Make your own extension cord

Motivation Canon's remote timer (TC-80N3) and remote switch (RS-80N3) are very useful tools. However, they are limited in that their cord length is just over 2'6" (80cm). The ET-1000N3 is a 33' (10m) extension cord from Canon that can be bought for around $75 to extend that range. Since that $75 could be stashed away towards some new glass, I risked the life of my TC-80N3 and disected it in an effort to make my own low-cost/long-distance extension cord.

The operation was a complete success: the cost was well under $10; time spent was about one hour; and the cord can be extended to arbitrary lengths with a quick visit to Radio Shack. The efforts result in long extension cords, and the ability to control multiple cameras simultaneously with the same remote control! As an added benefit, you can control the digital rebel with the TC-80N3 or RS-80N3 by adding a simple part. Larger versions of the images are posted on my flickr page. If you have questions, please email me at the following email address (provided here in reverse for my protection): moc.liamg@llibemllac

Please be aware that this modification will probably negatively affect your timer/remote's warranty. Also, although everything I say below is true and recounted from my own experience, it is no guarantee that you will be successful; the best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry. So if after reading this page you feel competent and confident, go for it. But I will not and cannot be held accountable for anything that goes wrong. Basically, this is my GPL. That said, enjoy!

What you will need
Tools	Materials
Wire cutters/strippers Soldering gun and solder Blowtorch or hairdryer	Short headphone extension cord ...or... 1/8" DIN male, and 1/8" DIN female Black electrical tape Heat-shrink tubing

Theory When looking at the N3 connector on my remote timer, I see three pinholes for connections. Three pinholes insinuates that there are three wires in there somewhere. The body of the connector itself is non-metallic and non-conductive, so it is not being used as the "common" wire. So that ultimately means that there are three-and-only-three wires being used to pass a signal between the remote device and the camera. I assume that they are: shutter half-press; shutter full-press; common.

There is another common device that uses a similar scheme: two signal wires, and a common "reference" wire (usually grounded). Yes, I'm talking about stereo headphones. There is a left-channel signal, a right-channel signal, and a common. Three wires, with nice little connectors (take a look at your headphone jack; it's beautiful). And extension cords and splitters abound: Radio Shack in particular is a nice place to shop for these things.

The bottom line is: I've modified my TC-80N3's factory cord such that it now accepts headphone extensions/splitters to enable me to stay far away from the camera(s) as I shoot away, at a minimal expense.

	This is the finished product. Notice that I chose the option of using a headphone extension cord in the construction, rather than buying the male/female DIN connectors. The truth is that I only did it this way because Radio Shack didn't have the connectors in stock, and I didn't feel like waiting. But it did provide the benefit of instantly adding two feet of length to the remote switch. Also, I've used gray instead of black because that's what Radio Shack had in stock =) It turned out to be a blessing for this tutorial, however: the headphone cable is gray, and the remote-switch's cable is black... No ambiguity in the photos.
	This is a close-up of the N3 connector. It's very simple - just three pins. Half-press, full-press, and common. There is no connection to the body (the part you grasp) of the N3 connector.
	And here's our 1/8" DIN pair, aka headphone-jack. This photo is actually of a headphone extension cable looped around so we can see both ends. There's a male and a female, and there are three connections being made when they are plugged together.
	Here is a close-up of the N3 aligned with the 1/8" male. The lines indication the one-to-one nature of the connections. Note that it's not important which pin on the N3 goes to which segment of the 1/8" DIN. My decision was completely arbitrary, and you do not need to be concerned about which wire goes where. More in a moment.
	The moment of truth: cut the cord of your remote switch/timer somewhere in the middle of the length of the cord. Do the same to the headphone extension cable. Carefully strip back an inch or so of the outer cladding on all four of the new ends. In each cable, you'll see two cladded wires, and a third wire that is not clad. In the Canon cable, you'll see either a red/black/copper or a red/white/copper combination. In the Radio Shack part, I saw a red/black/aluminum combination. Now, carefully strip back about 3/4" of the cladding on the inner wires. You end up with something like in this photo.
	IMPORTANT Now is the time to slide a couple inches of the heat shrink tubing over one of the cables. Just push it onto the cable and slide it out of the way. You're connecting the wires now, so you won't be able to put the tubing on after this. Now twist the strands of wire together. Pair up the reds, pair up the commons (which were the loose, unclad wires), and pair up the remaining two (which might not be a color-to-color match. I.e., the last two might be black&black, black&white, etc. The point is that the first two will match up correctly, so it is impossible for the last pair to be incorrect). Twist the pairs together firmly enough so that they do not easily fall apart. We'll secure the connections in the next step. Try to keep the joints as straight and "in-line" as possible.
	Now we're going to secure the twisted connections by soldering. "Tin" your hot soldering iron by melting a little bit of solder onto the tip. The little blob of solder that's now hanging off the tip will aid in transferring heat from the soldering iron to the wires. Rest the tip against the joint that you had twisted together. Apply the solder to the joint, close to the tip of the soldering iron. As the joint heats up, it will melt the solder, which will flow into the joint. Apply as much as you feel comfortable with, then remove the tip and allow the joint to cool. The key to a well-soldered joint is to heat the work, not the solder. I.e., do not put the soldering iron on the joint and then apply the solder to the soldering gun tip, hoping that a blob of solder will fall onto the joint and make a good connection. This will only result in a weak joint. Rather, as I said, heat up the joint such that the solder melts when it touches the joint.
	Once all your joints have been securely soldered and allowed to cool, wrap the individual joints with a bit of electrical tape, so that they cannot directly come in contact with one-another.
	Now slide your heatshrink tubing over the joints. Allow the tubing to cover some of the original cable, as well. I.e., allow some overlap - don't cover only your joints.
	Using a blowtorch or a hairdryer, apply *heat* (not fire =^) uniformly to the heat-shrink tubing. The tubing will shrink and tightly caress your work, holding it together firmly and creating a weatherproof seal.
	You're just about done! Just make up the remaining connection, and you can "plug" your new cable together for normal use. You can also add a regular, inexpensive headphone extension cable inline to extend your reach. You can even go a little crazy and use headphone-splitters to connect multiple cameras to the same remote switch! I bet you could get pretty creative.
	You can use the TC-80N3 or RS-80N3 on your Digital Rebel (or any Canon camera with the 3/32" remote-control jack). Just go to Radio Shack and buy a 1/8"-stereo to 3/32" stereo adapter (part #274-373). Plug the male-side of the adapter into your camera, and then plug the remote controller into the female side. IMPORTANT If you plan on doing this, make sure that when modifying your controller's cable you put the male connector on the controller-side of the cord. Otherwise you'll have to spend a couple extra bucks in gender-changers. And yes, this picture was taken by the camera shown, using the TC-80N3 and a mirror.