One Ike controller with two strobes?

Hello guys!

With one week to go before a trip and no time to order more parts I was forced to start thinking about how I might make due with one Ike manual controller to controll two strobes.

After 10+ years shooting Ikes amazing SS50 strobes (all different versions) I have a lot of parts lying around from broken down strobes, cords and housings. What I knew was that the Ike controller (IC) gets its power from one strobe and that it sends a typical TTL protocol signal to the flash at preset interval depending on the power setting of the controller. I needed a way to split the signal and let one strobe (designated the primary) to supply the power.

The solution was to pick apart an old Ike twin cable and attach a female bulkhead to the camera end. This was then attached to the controller. Inside the cable junction I made sure that the gray wire (power supply) stayed directly connected to the gray wire leading to the controller and to the primary strobe. Ready light wire is not needed. The white (trigger) and green (ttl) are connected with diodes (1N5819) to prevent signals spiking back to the camera. I left these in place, as there might be a possibility for signals between the strobes.

I tried the cable with a D2x and two DS50 strobes serial 70000+

- It worked perfectly

The twist came when I used an old SS50 strobe as the secondary strobe..

- This worked perfectly too!

Basically if you own a controller and have a #70000 strobe but want to add one more you could get one of the old SS50 TTL strobes meant for film cameras cheap of EBay to update your system if you use this twin cord.

No warrantee implied here, just worked very nicely for me..

Cheers, and happy snapping!

Espen

Good job Espen - interesting information. I'd love to see a picture of how you did it.

Cheers

James Wiseman

I'll follow up with more information when I have some more time and after I have tested the rig more thorughly!

So far so good.

Espen :-)

Anyone got a schematic for the internals of the Ike strobes ?

I think that Ike should come out with a dual strobe controller since more and more people are using two strobes with manual controls.

Joe,

New generation Ikelite DS51 (replacing he DS50) will have all the manual controls you want in their power packed small strobe. This is a better solution than driving two strobes from one controller. A user can adjust ratioed lighting to whatever variance they desire on each individual strobe. Or for single strobe users it offers more flexibility in a compact package.

DS125 and DS200 already have manual adjustments on the strobe head.

Specs should be on the web site soon....

dhaas

Hi David,

I'm not really questioning strobe power setting availability more than I am developing a minimal hand motion feature to adjust my lighting. All those strobes that have power settings still require you to remove your hands from the camera to reach up and turn a knob (twice for two strobes). My point was more of "how can we create an ROC-type environment" like the L&M Titan housing where my hands never have to leave the camera handles to adjust light output. This makes it a lot easier to get closer to shy animals because I minimize my flailing fat hands that would scare the crap out of even a garibaldi

But I hear you about the Ike strobes. He is always on the cutting edge.

Happy diving.

Joe

Joe,

It IS here in the form of Ikelite dSLR housings for Canon / Nikon Olympus housings with TTL control from the back of the housing. Exactly as you state you don't have to reach up to the strobe head.

Maybe not built into the handles ala' ROC, but much simpler in design and function. The new dial on the Nion D200 housing is stellar, too.

Yes, you do have to use Ikelite DS strobes....But I don't think that's a bad thing

dhaas