Tom MaCoy

Orrr you can try putting some together yourself. You'll need PowerTap kits (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/330097-REG/Anton_Bauer_FEMAL_POWERTAP_KIT_Female_PowerTap_Kit.html) and I believe the Lemos connector in the Flyer mates with this connector here: http://www.mouser.com/Search/ProductDetail.aspx?qs=MSOc8y6NhWdbyj2isgQ54A%3d%3d. I've done a few of those myself for my Zephyr. The Lemos are really annoying to deal with. If you've never picked up a soldering iron or multimeter before, just call Terry. He does fantastic work.

Welcome aboard. How much soldering experience do you have? I'm reasonably handy with an iron, enough that I've done a few Lemos myself, and (while I'm sure there's many more experienced hands who can say differently) they can be a right pain in the ass. However, if you're only doing the P-tap side, it's a fairly simple operation. I can't speak to a specific solder; mine have all held together fine with common old 60/40. For the polarity, P-taps usually have a stamped label indicating +/-; I usually outline mine in gold/silver sharpie so I can tell at a glance while working. If you pop open the P-tap and find colored wire, black is almost always ground (-) and red is positive. This isn't a guarantee though, so you'll want to mark/photograph which color wire ran to each side of the P-tap. (If both wires are black, a streak of gold sharpie or red heat shrink is a good way to permanently mark the +.) When you get into the P-tap, re-solder the pin farthest from the entry first; get it in place, then cut the other wire back a little to fit the near pin. Once you're soldering's done, assuming the Lemo is the feed side, plug it in and check the P-Tap probes with a multimeter before you plug it into anything; black side to -, red side to +, and make sure it's giving you 12/14.4 or whatever volts your battery puts out. I'm sure there's some pro details that a really experienced hand could give you, but that's the basics that have worked for me so far.

I'm also very interested to hear how this system tests out. The few other reviews I've found seem pretty positive, but another operator's perspective would be really good to hear. I was hoping to test one in person at B&H, but unfortunately they don't have any models out on the floor to demo. (And now it looks like their out of stock on all the models as well.)

Hey Victor, thanks for the tip. I did notice those two odd screws under the dust cap but (perhaps luckily) I don't have the spanner bit that fits them. I just got off the phone with Tiffen and it sounds like over tightening them at all can damage the pan responsiveness of the unit; given I don't have any jobs booked in the next couple weeks, and I'm going to be out of state anyway on a non-steadi gig, I think I'll take the opportunity to get it back to the factory and have it done properly, have them check out the whole rig while it's there anyway. Best, Tom

Setting up my Zephyr for some at home practice yesterday, I discovered an odd and unsettling sensation in the gimbal. It appears that something has worked loose in the connection between the yoke of the gimbal and collar around the post, to the point where I can freely slide the collar back and forth about a 1/16" between the two points of the yoke. There's no other play to speak of; it's a perfect horizontal slide. Everything else feels fine, but of course if I have the rig pointing along the same line as the two points in the yoke and start a tilt, it will suddenly slide forward or back by a fraction of an inch, and there goes my balance. I popped a few covers off to have a closer look, as shown in the picture, but I'm not really sure where to go from here, or even if I should go any farther, if this is something better left to factory service. Tried Dan Ikeda at Tiffen, no answer yet though. I'd welcome any advice, including "Put the allen keys down and back away slowly before you wreck your gimbal." Thanks, Tom

Hey Victor, Since it's been a few days I'm guessing you've gotten rid of your issue, but I figure I'd throw in my 2 cents, because I've had a similar experience on my Zephyr. I noticed it showing up in the video feed first; I didn't feel it very distinctly until I laid a finger right on the center post itself instead of the grip while moving. No noise to speak of, so it may be a little different, but what I tracked mine down to were those 5-6 allen screws in the collar around where the top of the post meets the sled; they're also visible in your picture. I worked around, tightened them all up a little at a time and that seemed to knock it out. Doesn't make it any less unsettling though... -Tom

Thanks Mark. Some more digging under those keywords seems to imply this one is the preferred choice: http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/STPS60L30CW/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuIUjt4yeP9c4vDnG6dExKEkEDEfs9dBHE%3d I'm a bit surprised because (under my rudimentary-basic knowledge of electronic components) it has 3 leads, which I thought implied a transistor, but if I read right it actually just has doubled cathodes. Given that they're pretty cheap I'd be curious to know if there's any point or advantage to adding one to the factory plate as well. I got the same voltage readings as you mentioned during testing; in 24V the meter reads 12v out of Lemo pin 1-2 and 24v out of pin 1-3. Just a matter of where the battery leads feed into the second LEMO port. (PS, I'd PM'd back a couple shots of the dovetail plate I milled if you were still interested in having a look at it.)

