Oh, Backscatter - Why do your MiniFlash strobes taunt me so?

[MrChen]

I recently ordered a mf2 and they told me the xtar batteries were out of stock. They recommended the Nitecore batteries.

What is a nauticam trigger?

 

[Cali_diver]

@davehicks your story mirrors mine as well. My 2 (I left the brand newly replaced 1 at home) stopped working in Lembeh and I was messaging back and forth with backscatter who gave me a work around. When I got home I was so frustrated that I didn't even unpack it. I guess I need to get back with Backscatter about their "new trigger".

 

[bvanant]

I recently ordered a mf2 and they told me t he xtar batteries were out of stock. They recommended the Nitecore batteries.

What is a nauticam trigger?

Make sure you get the correct Nitecore batteries, they have a few different ones and some will work and some won't.
The ones that work are the NL2150 the HPi ones certainly don't work.

 

[davehicks]

@davehicks your story mirrors mine as well. My 2 (I left the brand newly replaced 1 at home) stopped working in Lembeh and I was messaging back and forth with backscatter who gave me a work around. When I got home I was so frustrated that I didn't even unpack it. I guess I need to get back with Backscatter about their "new trigger".

Well the good news is that the new trigger and MF2 work together great. No issues for the last 20 dives i have done since swapping in the new one.

 

[MrChen]

Make sure you get the correct Nitecore batteries, they have a few different ones and some will work and some won't.
The ones that work are the NL2150 the HPi ones certainly don't work.

I know, I found out the hard way . I do have the correct ones now. Now I'm trying to figure out why the strobe doesn't like my Sea&Sea rig. I took it out yesterday and it would only flash 1 out of 7 times I tried taking a picture, so I ended up just quick firing until it flashed.

 

[MrChen]

Well the good news is that the new trigger and MF2 work together great. No issues for the last 20 dives i have done since swapping in the new one.

Is the trigger the same thing as my Sea&Sea optical converter?

 

[davehicks]

Is the trigger the same thing as my Sea&Sea optical converter?

Not likely. The problem was with a specific older nauticam trigger.

 

[Barmaglot]

Now I'm trying to figure out why the strobe doesn't like my Sea&Sea rig. I took it out yesterday and it would only flash 1 out of 7 times I tried taking a picture, so I ended up just quick firing until it flashed.

It might have learned a bad pre-flash sequence. When you power up the miniflash, take one shot, and wait a few seconds. If you take several shots in rapid succession, it will learn that as a pre-flash sequence, and wait for that number of shots before firing again.

 

[MrChen]

It might have learned a bad pre-flash sequence. When you power up the miniflash, take one shot, and wait a few seconds. If you take several shots in rapid succession, it will learn that as a pre-flash sequence, and wait for that number of shots before firing again.

When I read this, I thought to myself, I did fire a single shot and waited. To prove it out, I tried again. Set my YS-N converter to manual and the strobe to manual. I took a picture and nothing happened. My knee jerk reaction was to try again after maybe a 2 second delay. Keying in on a "few" seconds, I waited a little longer... The dang thing fired every shot afterwards. I repeated this multiple times, and it works. Turns out I just needed to realize the first time won't produce a flash. Thanks!

 

[davehicks]

When I read this, I thought to myself, I did fire a single shot and waited. To prove it out, I tried again. Set my YS-N converter to manual and the strobe to manual. I took a picture and nothing happened. My knee jerk reaction was to try again after maybe a 2 second delay. Keying in on a "few" seconds, I waited a little longer... The dang thing fired every shot afterwards. I repeated this multiple times, and it works. Turns out I just needed to realize the first time won't produce a flash. Thanks!

Great news! The nauticam issue i had was a compatibility issue confirmed by Backscatter. But they made it right. Great folks at Backscatter!