Recommend me a brushless gimbal setup (complete)

[Balders]

There';s so many discussions going on about brushless setups at the moment, I thought I';d ask people';s opionions in one place, as I';m loking to make a purchase. This is based on a GoPro3.

So questions:

a) What controller would you recommend, and from where?

b) What gimbal hardware would you recommend and from where (if not obvious by the name)

c) What brushless motors would you recommend if they don';t come with the hardware

d) worth looking in UK or just go straight for Far East?

e) Is there an "all in one" solution or am i looking at stuff from various places and "making" it all work together.

[SimonS]

For the controller I will say AlexMos.  It is easy to set up (USB rather than FDTI) and work well. An add on card for the 3rd axis should be out in a month or two.  Buy from where ever you can find one.  Quadcopters are about the only UK supplier at the moment.  Phone them to check availability rather than believe the website.  also try Viacopter in Denmark, Flyduino in Germany and Ladroneshop in France.

The gimbal choice depends on how you want to mount the GoPro.  The vast majority are designed to take the camera without its protective case.  The RCTimer gimbal for example will only take the camera and will not take the Layer Lens so you need to be sure of your flying and your machine reliability.  Having said that, the RCTimer gimbal is hard to beat for the price.

If you want motors on their own then I would stick to the RCTimer ones.  Paying for Tigers or AXi is not necessary given the low rpm';s.  Bearing quality and balancing is not an issue.

The only all in one solutions out there at the moment are e-copter (French), again, from Quadcopters and the Yun-I (China) which is the only one that I have seen that will take the GoPro Case.

[powerlord]

Can';t say I disagree with any of that. Though brugi is USB too. None are just ftdi.

And with the last few weeks improvements I can';t really see a reason to go alexmos anymore IMHO.

Your gonna need a new gimbal or some fairly major DIY work for a 3rd axis anyway.

Anyone heard if brugi are working on a 3rd axis ?

[Gaza07]

The earlier marinez boards had to have an external ftdi but the rctimer board has that built in, performance wise with the latest firmware from BruGi 049b r58 it looks to be as good as the alex mos but half the price,
I would say the alex mos would be the better if your not to much in to tweeking and need that 3rd axis sooner rather than later,
I dont now if there are any plans to add the 3rd axis to the rctimer board but I suppose it should be possible the same as the alexmos board, as both boards only have 2 brushless controllers so both will need another controller board linking in via I2c or how ever they decice to do it 

[powerlord]

Yeh I imagine they are trying to get the firmware stable first.

I fancy trying one of my gimbals on my Paramotor but that will really need the 3rd axis so looking forward to trying that.

[Balders]

Thanks for all the responses folks.

I have pulled the trigger and purchase the RCTimer gimbal AND controller.  Thought it best to get both from the same source in the end, as performance wise, ultimately they seem pretty close.

Whilst I was loathe to purchase from RCTimer again after the mess they made of the delivery of my CM301 gimbal, price wise there was just no comparison.  £115 delivered all in.

[DarrenG]

Add me to the growing list of RCTimer Gimbal customers. Just pressed the buy button on a gimbal and controller after seeing the amazing results posted in this forum. For £115 you can';t go wrong (touch wood). Especially after I';ve flogged off my existing gimbals

[Balders]

With the quality of footage coming out of my GoPro3 black, I';m seriously considering dumping the DSLR to be honest.

[powerlord]

Agree. I';ve said before aerial dslr footage is  a waste if time. 28-35mm footage is best got from a compact camera like a Sony hx20. Or if u don';t mind the lens distortion - a gopro.

[Northernmonkey]

Where about are you guys buying the gimbal from?
What';s you opinion/views on it?

Cheers
Mike

[RS]

Can';t say I disagree with any of that. Though brugi is USB too. None are just ftdi.

And with the last few weeks improvements I can';t really see a reason to go alexmos anymore IMHO.

Your gonna need a new gimbal or some fairly major DIY work for a 3rd axis anyway.

Anyone heard if brugi are working on a 3rd axis ?

Dont know what/who  is " brugi" , but if  you need a 3 axis gimbal, check this

http://shop.myairbot.com/index.php/evvgc-3-2axis-brushless-gimbal-controller.html

Ill be  getting one  soon, but my gimbal is 2 axis ,so   the  3th axis is   for  the future:)