ickel Cad ium (N iCad ) and A lkaline batteries. Alka li ne ba tt eri es ar e re commended. Ins erting B atterie[...]

14 The Multi MAX conti nual ly regu la te s the ba tt ery powe r whi ch giv es ex cell ent perfor man ce th rough out the life of th e batteries. T he un it will continu e to fun ction norma ll y unt il the bat te ri es ar e ne arl y e xha usted. N T he M ultiM AX voltage reg ulation is very ef fic ient. T here is only a s m all bene fit when usi n[...]

15 Care and M aintenance To e nsur e co nt in ue d re li ab il it y, pl ea se f ol lo w th ese gui de li ne s: • Do no t sub j e ct un i ts t o hi gh me cha ni ca l sho ck ( do no t dr o p!) • Kee p u nit d ry. D o not im m ers e in an y liquid • Set po wer swi tch to OFF whe n no t i n use • R em ove us ed b atteries prom ptly • Remove b[...]

16 Quick Setu p - Bas ic Radi o Slav e Operat ion Basic Setup for Remote Flash N Turn o ff a ll eq ui pmen t b ef or e i nst al li ng ba tt er ie s or mak in g co nne cti on s! 1. In sta l l 2 AA b at te ri es i n e ac h Mul ti MAX 2. Connect camera t o fir st Multi MAX: a. Slide u nit into cam era hot s hoe - or- b. Us e sync cab le (inclu ded) to[...]

17 Trig gering M ultiple Flashe s W ith M ultiple RE CE IVE U nits Multiple r emote fla sh units m ay be t riggered i n sync w ith ea ch other. 1. Ins tall batter ies in each add itional M ultiM AX un it 2. Us e flash cab le to conn ect eac h add itional flash u nit’s s ync term inal to FL ASH / PORT 2 3. Set po wer swi tch on e ach add it io nal[...]

18 Standar d Radio O peration Transc ei ver Cont rol T he M ultiMA X operates as either a tran sm itter or a receiver. T o us e the M ultiMA X as a Transmit te r (sen ding de vi ce) set the powe r swit ch to TRAN SMIT. To use the Mul ti MAX a s a Rece i v er se t t he po we r sw i tch to RECEIVE. L T here is a s pec ial mode th at enables a Mu ltiM[...]

19 Co mp atibility Multi MAX channel s are compat ibl e wi th a ll Pocket W iza rd ra dio sla ve prod ucts per the ta ble bel ow: Digit al Radio Mo del M ultiM AX Co m pa tible Ch an ne ls Poc ketW izard 10 C han nel C lass ic 1-10 Poc ketW izard 16 C han nel C lass ic 1-16 Pocket W iza rd Plus 1-4 Poc ke tWiza rd MAX 1-16 17-32 Quad-Tri ggeri ng o[...]

20 T R AN SM IT un it Channel : 17 Zones : A, B , and L ocal R EC EI VE un it Ch annel: 17 , Zone: A R EC EI VE un it Ch annel: 17 , Zone: B Sele cti ve Quad- Trigge ri ng ( A B C D keys) This powe rful fea ture is used t o i ndiv idua ll y co ntro l up to 4 sets of M ultiMA X un its (s et for R EC EIV E m ode) on the s ame c hann el. Eac h keypad [...]

21 T RA NS MIT unit s et to CLAS SIC CH ANN EL 4 Rem ote and Loc al selected C lass ic C han nels C lass ic c han nels are c om patib le with early Poc ketW izard m odels an d the P ocketW izard P lus. Selec tive Q uad -T rigg ering is on ly available in channe ls 17 t hroug h 32. I n channe ls 1 t hroug h 16 the di spl ay wi ll sho w CLASSIC CHANN[...]

22 True Confi rmati on Bec aus e the M ultiMA X is a tru e trans ceiver it autom atically conf irms triggerin g. It can perform this on two le vel s: it confirms the round trip radi o signal a nd can c onfirm actua l fl ash sync wi th a n opt io nal fla sh confir mati on cabl e. It doe s thi s for a ll Quad- T rigg ering zones on every tr igge r. C[...]

23 N Confir mati on can onl y be perfo rmed usi ng Mult iMAX unit s on channe ls 17 a nd higher. PocketW izard Plus, Classic, and the origi nal MAX do not perform confi rmati on. N True Con fi rma ti on i s de si gne d t o w or k wi th on e Mu l ti MAX ( se t f or RECEIVE mod e) per zon e. Mu ltiple RE CE IVE units set to the s ame c hann el and zo[...]