So from what I hear Tiffen wants $600+ for the Zephyr's second battery hanger, which I have to say seems pretty steep even by Tiffen's standards for what it is. I'm currently in the testing phase of building my own, and so far it's all been pretty straight forward; I have the plate (Endura v-lock base), the additional LEMO connector, and I can set it for series/24 volts (which I'd probably never use but like to have the option) or parallel/12 volts (which will probably be my default; still deciding if I want to work a 12/24 switch into the mix, or actually wire up two different cables to prevent getting bumped into 24). My only remaining concern is the above mentioned cross-charge in parallel, which I understand can be prevented by wiring a particular type of one-way diode into the circuit, though I haven't had much luck finding a specific model or type, or where it needs to be located beyond 'at one of the battery terminals.' As far as I can tell, having pulled the base of my Zephyr apart and poked around inside, all the wiring between the battery power connectors is straight though (same for the factory battery plate), so whatever solution Tiffen uses in their system has to be contained within the wiring of the second battery plate. In other words, to mimic the factory spec, I need to wire the diode at either the positive or negative terminal of the second battery plate. Anyone by chance have a link or a recommendation for the right diode to get and where to wire it? Thanks. -Tom

Well, I hacked one together for my old Flyer that worked well; the Zephyr design is a bit more complicated, since it favors a drop-in and lock system, rather than just a straight slide through. I could do a slide style for the Zephyr, but since the dovetail I just finished milling allows for rods to mount on the underside (something I never could have done with the Flyer), I'd like to keep the drop and lock method for the tripod adapter. The simplest solution I have at the moment would be to just mill out a dovetail holder dimensionally identical to the one on top of the Zephyr sled, and tap some holds along to edge so it can be tightened in place with a couple thin thumbscrews. Not exactly graceful, but I suppose no more difficult than what the Zephyr itself uses to lock the plate down.

Rig has been sold, thanks. -Tom

Brief update to maybe save a few phone calls; I spoke with the service center a little while ago, and they're currently in process of deciding if they want to just ship the new clamps out to owners for self installation, or if they're going to want to have the rigs shipped out and replace the clamp at the factory. Sounds like any owners still waiting should have an answer soon. Glad to hear this is getting addressed, I haven't had any clamp issues yet, but it is the one aspect of the rig that I'm not wholly thrilled with.

Definitely agree. The hard case that comes with the Zephyr (it's by Thermodyne) is fantastic. Rock solid, built in wheels and retractable handle. Honestly it's one of my favorite improvements over my old Flyer.

And one more checking in. Just unpacked my shiny new Zephyr (upgraded from the FlyerLE) and it really is beautiful. Kind of torn over which improvement I'm most impressed by, though the new vest is a strong contendor, as is the rail style design for monitor/battery mounts. One thing I'll admit I don't care for are the quick clamps for adjusting height and position on the post, as a couple other people have commented on. Looks like they could easily be replaced with straight Kip handles though, basically trading a couple seconds of speed for durability, which is fine by me; any other owners tried that? Minor quibble aside it really seems like a great piece of gear, I can't wait to show it to some of my clients.

Thanks for the tips. Harry over at Tiffen basically says the same thing: since the Flyer's discontinued there's no official change of registration to work out, just a bill of sale drawn up by me should be all we need for tax purposes. Look forward to swapping Zephyr stories with you! Thanks, Tom

So I have a buyer and a price lined up on my trusty old Flyer rig and am eagerly anticipating trading up in a couple weeks, when one question sort of occurred to both of us: When selling a rig, is there any convention for transferring proof of ownership? I bought my LE new near the end of 09, I (am fairly certain I) sent in the warranty card so Tiffen has the serial #'s registered to my name. The original warranty's expired by now, so does any of that registration data really matter any more? Is there any point to calling up Tiffen and getting the name changed, given my current rig's over a year out of factory warranty, or does anyone know of any other ownership documentation to worry about with a fairly small rig like mine? Thanks, Tom