DIY Fiber optic cable for TG-6 and Inon s2000

[Thomas Witt]

Hello I was wondering if it would be a smart choice to DIY a fiber optic cable for my new gear, I'll be using a TG-6 with PT-059 housing and a Inon s2000 strobe. I will have a backscatter m52 air lens which has a special adapter for the fiber optics that you must change out to use with the lens.

Do I run a risk of shorting out my new gear and ruining them if I make one?

And if I do make one, what is the best way to, keep in mind I have no technology/ electricity knowledge/ experience other than tearing apart broken head phones.

I think if i can get it to work, it will be well worth not paying $85 for a simple cable.

Thanks
- Thomas

 

[CanadaDan]

Keep in mind there is no electricity involved. All the cable is doing is providing a pathway for light from the housing to the strobe. So the only thing you risk is your strobe not being triggered by the internal flash.

If you watch the video on the product's page you will see them making up the cable and it's quite easy. Just make sure you start with good quality multi-strand cable and that you have the correct end for your strobe.

 

[Tool Belt]

I made one up for my Sea and Sea strobe using an 8 dollar audio optical cable and maybe 10 bucks of S&S connectors. Works great as the cable is thicker than the one I previously had.

As to specifics there are a couple articles that will show up when you search.

 

[randini]

You will not short anything out as there is no electricity passing through the cables, only light.

I use a homemade cable for my camera and Sea&Sea strobes. Start with a Toslink fiber optic cable, they are about $5 and you can get them form any shop that sells home audio. I just checked the price on Target and there's one for like $4.50. There are cables that cost $50 or more, so look for the cheap ones. From Backscatter or Reef or wherever get one FO plug for each Inon strobe. Should only be about $10 each. Your lens appears to come with the FO adapter for the camera side.
All you need to do is cut the Toslink plugs off and cut the cable to size. Make sure to get as smooth and flat of a cut as possible. Then mate it all together. I used one cable to do two strobes and had a bit left over. If you want you can put the cable in some boiling water to soften it up, wind it tightly around a pencil and keep it there until it cools (put a zip tie on each end and throw it in the freezer for a few minutes) to make coils in the cable.

Good luck.

 

[Thomas Witt]

Thanks for all the replies, I am glad to know I can save a little bit of money!

 

[Hoag]

Keep in mind that Inon strobes have a unique fitting to attach the F/O Cable to. It is not a "standard" Sea&Sea connection. You will have to buy (or fabricate) the part that screws on to the strobe and then ensure that your end attaches to this and transmits enough light to trigger the strobe.

I have little doubt that you could do it as a DIY project, but it will not be as cheap nor as easy as doing the same DIY for a Sea&Sea strobe.

 

[Thomas Witt]

Thanks, I did not know that.

 

[raftingtigger]

I bought one (a little thinner than the Backscatter one that has now broken in 3 places) for $16 on Amazon. Fits perfectly in the TG-5 housing and the Backscatter MiniFlash.

DIVTEK Diving Fiber Optic Cable Flash Link Optical Connection Fuse Sea Underwater Diving Photography Fiber Max 55Inches

 

[Hoag]

Thanks, I did not know that.

The place on the Inon S2000 where the F/O Cable connects is on the bottom (the clear little bump on the bottom). The cable screws into a threaded part of the strobe's housing to attach it securely to the strobe. In the image below, you can see the black, threaded coupling just below the orange part but above the clear bump on the bottom.

To fasten the F/O cable, to the strobe, the cable must have a "female" threaded end on it to secure it to the strobe such as the one shown below.

That is why I think that as a DIY project, it would likely be more trouble than it is worth. There may be work arounds, but only you will ultimately be able to answer whether it is worth the time and energy that you would invest as opposed to simply buying the right part from the beginning. To put it another way, only you will be able to answer whether your DIY skills are certain enough that you are willing to count on them if you happen to see something that you REALLY want to photograph and you know that the DIY cable will not let you down.

 

[Nemrod]

Divervision is a good source of photo gear that is not normally available from our otherwise fine domestic stores. The Inon cap is available from them on their website. I think about $8. I have bought these items from them. Beware that there are Type 2 and Type 4 Inon sensors. Newer strobes are Type 4.

No, Inon does not use Sea&Sea connectors, they use Inon connectors. Usually the raw end of the cable simply friction fits into the housing port. if you look closely many camera housings (Nauticam, Recsea, FIX) have two S&S ports and then there are two tiny holes between those or otherwise arranged on the port block, those are for the Inon issued cables to plug into. If you build your own cable, unless the diameter is similar to Inon supplied cable then you will need to revert to S&S connections, which are also available from Divervision.

Divervision has the excellent Howshot brand 612 fiber optic cables already terminated and ready to go for half the price of the Inon or S&S branded items.I have some and they are nice! Just be aware, Divervision tends to use DHL which means a small package runs about $25 dollars and takes about two days to arrive, so try to make up a nice list of items to offset the shipping. DHL shipping is excellent, you get what you pay for.

The S2000 series Inon strobes have a "false" port on the front lens, that is for a sync cable between strobes. The sync cable from the camera housing flash port goes on the little round, clear sensor.

N