Sounds as though the battery pack is the problem. It may show plenty
of voltage open-circuit, but this could collapse when the drive takes
current. It only takes one cell to have a high internal resistance -
and they do that with age - and you get trouble. A good electronics
tech (not necessarily a camera tech) could confirm this and replace
the cells if necessary. You would need to replace all the cells
together, or you'll get it happening again every month.
If I remember rightly there's a solenoid in the base of the drive
which engages the mechanism and that takes a lot of current for a
short time, causing the voltage to collapse.
Good luck,
Colin
> If anyone out there in Pentaxland has any experience using a Motor Drive
> MX with a NiCad Pack LX - read on please.
>
> The two units line up well, and according to Boz's site are compatible.
> But when I tried a newly aquired but used NiCad Pack LX on a newly
> aquired but used Motor Drive MX, all I get is a loud buzzing noise coming
> from the left hand side of the drive (as viewed from the back), and
> certainly no movement from the drive. It happens whether using the grip
> release button or the NiCad pack release button, on both single and
> continuous mode.
>
> Given: the drive was tested before despatch and worked fine.
> Given: The NiCad Pack was sold untested, but after a few hours on charge,
> a multimeter reveals a healthy output of about 18 volts (!) on two of the
> four power contacts on top of the NiCad Pack.
>
> Questions: does this buzzing sound call anything immediately to mind? If
> you've used these two units in conjunction with each other, do they work
> okay, or is there a possible incompatibility? If you've used either a MX
> or an LX drive, did you ever get a strange buzzing sound - almost like a
> relay trying to avoid a short-circuit - and if so, what was the cause and
> cure?
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