Group buy for 613 core fiber cable

On 8/3/2021 at 9:31 PM, bvanant said:

I have made coils from many of the Asahi cables. All for use with LED firing modules and S&S strobes. The 613 and 217 core both work perfectly There is a 1.5 mm core 613 fiber but not available by the meter from i-fiberoptics (at least today).

Bill

Thanks that clarifies my question later in the chat. 

On 7/31/2021 at 11:50 AM, TimG said:

These are also good fibre connectors

http://www.divervision.com/howshot-fiber-adapter-l-for-seasea-ys-strobes-FAL-SS.html

Tim,

Do you by chance know what the length of the plug is (see photo below)?  I have the AOI Tentacle housing (for the Oly EPL10) and when using the dome port for the Pana 8mm fisheye I have a hard time connecting the fiber cables.  Most times I have to remove the Vacuum and port to install the fiber plug when I forget to install the plug before pulling vacuum.

Just measured it Dann-Oh:  23.5mm

I'll join the group buy for 10m

As has been pointed out, you can get the MCQ-1000 easily by the meter, but the core is 1mm diameter. The Nauticam cables use MCQ-1500 cable, which is 1.5mm diameter. Sadly, the MCQ-1500 isn't listed by the meter. I've tried emailing www.i-fiberoptics.com to ask if they would consider selling it by the meter, but didn't hear back. Perhaps someone Stateside would be willing to give them a call? 

If that fails, and we get enough people together to divide up a spool, is there a time-trusted Wetpixel member in the US that might be willing to divide it up? I'm guessing that most people wanting some will be Stateside. However, the main reason I suggest this, is that i-fiberotpics.com quote close to $500USD to ship a spool to NZ where I am located - it does seem a tad pointless if I'm just going to divide it up and ship most of it back. 

I am interested in 10m - 20m of the 1.5mm core. I am in the UK.

My hesitation/concerns:

• International postage/delivery costs can easily dominate the actual cost of materials
• We can end up paying VAT and import duty on international deliveries
• We can also end up paying more VAT on the delivery cost.
• The courier company often has ridiculously rip-off charges for managing the VAT and import duty payment, way out of proportion to the actual value of goods.
• The only way to be sure to not be ripped off is for a personal 'Gift' with a value less than £39.

I will need more numbers about actual cost of the spool to whoever is managing this in the US and how international shares of the order can be distributed before confirming my commitment.

There seem to be a few somewhat dubious beliefs about fiber optic cables circulating here. 

One is that the fiber optic cable has to have many strands for it to work; this is not so, a simple one stand cable works just fine, for example, the Toslink audio cable. 
Another is that the light conducting cable has to be well over 1 mm in diam. Not so as 1 mm  cable always triggers the flash. 
A third is that the cable has to be coiled, but no reason is given for this. In fact, the coil wastes cable length, is a nuisance to make, gets in the way and is a hazard, as i have lost coiled cables when the coil got snagged or kicked by another diver. Bye bye cable.
A fourth is that the cable has to be made of several dozen fibers. Not so, as a cable with fewer fibers or even just one fiber works just fine.

In fact, one can save time and money with single fiber, no coil, one meter long Toslink or similar, cables. I have used these cables for several years, with zero problems as they have always triggered the flash; they are reliable, touch and inexpensive. I do not waste cable trying to make a coil, I just wrap the cable around the strobe arms to keep it neat and secure. 

Here are some cable sources:

For Toslink, 50 ft $13:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015SQDW3M/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=8c93033b45bb44f07d093f8f99443d3a&hsa_cr_id=8431072700001&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=06b506f0-1a56-40a1-82f9-f67050722ed6&pd_rd_w=Fkj9b&pd_rd_wg=uaDu3&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_1_img

For cable ends I use Uxcell 7 mm strain relief plugs, glue them in place with ABS plumbers glue and trim the tips with a razor, $7.50:  https://www.amazon.com/20pcs-27mmx7mmx4mm-Strain-Relief-Protector/dp/B00XBG5U82/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=uxcell+strain+relief+plugs&qid=1628258689&sr=8-4

[For multistrand cable:  https://fiberfin.com/product/1-x-2-2mm-industrial-pof-cable-19-multi-core-ul-vw-1-rated-500-meter-spool/   A bit over $ 2/m + shipping. I have not used this cable, but it may be worth a try.]

The application I want to experiment with is to route cables inside my loc-lube arms. That way cables can never catch on anything and are protected by the surrounding tube.

To do that, I don't need to coil the cable in the middle, straight cable will be easier to thread through. But I do need to add a bit of coil/spring towards the ends after the cable leaves the arms to allow for up/down pitch of the strobes relative to the arms.

I also need to have some tight bends where the cable leaves the top of the arms through holes drilled in the sides and to fit the cable into right angle connectors to the strobes and to the camera - because there is no point routing cable through the arms if I then have to leave big loops out to straight connectors at either end.

The 613 core cable is the only one rated with the tight bend radius suited to right angle connectors (1.5 cable, 3mm. 1.0 cable 1mm). The data sheet for 19-core says minimum 6mm. For single core toslink (which is otherwise excellent value) the minimum bend radius is way worse (about 20mm if I remember correctly).

