HiViz - Instruction Manual for the Camera Opto-Switch Kit (COS)

Assembly and Operating Instructions for HiViz Kits

Assembly Instructions for the Camera Opto-Switch Kit (COS, version 3)

These are the instructions for the version 3 kit. Assembly of the switch box is the same as for previous versions. The shutter cable does not require assembly unless you're modifying a pushbutton cable release.

Contents

Introduction

Parts guide

Tools needed

Switch box, circuit board, and trigger cord assembly

The shutter cable

Operation of the Camera Opto-Switch

Connections chart

Introduction

HiViz trigger circuits have SCR outputs to act as electronic switches for flash units. In some cases, you may wish to trigger a camera rather than a flash unit. The Camera Opto-Switch Kit is designed to trigger electronic camera shutters from the outputs of HiViz trigger circuits. The Camera Opto-Switch has focus and shutter switches and includes an optoisolator for complete electrical isolation between the trigger circuit and the camera.

Cautionary notes:

While the Camera Opto-Switch can also be used to trigger flash units, some older flash units may have several hundred volts across the PC terminal. This voltage may burn out the optoisolator IC. Therefore, we only recommend using the Camera Opto-Switch with flash units if you're sure that the flash unit has low voltage (<50 V) across its terminals.
When wired and connected correctly, the Camera Opto-Switch can't damage your camera. The optoisolator provides electrical isolation for the camera. The customer assumes liability for any consequences of incorrect wiring. Most likely, these would simply be that the trigger wouldn't work but with no damage to the camera. The fact that the input and output sides of the PC board are separate minimizes the possibility of an inadvertent electrical connection across the optoisolator.

Below is a list of the parts provided for the Camera Opto-Switch box and trigger cable. Shutter cables are listed separately.

Click on the photos for larger images.

Name	Provided with	Photo	Quantity	Function
Small project box 3.125"x2.0"x0.875"	all versions		1
Template for box lid	all versions		1	A paper template sized for the lid of the project box is provided in order to obtain the correct placement of holes for the components.
Project box labels	all versions			Stick on labels are provided in a strip to identify the components on the project box.
Single-pole single-throw toggle switch	all versions		2	On-off switches for FOCUS and SHUTTER operations
Pushbutton, momentary, normally open	all versions		1	Used a test button for the camera shutter
3.5mm stereo panel jack	all versions		1	Used as a receptacle for the shutter cable.
RCA panel jack	all versions		1	Used as the jack for the output cable from the trigger circuit.
100-ohm resistor	all versions		1
Hook up wire	all versions			3" each of black, red, yellow, and green 6" each of blue and white
8-pin socket	all versions		1	Used for the optocoupler.
Optocoupler	all versions		1	Provides electrical isolation for the camera.
PC board	all versions		1	Seat for the optoisolator
RCA connector, male	all versions		1	Used as a connector on the output cable to plug into the Opto-Switch box.
2-conductor cable	all versions		3 ft	Used for the output (trigger) cable.

Tools needed

For wire cutting, trimming, and stripping: wire strippers, needle-nose pliers, small diagonal cutter (recommended for snipping wire ends after soldering)

Wire cutters and stripper

Small diagonal cutter

Needle-nose pliers

For soldering: 15-30 watt soldering iron, solder, wet sponge, magnifying glass recommended (to view solder connections up close)

For project box assembly: small wrench or pliers

For drilling holes in the project box lid: drill motor, 3/32", 1/4", 9/32" bits (The 1/4" bit can be used in place of the 9/32" bit and the hole widened with a file.)

