Pictorial: A Sync Port Mod For The YN-460II Manual Strobe
I am not surprised that the YN460II strobe is gaining popularity with a price tag around $60 (or even less if you're an eBay kinda person) those flashes are pretty attractive.
They cheap price also make them a good candidate for modifications as it helps removing the fear of nuking them in the process. See for example the TV contorl remote for the YN460 we featured a while back.
Today's hack, courtesy Oliver Hanka, adds a mini jack (i.e. 3.5mm ear plug) to the flash syncing options. Hey if you can do it to a Canon strobe, you can do it to a Yongnuo. You'll need a solder, and a Yongnuo.
Step 1 - Commence Operation
- Unscrew the hot shoe socket.
- Unscrew the printed circuit board
Step 2
Drill a 4mm hole into the socket (at the side facing towards the back)
NOTE: The hole should be as next to the rim as possible, so the jack fits in nicely. Keep in mind, however, that we want to attach the screw nut to the jack. The hole must be far enough down so we can screw it on later (see final picture).
Step 3
The jack is sitting on the printed circuit board and doesn't ft into the drilled hole (red circle).
Step 4
Cut out a piece from the PCB. There are no conduction paths there. This will allow the jack to have more space.
Step 5
Wire the jack to the PCB (polarization doesn't matter)
Time for a function check :-)
Step 6
Screw the PCB back into the hot shoe
Step 7
Insert the jack into the hot shoe
Step 8
Attach the screw nut to the jack
Step 9 - TADA!
Screw the hot shoe to the flash unit
done. :-)
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Comments
Where do you source the Jack?
Anyone have a part number for the jack itself? I imagine a trip to radio shack is in order...
At RadioShack its quite
At RadioShack its quite expensive. Basically what you want is a 2/32" TRS jack. This is the one I used: Lumberg KLB 1 (PDF)
Looks an interesting
Looks an interesting project. I'm planning on getting a Nissin Di866 at Christmas but I just ordered one of these YN460II's today from Hong Kong (ebay - £29) on the strength of the fact I keep seeing them pop up on here! And at that price they are almost disposable. Depending on the build and image quality I may get a couple more.
very usuful! I would like to
very usuful! I would like to thank you very much for this post! regards
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I'm a total newb
Ok. So I have this flash unit and was really suprised on how good it is for the price. Can you tell me what the mod will work for. I understand you're adding a jack, but what for?
i have one of these and plan to do this mod.
i love this flash, it's really versatile and was a great replacement for my old, beat up vivitar.
@jennifer: the jack mod allows you to use inexpensive mono audio cables to trigger the flash off-camera rather than using a radio transmitter or expensive PC sync cords.
Glad I checked your site first
I have 3 YN460MKII flashes and had been meaning to do something like this for awhile, I came across a different site where the guy had taken apart his whole flash and mounted it on the side instead. This seemed like quite a bit of work and despite being an electronics technician I'm often leery of taking things apart that may have a lot of tiny mechanical bits that never seem to go back together right ;) Once I saw that there was room in the lower hotshoe portion I had no aprehensions.
The mod went well and works like a charm.
I wanted to just add a correction though, polarization can matter depending on what you are connecting it to. I like the 3.5mm jacks as a backup to my hotshoe when using wireless triggers, my old triggers were PT104's and since they weren't low-profile I often didn't use the hotshoe.
So for any people out there that want to be safe when wiring it, the tip is positive and the sleeve is negative ;)
FYI
Just had a go at this mod, it works fine but just in case other readers are trying and getting worried... It seems that the circuit board must be grounded by something in order for the flash to work, this happens automatically when the copper spring touches the circuit board when it is in position, but if you have the board unscrewed you will not be able to work the flash properly without having the jack plugged in or something else acting as a ground. This obviously will be returned to normal when you put everything back together. This just caused me some frustration when testing my mod!
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