2 axis brushless gimbal (from China)

[flybywire]

Thought I';d post this ';review'; I';ve been working on, now I';ve found a squeaky new forum to post on!

I ordered the thing from:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251298435441?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I must admit I was a little sceptical, and guessed it would be a few weeks in the arriving.  After about a week, I had not been given a dispatch message, so queried the guys @ gadgetextreme, then next day I got amessage saying it had been dispatched.  I was really surprised when the merchandise turned up about 4 days later!  I had paid an extra £3 for RM special delivery (or some such) at checkout, which has a tracking option, well worth it, although it arrive before I';d attmptedto track it! 
It arrived on the day we were due to hit the barmy Suffolk Coast for the annual hols, so I packed it in my kit bag along with my gopro & trusty DJI-450.
After a little experimentation, I didn';t have the correct lead to power it up as it needs a power connection to your main board (or another lipo if that';s how u want to do it). 
Anyhow, after I got back, I sorted the connecions out and found that it worked straight out of the box.  The guys were as good as their word, and the little beauty held the camera steady as anything.  I wasted no time in fixing it to my frame, and taking it out the back yard for a trial.  THese brushless gimbals seem weird at first, it just keeps the cam facing forward, rock steadily, awesome! 

I noticed that it had a slight downward aspect, so set about downloading the software interface, and discovered that it had been pre loaded with ';Russian'; firmware, and the board is a V3.  Gadjetextreme have been very helpful, providing me with ll the info I have needed so far, although they seemed a little surprised that I was asking hese questions by replying "Hi Andy, does the gimbal not work?"
As I say, it does work out of the box, but I did need the software to calibrate the device, which I did and it immediately cured the downward tilt.  I hooked up the attached servo lead to my Aux3 dial on my DX8, and now I can alter or ';nick'; the tilt angle (very useful, if not essential?).
Some of the more ';geeky'; of you will doubtless want to flash the little monster with some other firmware or other, and you can do that easily using the software available here: http://www.simplebgc.com/eng/

Enjoy guys.

So a quick vid:
Gimbal test review from Andy on Vimeo.</p>

Hope it';s helpful if you';re thinking of investing in a gimbal, but don';t want to spend £280 odd quid for a DJI  [attach=2]

P.S I';ll add some pics of the 450 with gimbal (along with the ';new'; dji landing legs).

[al-xg]

Looks great for the price.
Do you have any pictures of the working setup? The ebay pics don';t seem to show any of the wires.

[flybywire]

Looks great for the price.
Do you have any pictures of the working setup? The ebay pics don';t seem to show any of the wires.

It is great!  I';ll post some pics when I get back home from work (although I plan a little ';Friday diversion'; flight on the way home!!).  Connections are blindingly simple.  One mini connection for the power source, and a servo cable (optional) to hook up to your Rx to control pan/tilt, which you select in the setup software.  I have mine set to Aux 3 dial on my DX8.

Cheers

Andy.

[flybywire]

Looks great for the price.
Do you have any pictures of the working setup? The ebay pics don';t seem to show any of the wires.

Until then, you can look at this attachment:

[Gav]

hi dude - welcome to the world of brushless gimbals - they';re a revolution in aerial video recording.

seeing your BBQ smoking away in the vid has made me hungry now.....hmmmmm  burger......

Peeps are hungry for photos and vids on here so slap up some photos of your camera ship 

cheers
Gav

[flybywire]

Yes, the barb was good...Here';s a couple of pics taken in haste.








<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/72984743" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p>gimbal in action! from Andy on Vimeo.</p>











Ok, so for a review it has to be subjective eh? 
Negatives: I don';t think it really has any, but if I';m picky, just two things, first the board emits a high pitch ';whine'; audible in the clip I took, not an issue to me as I never use the sound from the quad anyhow, plus the noise of the motors drowns it out anyhow, second, you probably notice the camera tilts slightly in it';s less that dji mounting!  Again, it';s something that I can fix with next to no sweat.
Oh, yes, power draw, my ezosd tells me that the quad & gimbal are drawing 20 amps at hover, going up to around 25 when pushed around.  Edit: usually draws 15-20 without gimbal.  Bottom line (as I';ve only had two or three flights with it so far) is that it would likely take 2-3 mins off my standard 15 min flight time using a 4 cell 5000 mAh lipo.  I also use a 3000 mAh 4 cell, so that has a trade off with lightness, but I';ve yet to record flight times.  I never push my lipo';s, so always come home well before they';re due to give up anyhow.

Andy

[Ross]

More research on the setup.. keep us posted..
Thanks for the info already given

[Gav]

Probably the motors emitting the high pitch squeel.   On the AlexMos gui there';s an option to change the motor pulse frequency from hi to low.  Selecting low gets rid of the annoying squeel.  I';ve not noticed and side effects from doing so on mine.  On my other goodluckbuy gimbal and martinez controller, that also had the high pitch squeel out the box ...updating the firmware and using default pids got rid of the squeel on that one. Didn';t see a hi low frequency selection on the martiez gui though, only on the AlexMos one.

[flybywire]

Probably the motors emitting the high pitch squeel.   On the AlexMos gui there';s an option to change the motor pulse frequency from hi to low.  Selecting low gets rid of the annoying squeel.  I';ve not noticed and side effects from doing so on mine.  On my other goodluckbuy gimbal and martinez controller, that also had the high pitch squeel out the box ...updating the firmware and using default pids got rid of the squeel on that one. Didn';t see a hi low frequency selection on the martiez gui though, only on the AlexMos one.