24 Me nu Syst em Navi gati on Man y fun ctions of the M ultiMA X are acc ess ed throu gh eas y-to-navigate m enus . Pre ss ~ / MENU to ent er t he menu sy stem. Me nu it ems are sel ecte d by usi ng the A B C D L ke ys. W hile within th e men us the ~ / MENU ke y p er fo rms t wo funct io ns: • If a menu i s displ ay ed, pressi ng ~ / MENU return[...]

25 EXAMPL E 1 Num eric Entry EXAMPL E 2 Num eric Entry Num eric Entry Seve ral menu i te ms requi re a number o r v al ue t o be ent ere d. Numeri c entr y i s perfo rmed wi th A B C D and  keys. T he A B C D key s each se le ct and ad d 1 t o a spe cif ic d ig it as f ol lo ws: A – selec ts an d add s 1 to the 4 th digit from the righ t B [...]

26 Main Me nu G o Ad vanced Main Me nu G o Nor mal Main Menu Fro m the mai n scre en pre ss ~ / MENU to ent er t he Main Men u. P ress a letter to either proceed to another menu o r pe rfo rm a f uncti on p er the li st be lo w. A: A dvanced M enu – ~ / MENU A Pre ss A to enter the A dvanc ed M enu. T he A dvanc ed M enu con tains D elay mod es ([...]

27 Basic Set ti ngs Menu Set C ontact T ime S creen Basic Sett ings Pre ss ~ / MENU B to ent er t he Basi c Sett ings menu. Pre ss th e co rr esp on di ng l et te r fo r t he set ti ng y ou wi sh to adjus t. A: Con ta ct Ti me – ~ / MENU B A Con tact tim e is the leng th of tim e that C AM ER A / P O RT 1 or F LA SH /PO RT 2 outp uts remain conta[...]

28 For trigg ering rem ote c am eras , a long er c ontac t tim e allows for c ontin uou s r epeatab le motor d rive triggering (examp le: 5 fram e burs ts every trigger ). It also allows for con trolled bulb exposu re. • Exampl e of Burst Shooti ng : If a rem ote cam era is c apable of f iring 3 f rames per s econ d in c ontin uou s m otor d rive[...]

29 Beep Men u B: B eep Menu – ~ / MENU B B T his m enu c ontrols th e beep f unc tions of a Mu ltiMA X. Pres s th e corres pond ing letter to set th e desired func tio n of the built -in speaker. A: Bee p on All – ~ / MENU B B A Mu ltiMA X will beep on all triggering, c onfirm ation errors , and zer o coun ts as indic ated below as well as on a[...]

30 Counte r Menu T RA NS MIT unit s et to Co un t Up Counter Menu Pre ss ~ / MENU C ent er t he Count er Me nu. This menu contr ol s the co unte r functi ons of t he Mult iMAX. The cou nter c an s how th e total num ber of trig gers . It can also c oun t up or dow n f rom a set valu e. C oun t is incr emen ted on every trigger from any sou rce: PO [...]

31 Load C ounter S creen C: C lear / Res et – ~ / MENU C C Cou nt direc tion is not c hang ed. C ounter is reset to 0 if cou nt direc tion is s et to up, or the c oun ter is res et to the load value if c oun t direc tion is set t o dow n. If the c oun ter is disab led, then th is fu nc tion will enable the c ounter u sing the last c ount d irecti[...]

32 R EC EI VE un it Adva nced Menu T R AN SM IT un it Adva nced Menu T R AN SM IT un it Dela y Menu T R AN SM IT un it Rem otes + PO RT 2 delayed Advanced Menu Pre ss ~ / MENU A to enter the A dvan ced Me nu . T his menu cont ai ns the a dva nced functi ons of t he Multi MAX. Preci sion ti ming an d seque ncing ope rat io ns are av ai la ble in t h[...]

33 Rear Cu rtain S creen B: R em otes O nly – ~ / MENU A A B En ters the n um eric entry s cr een. D elays th e R adio rem ote un its on ly. PO R T 2 w ill tr ig ge r i mmedi at el y. Remo te uni ts wi ll tr ig ge r a ft er th e d isp la ye d de la y. If th e co nt act tim e for t he M ultiM AX (s et for T R AN SM IT mo de) is long er tha n th e [...]

34 R EC EI VE un it Dela y Menu R EC EI VE un it PO RT 1 + P O RT 2 delayed A: Del ay Menu - RECEI VER – ~ / MENU A A En ters th e delay menu for a M ultiMA X (s et for RE CE IVE mod e). Eac h R EC EIV E u nit can have its own d elay for seq uenc es or f or sync hronization . T o ea sil y d el ay al l RECEI VE uni ts t he same amo unt , u se the [...]