1 hour ago, Kraken de Mabini said:

In fact, one can save time and money with single fiber, no coil, one meter long Toslink or similar, cables. I have used these cables for several years, with zero problems as they have always triggered the flash; they are reliable, touch and inexpensive. I do not waste cable trying to make a coil, I just wrap the cable around the strobe arms to keep it neat and secure. 

I'm with Elias on this. Toslink does work well although it's not as cheap as this bulk buy plan. And I too found the coiled cable a pain. Much better I found just to route the cable through the holes in the ULCS-style arms. They weave easily in and out, are easy to remove whenever necessary and place no strain on either plug end.

I do think, as JohnL: suggests, that perhaps 613 works better than Toslink for bending and using with the Hotshot-style L-adaptors. 

The Asahi multi-core are the most bend resistant especially compared to single core fibers. Elias and I will argue politely about this until we are both dead. A lot depends on your use. For using with a camera's built in flash and for manual mode (non-TTL) then any old fiber will mostly do especially for Inon strobes that are simple to trigger. For LED triggers then multi-core fibers do indeed work more reliably as many people have demonstrated here on Wetpixel by buying a new fiber when the old ones didn't work. For LED with TTL then multi-core gets even a bit better and if you are trying to run TTL on a S&S strobe you need all the oomph you can get. The length of the fiber connector that I use (like in the photo) is  just under 24 mm (23.8 or so) if that helps. In my hands at least I see no difference between the hand made 1 mm 613 fibers and the commercial 1.5 mm coils in terms of triggering S&S YS D1,2,3, or Inon S2000, Z200, Z240 and Z330, Backscatter mini) from the Nauticam LED trigger for the OLY Em1-II.

Bill

I talked to the i-fiberoptics sales guy and they MIGHT put some of the 1.5 mm on sale by the meter. I have bought some of the 1.0 fiber and shipped it to a few people at USPS cost, I have no clue about VAT.

Bill

Likewise, I've had bad luck with tosink cable. The only way I can get enough light through it to trigger my strobes is with my topside 580EXii tube-based camera strobe. There is absolutely no way I can get enough light transmission through it with an LED source to trigger my strobes. I have never had a problem with multi-core fiberoptics though. The refractive losses are significantly less. 

Bill, 

Many thanks for talking to the guys at i-fiberoptics! If they do it, I'll place through an order for all the guys here locally. If I can get enough fiber to make 10x cables (with original fiber optic quality) for less than the price of a single new cable, it's a no-brainer. 

Also the possibility to buy by the meter is not viable for Europe. You buy 5 m, and the ask for 150 USD for shipping. 
 

I think that this idea of group purchase is interesting but it is not so easy to operate due to the big amount of fiber it represents, the big number of different buyers it is needed and after that the process of dividing it and shipping a big amount of packaged all around the world. And even for small value packages since last July, it is much more difficult to ship it into Europe due to the VAT new legislation.

If they sell it by the meter, I will buy a bunch and ship it to someone in Europe where VAT is manageable. Then you can parcel it out however you want. 

Bill

I could get the 217 core 10 meters with shipping to India for $75

Which I think is a still a good buy

On 8/6/2021 at 10:43 AM, JohnLiddiard said:

I am interested in 10m - 20m of the 1.5mm core. I am in the UK.

My hesitation/concerns:

• International postage/delivery costs can easily dominate the actual cost of materials
• We can end up paying VAT and import duty on international deliveries
• We can also end up paying more VAT on the delivery cost.
• The courier company often has ridiculously rip-off charges for managing the VAT and import duty payment, way out of proportion to the actual value of goods.
• The only way to be sure to not be ripped off is for a personal 'Gift' with a value less than £39.

I will need more numbers about actual cost of the spool to whoever is managing this in the US and how international shares of the order can be distributed before confirming my commitment.

I am with John on this one...tempted to join in, especially since one of my Nauti cables just failed, but question is, how one can get it send to EU...any ideas? Could one of the US folks re-send perhaps ?

Alternatively, I might have some way of transporting these (colleague going over soon) but question is (perhaps silly), does anybody know how big/heavy etc will 10-20 meters be once packaged?

21 minutes ago, makar0n said:

 

I am with John on this one...tempted to join in, especially since one of my Nauti cables just failed, but question is, how one can get it send to EU...any ideas? Could one of the US folks re-send perhaps ?

Alternatively, I might have some way of transporting these (colleague going over soon) but question is (perhaps silly), does anybody know how big/heavy etc will 10-20 meters be once packaged?

hello makar0n,

i'm in Germany and once the parcel is in EU i think the shipping to others in the EU is not that expensive. 
the size of 10-20m fibre packed is really small: i would say you can make it about 15 cm in diameter , height then 1-2 cm and weight less than half a kilo (i have another brand here packed as a 10 m roll). If you have a 3D-Printer it's like having 10 m of the 1.75 mil cable off the large spool. It's a bit more in diameter, but very similar.

Yeah, I agree - once it's in the EU it's not a problem mailing to anywhere in the EU.

But it's getting it into the EU that is the issue. Add VAT, any duties, courier admin fees etc and it then gets quite pricey. I paid a ton of all of that to get a $100 filter holder - if I remember it was almost €65 in charges. Maybe German customs is a bit more generous than Dutch?

not sure Tim. I just got a sample of 10 m (19 Core) and it just went through customs without anything. One day it was in my post box...
But that was just 10 m, not sure what happens if it is an amount of 200-300 m...