Solder in a well-lit, well-ventilated, open area. Avoid contact with all metal surfaces on the iron.
Keep the tip of the soldering iron clean by wiping it against a wet sponge or towel before and after each use. A clean tip should look shiny and silvery; any yellow or black material on the tip will get into the solder and may weaken your solder joint.
Once the tip of your soldering iron is clean, touch a bit of solder to the tip just before use. This is called tinning, and helps the solder run more evenly.
Heat the connection to be soldered by holding the soldering iron to it, until solder applied at the junction between the two melts and flows freely. This ensures the connection and the solder are both hot enough to yield a good solder joint. This should take no more than 10-15 seconds. After the connection is heated, try to get solder along the entire length of the connection by briskly moving the solder and iron along.
Avoid touching only the solder to the connection, and then the soldering iron to the solder to melt it onto the connection. The connection will be cooler than the melted solder and won’t form a good solder joint.
Let new solder joints cool for several seconds before examining them. There should be solder all the way around the connection, forming a rigid joint. When done, unplug your soldering iron and let it cool.

Click on the thumbnails below in order to view full-size images of the breadboard with the components that have been added in each step.

Insert the 8-pin IC socket into the holes in the unplated side of the PC board as shown to the left.

Turn the PC board over to show the plated side. Bend the legs of the IC socket outward to hold it in place (see the upper photo).

Solder each leg of the IC socket to the corresponding copper strip as shown in the lower photo. In order to get a good solder joint, make sure the solder runs freely on the copper contact and covers the leg. Also make sure the solder doesn't bridge across to a neighboring contact. A magnifying glass comes in handy here. Solder bridges can be extremely fine and hard to see. If you get a solder bridge, you can remove it by running the tip of the soldering iron between the contacts that are bridged.

If the solder beads up and seems to sit on top of the copper, it's possible that you have a cold solder joint. Such connections do not conduct. You may think that you've made the connection when, in fact, no current will flow. You can guard against cold solder joints by heating the copper with the tip of the soldering iron and then touching the solder to the copper rather than to the tip of the soldering iron. If you think you may have a cold solder joint, reheat the solder and try to draw off the solder bead. Then resolder.

Insert the legs of the 100-Ω resistor through the non-plated side of the PC board as shown in the upper image. Then turn the board over and solder the legs onto the copper contacts as shown in the middle image. Snip the legs off down to the solder. The completed solder joints are shown in the lower image.

Strip back the insulation on the red and black hook up wires about 1/4 inch.

Insert the wires into the board as shown in the upper photo.

Turn the board over and solder the wires to the copper contacts. Snip the wires off down to the solder. (lower photo)

Strip back the insulation on the yellow and one of the blue hook up wires about 1/4 inch.

Insert the wires into the board as shown.

Turn the board over and solder the wires to the copper contacts. Snip the wires off down to the solder. (photo not shown)

A template is supplied to lay out the holes to be drilled in the lid of the project box. Lay the lid on a table with the underside facing up. Then place the template inside the lid as shown to the left. Use a nail or punch to mark the locations of the centers of the holes. Then remove the template and drill the holes to the indicated diameters.

After drilling the holes, turn the lid over. It should look like the upper photo to the left. Take one of the toggle switches and remove the nut, lock washer, and retaining ring. Slip the switch into the lid from below as shown in the lower photo. Lower the retaining ring onto the switch so that the tab on the inside of the ring slips into the channel on the switch. Then orient the assembly so that the tab on the outer side of the ring slips into the small hole on the project box. While holding the assembly in this position, drop the lock washer onto the switch and then screw on the nut. Tighten with a wrench or pliers.

view from above

view from below

Step 8: Adding the remaining components to the project box

a. Add the second toggle switch to the project box.

b. Remove the nut and washer from the pushbutton switch. Slip the pushbutton into the center hole from below. Place the washer over the threads and screw on the nut. Tighten with a wrench or pliers.

c. Remove the nut and the metal tab from the RCA panel jack. Slip the jack down into the lower-right hole on the project box. Then slip the washer and ring onto the jack from below and screw on the nut and tighten. (Note that the inside of the panel jacks that we are currently supplying are red rather than the black shown in the photo.)

d. Remove the nut from the 3.5mm stereo jack. Slip the jack into the upper-right hole from below. Then screw on the nut and tighten.

The completed assembly is shown from above (upper photo) and below (lower photo).