35 Eq ualize Sc reen C: E qualize – ~ / MENU A A C Equal ize Mode i s a speci al ize d del ay mode fo r synchr oni zing multi ple camera s to o ne fl a sh. Thi s mo de i s de si gn e d t o wo rk wi th shu tt e r s pe e ds u p t o 1/ 12 5 o n so me camera s, but t here are many f acto rs tha t coul d affe ct ope rat io n. L Read the Camera Equa li[...]

36 Int erv al omet er Mo de Set In terval Sc reen T R AN SM IT un it 120 sec ond In terval 36 tri gger Count B: I nt er val omet er (Ti me La pse Ph ot ogr aph y) – ~ / MENU A B En ters th e Intervalometer interval s etting s creen . Interv alo meter can be used to tri gger a flash or a cam era at a set interval (time g ap betw een trigg ers) f o[...]

37 Multi -pop Mode Set In terval Sc reen T R AN SM IT U nit 5.00 sec ond M ulti-pop In terval 10 tri gger Count ë For de la ys l on ge r t ha n t he 6. 4 se con ds (ma xi mum av ai la bl e i n de la y mo de s) use Int erv al omet er o r Mult ipo p mode. Set t he i nte rv al to the desi red d el ay . Set the count to 1. A ttac h your cam era to P O[...]

38 T R AN SM IT un it SpeedCy cler Mode A = tr ig ge re d wi th fl ash con firm ation B = next zone to be trig gered The fol lo wing cha rt i s a sta rti ng poi nt fo r cal cula ti ng how t he number of fl ashes o r pop s affec ts F -stop s. S ince every flas h un it is diff erent, us e a light m eter or other m ethod fo r mo re pre cise cal cul at[...]

39 R EC EI VE un it Fast Mode D: Fas t Mode - RECEIVER – ~ / MENU A D The Mul ti MAX i s de sig ne d t o sy nc ca mer as a nd fl ash units at shu tters s peeds up to 1 /250 th for m ost f ocal plane s hutters (35m m) and 1 /500 th for m ost leaf shutters. Some c amera and flash combinations are capabl e o f fast sy nc speeds up t o 1/ 1000th. The[...]

40 REC EIVE unit i n Rela y Mode Rec eives C hann el 22, Z one A Transmits Channe l 20 Rel ay Mode (RECE IV E Mode On ly ) – L In th is m ode a re m ote c am era’s mo tor dr ive is tri ggere d by a Multi MAX (set fo r RECE IVE mode). The Multi MAX then swi tches t o TRAN SMIT m ode and wai ts for a sy nc pulse f rom th e came ra. Upon get ti ng[...]

41 Appli cat ions of Advanc ed Funct ions The appl icat io ns bel ow a re un ique way s to use the adv anced f uncti ons of t he Multi MAX. Many o f the m requi re fi ne-t uning o r adj ustment to work wit h diffe rent cam era equip men t. Alw ays perf orm tes t exposu res to ins ure reliable res ults. Self-Timer or Cable Release Delays, or Interv [...]

42 Us e the form ula below to help calc ulate your m aximum saf e sh utter s peed b ased on yo ur f la sh dur at io ns. L Ref er to the Tim e Co nv ersion C harts sec tion, Pag e 55, to c onvert frac tions in to dec imals for the f ormu la. 1. Add y ou r ma xi mum (l on ge st) fl ash dur at io ns t og et he r ( de cima ls, no t f ra cti on s) 2. Ad[...]

43 Camera Equa li zati on Eq ualization, or syn ch ronizing mu ltiple cam eras to th e sam e flash , requires prec ision timing . Even th ough we perc eive camer a triggering activity as ins tantaneous , it is not. Even th e flash , whic h app ears to p rovide light only for an instan t, has a tim e duration (fl ash dur at io n) t ha t n ee ds t o [...]

44 • Mul ti pl e me cha ni ca l sy st e ms – c am eras that h ave ma ny c han geab le m ech anic ally interac ting parts (film bac ks , m otor d rives, lens sh utter s) are likely to have diff erent lag tim es w ith diff erent hard ware c omb inations. A leaf sh utter is in th e lens s o ch anging lenses on a leaf s hutter c amera w ill chang e[...]

