Flash Triggers: Part 2 - Its Started!

I received my Arduino Duemilanove yesterday so last night I rushed off to Maplin's to buy myself a handfully of goodies to start playing around. I bought myself a bunch of LEDs a bag of resistors and a couple of tactile switches.

It was no trouble at all to get the board up and running on my XP machine and within a couple of minutes had my blinking LED program running. I have decided to work through a few of the tutorial posts before jumping into the 'Flash Trigger Project' just to refresh my electronics knowledge as its been about 16 years since I last had a play around, and that was going my GCSEs.

I have loads of thoughts on what I want to do with my project, and as I previously mentioned I managed to secure a couple to Stephen Eatons strobit boards that will be used for my final trigger. I will prototype using my Arduino Duemilanove board until all my bits to complete my strobit boards arrive. It also looks like I am going to have to wait about 14 days to receive the hope RF12B which is pretty annoying, but atleast it will give me more time to learn.

I will be posting up pictures and info as I work through some projects and will post up and code that I write that may be of use to others, but this blog entry is to say I've started, and Im excited......

Pocket Wizard Flash Triggers: Part I

I have wanted to buy a set of Pocket Wizards for a while now, but have been having trouble trying to justify spending close to £600 on a set. I have two SB800s and am looking to add another to my collection, so that really increases in the cost as I would need 4 of those pricey little buggers!

I am currently using Nikon's Creative Ligthing System (CLS), but am beginning to want a bit more range or through wall action! I have had a look at the povertyWizards and gadgetInfinities but after reading reviews and listening to other peoples comments they dont seem that reliable.

Thankfully there looks like there maybe an alternative after all! I will build my own!!! Although I dont have a great deal of electronics experience, I have seen there is a "strobit open source project" to build your own triggers. With a wealth of knowledge out there on the internet I am going to try to build my own set. I have just ordered up a few componenets and an electronics book and will keep my blog updated with my progress.

I will say thanks to Stephen Eaton for his help already and for kindly sending me a couple of PCB boards to get me started! (They arrived this morning 20/5, so will be playing very soon!)