[MikeW]

What am I doing wrong or do I have a defective transceiver? (Please bear with me; I have tried to be as systematic - long-winded? - as possible below.)

Here is my equipment:
-Pentax K-5
-Pentax AF540FGZ
-Cactus RF60X
-Cactus V6II (x2) (All the Cactus equipment is new and just received.)

• The K-5 fires the AF540 when mounted in the camera’s hot shoe.
• The K-5 fires the RF60X when mounted in the camera’s hot shoe.
• V6II #1 (in TX mode) mounted on the camera will fire the RF60X (in slave mode).
• V6II #1 (in TX mode) when mounted on the camera will fire the AF540 when it is mounted on V6II #2 (in RX mode).
• But if I mount V6II #2 (in TX mode) on the camera it will not fire the AF540 when it is mounted on V6II #1 (in RX mode).

I have updated the firmware in all three Cactus units. All three units recognize the Pentax equipment. I am trying to doing everything in Manual mode: the camera, both flashes, and both transceivers are set for manual.

Is there a secret code or handshake that I am missing?

[UncleVanya]

Make sure that the triggers are set to the same group. If I recall the tx and rx settings are independent so when you switch from tx to rx it may be changed.

[MikeW]

They are all set to channel 5, have the same radio ID, and are using group A.

[UncleVanya]

They are all set to channel 5, have the same radio ID, and are using group A.

I have v6 not v6ii, on mine I have to set the mode on the RX unit to match my flash type. If I set a type that doesn't match I can have the same problem (works 1 way but not when reversed because of the RX flash type setting. ). That's all I can think of.

[MikeW]

Update: The ghost in the machine seems to have decided to play along with me. I mounted and remounted everything. The recalcitrant V6II (#2) is now firing the Pentax AF540 through V6II (#1). I have no idea what I did to get it to work. Perhaps there was poor electrical contact with the new transceivers; remounting it may have improved the contact. If it acts up again, I'll repost. Uncle Vanya, thanks for your suggestions.

[UncleVanya]

Glad it resolved!

[MikeW]

Thanks, Brooke. I will keep that in mind. These are the first radio triggers that I've owned and I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong. Apparently I wasn't. One can confirm things are working when the flash fires, but it is more difficult with only the radio. Anyway, it seems to be resolved.

FWIW, so far I like the Cactus flash. It seems very sturdy and is easy to operate, more so than the Pentax flash. The triggers seem well made, too.

[fwbigd]

What am I doing wrong or do I have a defective transceiver? (Please bear with me; I have tried to be as systematic - long-winded? - as possible below.)

Here is my equipment:
-Pentax K-5
-Pentax AF540FGZ
-Cactus RF60X
-Cactus V6II (x2) (All the Cactus equipment is new and just received.)

• The K-5 fires the AF540 when mounted in the camera’s hot shoe.
• The K-5 fires the RF60X when mounted in the camera’s hot shoe.
• V6II #1 (in TX mode) mounted on the camera will fire the RF60X (in slave mode).
• V6II #1 (in TX mode) when mounted on the camera will fire the AF540 when it is mounted on V6II #2 (in RX mode).
• But if I mount V6II #2 (in TX mode) on the camera it will not fire the AF540 when it is mounted on V6II #1 (in RX mode).

I have updated the firmware in all three Cactus units. All three units recognize the Pentax equipment. I am trying to doing everything in Manual mode: the camera, both flashes, and both transceivers are set for manual.

Is there a secret code or handshake that I am missing?

Specifically what Firmware are you running on your Cactus V6ii? It should be PEN.A.001 on the Cactus V6ii and the RF60X should be firmware should be A01. If you haven't upgraded to the Pentax specific firmware the on camera Cactus V6ii must be set to Camera System "Pentax" and Flash System "Nikon." to trigger the off camera flash.

[MikeW]

Thanks, Daryl. When I received the V6IIs I updated the software to Pen.A.001 and also updated the RF60X. Both V6IIs were put into auto detect mode for the Pentax AF504 and both recognized its profile correctly.