45 ë Speed i s not t he most impor ta nt fa ctor in ca mera equa li zat io n, consi stency is. If a slow c amera h as extrem ely cons istent lag tim es it will be a better eq ualization can didate than a faster but inc ons istent c amera. T he reas on wh y it is imp ortant to know the ap proxim ate fas test lag tim e for a c am era, es pec ially a[...]

46 N If your c amera’s maxim um sync sp eed is s lower than the nu mb er listed th en you mu st u se th e slower s ync s peed. C amera eq ualization does not give a cam era fas ter sync sp eeds than th e cam era is des igned to h andle. For a ll shutte rs it can be assumed tha t a camera wit h faste r ex te rnal fla sh sync spee ds (X s ync) will[...]

47 O ne U nit Eq ualization To e qua li ze two came ra s an d o ne fl ash at 1/ 125 w it h o ne Mul ti MAX, f ol lo w th ese ste ps: 1. Set t he Mult iMAX to REC EIVE mode 2. Mea sure la g t ime s of came ra s as d escr ib ed an d re cor d t he fa ste st l ag fo r e ach 3. D eterm ine w hic h c am era is fas ter an d w hic h is slow er overall 4. D[...]

48 If using both Mu lti MA X units as R EC EIVE units being triggere d by any PocketW izard Tran smit te r fo ll ow th ese ste ps: 1. Set bo th uni ts to REC EIVE mode 2. Mea sure la g t ime s of came ra s as p re vi ou sly de scri be d a nd r eco rd t he fa ste st la g fo r e ach 3. D eterm ine w hic h c am era is fas ter an d w hic h is slow er o[...]

49 Eq ualization A djus tmen ts W ith all the variable factors above it may seem that perf ormin g the m ath nec ess ary for equa li zat io n is da unti ng. Her e a re so me te chnique s for fi ne- t uning o r adj usti ng equa li zat io n ti mes wit hout using spe cifi c math: On some 35m m c ameras you can gauge timing witho ut using film. If your[...]

50 Techni cal Inf ormat ion Speci fi cat ions W eight: 5.4 ou nc es w ith alkaline batteries Dime nsi on s: 1.4 inc hes deep x 2.1 inc hes wid e x 4.0 inc hes tall (b ody on ly) Flexible antenn a = 2.4 inch es tall. 0.3 in ch es in d iameter Batteries : 2 x AA (IEC :LR 6), 1.5 V b atteries, alkaline rec omm ended Read the Getting Started sec tion, [...]

51 HOT S HOE NOT E #2 : Some ca meras may ex hibi t unde sira ble beha vi or i f the RE CE IVE unit is mou nted in th e cam era hot s hoe wh en that c amera is being f ired re mo te l y . So me ca me ra s’ ho t sho e a nd mo to r d ri v e co nt a ct s ma y sha re so me connect io ns. This can ca use the camera to lo ck up or stop o pera ti ng nor[...]

52 M axi mum and M ini mum Setti ngs The f ol lo wi ng t ab le de ta il s th e ma xi mum an d mi ni mum va lu es a ll owe d fo r e ach numeric entr y set ting a va il able in the MultiMAX. Sett ing M axim um M ini mum Con ta ct Ti me 640 .00 s econ ds or 10 minut es, 40 se conds .01 seco nds Del a y Ti me 6.4000 se conds .0001 se conds (add 0 .000 [...]

53 Troub lesh ooti ng W hen in dou bt ! Many i ssues can be r esol ve d by po weri ng the unit off a nd the n back o n aga in o r by rese tt ing t o fa ctor y de faul t set ti ngs. Befo re pr ocee ding t o a ny o the r tr oubl eshoo ti ng pro ced ure fo ll ow th ese ste ps: 1. Set po wer to OFF 2. W ait 10 second s or until di splay completel y bla[...]

54 Radio Performance The Multi MAX is an a dva nced di git al radi o sy stem. I ts tr ue di git al te chnol ogy gua ra nt ee s o pt i mum i nt er fe re nce re j ec ti on whi l e ma i nt ai ni ng h i gh p er fo rma nce . As with al l radi o devi ces (c ell phones, walkie tal kies, cordle ss s ound systems ) there a re som e situations wher e perform[...]

55 Tim e C on ve rsio n C ha rts Frac tions to D ecim al : Here are some comm on photographic fractio ns in decimal val ues. All numbers are round ed t o t he ne are st .0001 or 1/ 10,000t h. L T hes e times are not R ear C urtain S ync tim es. T hes e are prec ision n um bers . Rear Curt ai n Sync numbers a re a lwa ys l ess tha n the ex act co nv[...]

Manual Revi sion 1.10 ( LP521)[...]