Now you'll solder wires between the components on the lid of the project box. Start with the green wire. Strip it back about a quarter of an inch on both ends. Loop one end of the wire through the indicated lug (1) of the stereo panel jack as shown in the upper photo. Note that the jack has three terminals. The lower photo shows which lug to loop the green wire through.

Loop the other end of the green wire around the indicated lug of the upper toggle switch (2).

Solder the wire in place at each lug. Before soldering, we recommend that you either clip a heat sink to the lug that you're soldering or hold something metallic like the jaws of a pair of needle-nose pliers on the lug. This will help to prevent excess heat from melting the plastic base of the switch. If this plastic melts, the contacts inside the switch can be damaged.

For the next connections, you'll need a 1" and a 2" section of the blue wire. Strip the ends. Loop both of the wires through the indicated lug of the stereo jack at point 3. Solder the connection.

Loop the other end of the shorter wire through the nearest lug of the pushbutton switch (4) and solder the connection.

Loop the other end of the longer wire to the center lug of the upper toggle switch (5), but don't solder the connection yet.

For the next connections, you'll need two 3" sections of the white wire. Strip the ends. Loop both of the wires through the indicated lug of the stereo jack at point 6. Solder the connection.

Loop the other end of one of the wires through the unused lug of the pushbutton switch (7) and solder the connection.

Loop the other end of the second wire to the indicated lug of the lower toggle switch (8) and solder the connection.

Now you'll start soldering wires from the PC board to the components on the lid of the project box. Strip back the free ends of the red and black wires and loop them through the contacts of the RCA panel jack as shown in the upper photo. Note that the red wire is connected to the center contact (9). You'll need to pull the side contact (10) up away from the project box surface for soldering. A close-up of the connections is shown in the lower photo.

Strip back the free ends of the blue and yellow wires coming from the PC board. Loop the yellow wire through the center lug (11) of the lower switch and solder the connection. Loop the blue wire through the center lug (5) of the upper switch. This was the connection that you had left unsoldered in Step 9. Solder the connection now.

Place the optoisolator on the 8-pin socket on the PC board as shown in the photo. Note that the dot on the chip is to the lower right. Make sure the legs of the chip are inserted into the correct holes. Then push down gently until the chip is firmly seated.

Lower the PC board connected to the lid into the bottom of the project box as shown. Then screw the lid on with the 4 screws supplied.

Cut the strip of labels into individual labels, remove the backing, and stick on the box lid in the locations shown.

Now you'll prepare a cable to connect from the switch box to your trigger circuit. You'll need the male RCA plug shown in the upper photo with the jacket removed. You'll also need the 3-foot long, gray, 2-conductor cable.

Slip the jacket onto the cable as shown in the lower photo. You may find this to be a very tight fit. One way to reduce the friction is to cut off part of the collar that grips the wire. You can also use a lubricant on the cable.

Strip the gray insulation on one end of the cable a quarter of inch. Then strip each of the red and black conductors an eighth of an inch.

Important: Don't crimp the metal tabs around the gray insulation before soldering. If you do, the heat of soldering can melt the insulation.

Thread the red wire through the smaller of the two solder lugs and solder it. Then solder the black wire to the longer lug. This lug can take a lot of heating since there's so much metal. Make sure that it gets hot enough for the solder to flow freely. The metal takes a while to cool down, so don't touch it for a while.

After you've finished soldering, examine the connections for stray wire strands. Clip off any that you find. The upper photo shows the completed solder joints.

If you have a connectivity meter, use it to check for correct connectivity. The tip of the plug is electrically connected to the shorter lug, and the collar is electrically connected to the longer lug.

Crimp the metal tabs around the gray cable and screw the jacket on. The completed connector is shown in the lower photo.

The free end of the gray 2-conductor cable will be used to connect to your trigger circuit. From this end, strip the gray insulation about an inch and a half. Then strip the red and black conductors a quarter of inch as shown in the upper photo.

The lower photo shows the completed cable. The RCA plug will connect to the jack labeled TRIG on the switch box. Connections of the bare ends will be given in the last section, Operation of the Camera-Opto Trigger.

