RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless Owners Manual
RadioPopper is owned and manufactured by Leap Devices, LLC in Phoenix Arizona. This product was designed, produced, and manufactured in the USA. PRODUCT PATENT PENDING FCC STATEMENT This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Specifications and Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Parts Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Introduction Thank you for your purchase of the RadioPopper P1 wireless radio system. This product represents much development and lots of thinking outside the box. This system was developed by a “regular guy” with an electronics background - a wedding photographer from Arizona seeking to bridge the weak link of existing wireless systems - the need to maintain a “line of sight” between master and slave flash units.
Introduction How It Works Your current master and slave wireless flash system continues to function just as it always has. That’s the beauty and simplicity of the RadioPopper P1 system. The RadioPopper P1 Transmitter “listens” to the light signal being created inside the master flash unit or remote commander on your camera’s hot shoe. The P1 Transmitter sends this signal over the radio where it is read by the RadioPopper P1 Receiver.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Compatible Hardware: The P1 System has been tested and found to be compatible with the following flash hardware.
Specifications and Warnings WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!! PLEASE read this section in detail for important warnings and notices. USE ONLY THE SUPPLIED TRANSMITTER ANTENNA! Using any antenna other than the one supplied for use with your P1 Transmitter is a violation of Federal Law and may actually cause damage to the radio inside the transmitter. This will also promptly void your warranty. Your P1 Transmitter has been carefully tuned to broadcast the maximum signal strength allowable by law.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System P1 Transmitter 3 2 4 5 6 1 6 5 7 1 P1 Receiver Page 8 2 3 4
Parts Description Transmitter Parts 1) Antenna Mount 2) Power Button 3) Magnetic / Inductive / Magic Signal Pickup Sensor 4) Link Button 5) Power LED (Green) 6) Link LED (Orange) Receiver Parts 1) Antenna Mount 2) Power Button 3) Power LED (Green) 4) Link LED (Orange) 5) Holding Sleeve Opening for Optic 6) Fiber Optic Light Conduit 7) White Nylon Bead Also Included in Kit or as Accessories (Not Pictured) 1) Your first set of AA Batteries 2) Industrial strength genuine Velcro fasteners 3) Alcohol swab(s) for
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Installation: RadioPopper P1 Transmitter 1) Remove the two phillips screws in the under side of the P1 Transmitter unit. Use the supplied finger sized phillips screw driver. 2) Remove the cover and insert one (1) AA size battery into the battery holder. It is very important to follow the polarity direction indicated on the circuit board to insure unit operation and avoid possible transmitter damage.
Installation Installation: RadioPopper P1 Receiver NOTE: When first bending the supplied fiber optic tube, you will likely hear and feel a bit of a “cracking” inside the optic. This is perfectly normal and is the result of the 48 fibers inside the optic moving against each other and breaking free of the inside of the outer coating. The fibers are not actually cracking - they are quite durable and will not break or crack when bending.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System 12. Place the white nylon bead at the end of the optic tube over the infrared sensor on your slave flash as indicated by the graphics in Fig 2-2 through Fig 2-5 for your Slave flash model. It is okay to bend the optic tube, but try to avoid a bend radius any tighter than the radius of a standard #2 pencil. Even if a “kink” is formed in the outer tubing, the inner fibers are not easily damaged. The fibers are made of super flexible plastic, not glass.
Installation Master Flash Light Output Transmitter Mounting on Master Flash Top View (looking down from top) Transmmitter should be just about centered on top of the master flash. The pickup sensor should point forward toward the end of the flash that emitts light. The rear edge of the Transmitter should just begin to cover the text printed on the top of your flash.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Canon SpeedLite 580EX II Slave Flash Optic Placement Fig 2-2 Canon SpeedLite 580EX II Slave Flash Optic Placement Center nylon optic bead here Focus assist lamp (has nothing to do with the visible or radio wireless systems) Infrared Sensor Canon SpeedLite 420EX / 430EX / 580EX Slave Flash Optic Placement Fig 2-3 Canon SpeedLite 430EX / 580EX Slave Flash Optic Placement Center nylon optic bead here Focus assist lamp (has nothing to do with the visible or radio wi
Slave Flash Optic Placement Canon SpeedLite 550EX Slave Flash Optic Placement Fig 2-4 Canon SpeedLite 550EX Slave Flash Optic Placement Center nylon optic bead here NOTE!! This is NOT centered on the black sensor area, it is placed in the lower right corner as the 550EX sensor is off-center Infrared Sensor Focus assist lamp (has nothing to do with the visible or radio wireless systems) Nikon SB-800 / SB-600 Slave Flash Optic Placement Fig 2-5 Nikon SB-800 / SB-600 Slave Flash Optic Placement Center
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Operation: RadioPopper P1 Transmitter - QUICK REFERENCE Power On / Off - Press and hold the Power Button for approx one second. Green LED on indicates “power on”, Green LED off indicates “power off”. Radio Link - When the Link LED is lit, the radio is transmitting a carrier signal.