Ah, yes, that would make sense.  I';ll check out the software, have a poke around.  Actually i had the thought that if the quad went down in a cornfield, you';d have a fair chance of homing in on the sound  still, nice to know it can be fixed, also maybe reduce the current draw too, seeing as noise is energy

[ericb]

Cheers for this Andy as I had been looking at them. Can you easily turn the roll motor fixings through 180 so that the gimbal frame is mounted on the topside of the quad frame with the camera then pointing virtually from the centre of it ? 

Eric

I had a look again and this is easy enough and you can invert the operation via the GIU......I bought this after your great review......cheers Andy

[powerlord]

that';s interesting that the cheapy gimbals are now coming loaded with alexmos null code on martinez boards.

good to know for some.

note though that you will not be able to update the firmware from the bgc website - any updates you';ll need to hunt the net for a source of nulled (decrypted) code.

[dazza22]

Probably the motors emitting the high pitch squeel.   On the AlexMos gui there';s an option to change the motor pulse frequency from hi to low.  Selecting low gets rid of the annoying squeel.  I';ve not noticed and side effects from doing so on mine.  On my other goodluckbuy gimbal and martinez controller, that also had the high pitch squeel out the box ...updating the firmware and using default pids got rid of the squeel on that one. Didn';t see a hi low frequency selection on the martiez gui though, only on the AlexMos one.

thanks for that, mine too as the squeal . tomorrow  I will try selecting the low pulse and hope it does the job

[Jake Bullit]

Been toying with getting a gimbal for a while now. Seeing this made me take the plunge.

Here is the one I ordered
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=300939757110

Should fit nicely under my Y6:)

A Hubsan  X4 and a few other bits fell into my trolley too

[Rafter]

Hi Jake, glad you';ve joined us.  Pop over and have a look at my gimbal when I get back from France, 8th Sept.

Peter (Little Hooligan!!)

[dirtyharry]

You can get these delivered from aliexpress for £65.60, will probably try one myself once i get the AIO board properly up and running.


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DJI-Phantom-Gopro-2-3-CNC-Metal-Brushless-Camera-Gimbal-w-Motors-Controller/1254385609.html

[Jake Bullit]

Cheers Peter, Bon vacance :)

[orfordness]

Now look what you';ve made me go and do!

ordered!

[al-xg]

This looks like the same thing but with a case for the GoPro 3 instead of the shelf and strap. Slightly more expensive though at £92.45


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DJI-Phantom-Brushless-Gimbal-Aluminum-Cam-Mount-w-Motor-Controller-Gopro-3/281158968840?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D931967286066734476%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D251298435441%26

[mutley2]

Wondered if anyone has fitted one these to a TBS Discovery, would like a gimble at some point. How would you fit it???

[flybywire]

Cheers for this Andy as I had been looking at them. Can you easily turn the roll motor fixings through 180 so that the gimbal frame is mounted on the topside of the quad frame with the camera then pointing virtually from the centre of it ? 

Eric

I had a look again and this is easy enough and you can invert the operation via the GIU......I bought this after your great review......cheers Andy

Hi Eric, missed this post, been busy..
Glad to be of help, that looks to be the same as mine, it';s my best buy to date vidography wise, second to the gopro that sits on it of course.  It';s revolutionised my footage, no visible ';jello'; and no jerkiness either, simply brilliant.   

[flybywire]

You can get these delivered from aliexpress for £65.60, will probably try one myself once i get the AIO board properly up and running.


http://www.aliexpress.com/item/DJI-Phantom-Gopro-2-3-CNC-Metal-Brushless-Camera-Gimbal-w-Motors-Controller/1254385609.html

THey look the same, but even cheaper!  Better gets even better.

Andy

[al-xg]

And a 3 axis version:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Axis-Aluminum-Brushless-Camera-Mount-Gimbal-w-Motor-Controller-Gopro3-/261274395151?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd52ae20f

I';m slightly conflicted, I do sort of like that enclosure version...

[powerlord]

I  got the 3 axis on order for a few weeks

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4

[flybywire]

And a 3 axis version:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-Axis-Aluminum-Brushless-Camera-Mount-Gimbal-w-Motor-Controller-Gopro3-/261274395151?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cd52ae20f

I';m slightly conflicted, I do sort of like that enclosure version...

I';d say if your M/R is of a decent size, go for the enclosed.  I wouldn';t personally want to add any more weight to my 450!

ATB

Andy

[flybywire]

Now look what you';ve made me go and do!

ordered!

You won';t regret it mate!!

A.

[orfordness]

Warning

I';m getting a malware warning on simplebgc.con (used n so link does not function)

Steve

[ericb]

Hi Andy
Well it arrived and I plugged it in and am using it upside down ( base plate at bottom and gimbal above ) and it';s self levelled and works with no set up. I cant however get connected to the GUI, if you have any help there.It so silent and smooth.

Eric

[flybywire]

Hi Andy
Well it arrived and I plugged it in and am using it upside down ( base plate at bottom and gimbal above ) and it';s self levelled and works with no set up. I cant however get connected to the GUI, if you have any help there.It so silent and smooth.

Eric

Hi mate, glad you got one!  If it';s the same as mine, you can use this:
http://www.simplebgc.com/eng/downloads/
I haven';t tried updating the firmware though, didn';t see the need.  You can change all the relevant settings in there, plus calibrate the gyro.  Servo freq. can be changed also, again ';ve settled for the squeel, as it';s steadyer than the hf setting, and uses less juice apparently.
Let me know how u get on.

[ericb]

Hi Andy
I';ve clicked on something and knocked the settings off, any chance of a screen dump of the basic settings please....and I ve PM';d you and called you Dave ? 

[flybywire]

Hi Andy
I';ve clicked on something and knocked the settings off, any chance of a screen dump of the basic settings please....and I ve PM';d you and called you Dave ? 

Whoops!  Sure, i';ll hook it up after the bake-off!

Actually I';ve sent you my config file I saved first!