The shutter cables are provided separately from the Camera Opto-Switch Box Kit. The 80N3, MC30, MCD2, and S1 versions include a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter to connect the shutter cable to the Opto-Switch box. The adapter is not needed for the 60E3 version.

If you have the RSC-DIY shutter cable option, go to these assembly instructions. When you're finished, you'll be directed back to this page.

Kit Version	Compatible with Cameras	Camera plug	Cable
RSC-80N3	Canon EOS 7D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 5D Mark II, 1Ds Mark III, 1D Mark IV, 1D Mark III
RSC-60E3	Canon EOS Rebel series, EOS 60D, 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 1000D, Powershot G10, G11, G1; Pentax K20D, K7
RSC-MC30	Nikon D1/D2/D3 series, D100, D200, D300, D300s, D700, F5, F6, F100, F90, F90x; Kodak DCS-14N, Fuji Finepix S3pro, S5pro
RSC-MCD2	Nikon D90, D3100, D5000, D7000
RSC-S1	Sony Alpha A100, A200 ,A290, A300, A350 ,A380 ,A390, A450, A500, A550, A580, A700, A850, A900SLT-A33, A55, Minolta Maxxum 5D, 7D, 7, 9xi, 7xi, 5xi
RSC-DIY	The customer provides the cable. We provide the 3.5mm male and female stereo connectors shown to the right to modify your shutter cable for the Opto-Switch box. See these assembly instructions.


Figure 1	Figure 2

Refer to Figure 1. Begin with the Focus and Shutter switches in the the OFF positions.
Turn off the camera before inserting the 3.5mm plug from your shutter cable into the CAM jack on the switch box. Be sure to push the plug in all the way.
Insert the trigger cable (the one with the RCA plug) into the TRIG jack on the switch box.
Insert the bare wires of the RCA cable into your HiViz trigger circuit according to the table below. See Figure 2 for a large photo of the setup. Note: The breadboard connections for the Opto-Switch are different than those for flash units. Be sure to check the connections information in the table.
Turn your camera on and set it in a mode that will autofocus. Make sure that the subject of the photograph is far enough away for the camera to focus on it.
Flip the Focus switch on the switch box to on. The camera should autofocus.
Depress and release the pushbutton. The shutter should actuate. (This is for testing purposes and for manual operation of the shutter.)
Flip the Shutter switch on. Nothing should happen, but…
…when your trigger circuit fires, the camera shutter should actuate.
As long as you have the Focus and Shutter switches turned on and the switch box connected to the trigger circuit, the shutter can actuate repeatedly with repeated triggering events. If you want to decrease the repetition rate and you're using a delay unit, increase the reset delay time. See your trigger instructions for how to do that.
In order to view the photos you've taken, flip the switches back to their OFF positions. The LCD view screen on your camera may be disabled as long as the Focus switch is on.
Turn off the camera before disconnecting the 3.5mm plug from the switch box.

Connections Chart for the Camera Opto-Switch

The trigger cable of the Opto-Switch connects to Hiviz breadboard circuits (v10) as given below.

Note that the hole placements for the SK2, SPG1, SPG2, TPG, LAT, and DU individually are the same as for the combinations SK2-DU, SPG1-DU, SPG2-DU, TPG-DU, and LAT-DU.

Trigger circuit	Output	Note	Connections
Trigger circuit	Output	Note	Positive	Negative
DU - Delay unit	Immediate		20B	ground column
DU - Delay unit	Delayed		23D
SK2 - Sound trigger		You must also remove the wire from 5C to 8C to disconnect the SCR.	5D
SPG1,2- Schmitt trigger photogate			4A
TPG - Transistor photogate			3H
LAT - Light-activated trigger			5A
CBP1,2 - Crossed-beam photogate			3H
MT - Multi-Trigger	Immediate		16B
	Delayed		18D
	Photogate		4A
	Sound	You must also remove the wire from 27D to 29D to disconnect the SCR.	27E