Operating Instructions Operation: Detailed P1 Transmitter Operating Instructions Power On / Off Press and hold the Power Button for approx one second to alternate between Power On and Power Off.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Timer Reset - Take a shot (activate the flash) or tap the Link Button to reset the 7 minute sleep timer. Link LED will strobe momentarily indicating button press. Test Broadcast - Tap the Link Button one time, this resets the 7 minute timer and simultaneously sends a test broadcast. Any P1 Receiver within range and operating properly will blink both of its LED’s together several times indicating clean reception and proper operation.
Operating Instructions De-Link Sleep When a carrier radio signal from a P1 Transmitter is found and locked onto, the Power LED and Link LED light solid on the P1 Receiver. When the carrier signal is lost even very briefly, the Link LED will go dark as explained in the previous section. When the signal is lost, your P1 Receiver will search frantically in attempting to re-aquire it. It will keep this up for about 20 seconds. It then begins to get bored and starts napping.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Adjusting the Sync Interval Before we describe how to adjust the Sync Interval, some background explanation is in order. If you’re the nontechnical type, skip ahead to the next page. This sounds pretty complicated and scary, but it’s not really - nothing to be afraid of. In most cases you’ll make this adjustment once (if at all) then forget about it.
Sync Interval Adjustment Adjusting the Sync Interval - Instructions If your P1 system appears to be operating correctly - you’re getting reliable triggering of slave flashes and you see the flash adding light to your actual exposures, then you should not make any change to the Sync Interval. The Sync Interval may be adjusted to a setting of between “1” and “10”. Your P1 Transmitter ships on a default setting of “10” which works well with most hardware.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Range and Reliability Please see the Release Notes included with this manual or as available on our website at www.radiopopper.com for a more detailed discussion of all the specifics regarding range and reliability. It is important to understand the limitations of your P1 system so you may comfortably work within them. You will have occasional misfires which may be caused by a number of factors.
Trouble Shooting situations, a certain number of mis-fires will occur purely attributable to inconsistencies in the Master and Slave flash system itself. As the RadioPopper P1 system simply repeats the signal with a high degree of accuracy, these mis-fires attributable solely to the flash system itself will still happen. 3. Your camera’s metering system must be able to observe the amount of light being emitted by the wireless Slave during the Pre-Flash.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System start to die. You will start seeing increased numbers of mis-fires when either unit begins to run low. As the drain is similar on both units, it’s a good idea to always replace batteries in all units at the same time. Also note the battery in your Master Flash or IR Commander may be getting low. 8. Mis-fires will increase with greater range. In normal shooting situations, activation and operation should be pretty reliable.
Trouble Shooting out of range, there may exist some background radio interference in your environment preventing a good link (including another P1 Transmitter being used by another photographer near by), or one of your units may be damaged. Move to another location and try it again to eliminate the possibility of some source of radio interference operating near to you. 3.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Trouble Shooting other Miscellaneous Issues One of my P1’s have become non-responsive You may observe a P1 unit “freeze up” and become non-responsive to button presses, won’t turn off, won’t de-link or re-link and so on. This is usually caused by a low battery. There is no “low voltage cutoff” in either unit.
Miscellaneous Tips Miscellaneous Tips & Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Tip / Question: Antenna Placement Does the antenna have to point straight up? No. You will achieve the greatest range with both antennas pointed straight up. However in most common shooting situations, the radio signal reflects around the environment enough that either antenna can be pointed any direction and still reliably operate.
RadioPopper P1 Radio Wireless System Page 26
Limited Warranty Page 27
Copyright 2007-2008, Leap Devices LLC, All Rights Reserved
