Arris CM3000 + Phantom 2, What is going wrong?

[Mindflights]

I just bought that Arris CM3000 gimbal and I am very frustrated, trying to make it work while flying but not able to achieve it after two days of trying!

http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-cm3000- ... imbal.html
and the special plate
http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-extende ... antom.html

I tried with all the available firmwares, 2.3b5, 2.4b6, 2.4b7
Usually the Follow Yaw works when it wants, and when I made it work, I realized that when I took off, the gimbal shakes like crazy.
The footage is completely unusable!

When the gimbal looks forward in Phantom 2, it shakes!
When it looks at the sides or to the back of the Drone, it is very stable.
Is it because of the base? does the camera produces vibrations from the propellers?
I use stock propellers. Everything is ok with Phantom 2
What did I do wrong?
Can anyone help me on this?

I am going to upload the footage very soon.

Thanks

 

[Gizmo3000]

I guess we'd have to see the footage.

tho I've never used the landing gear extensions, I just mounted mine to the bottom of my Phantom 1, and it seemed to work ok for me.

 

[Mindflights]

The footage!

http://youtu.be/V9O6gtu9xpc

 

[Mindflights]

Today I will try with the second set of the aluminum leg extensions.
They have two sets, the long and the short. Now I will use the short in order to have the gimbal more tight to phantoms sell in order to see what will happen with the vibrations

 

[Steely]

Both sets came with the Arris 3000?

 

[Mindflights]

Both sets came with the Arris 3000?

Arris comes with no plate, only the gimbal.
You have to buy the plate separately from hobby-wing, around 35 usd and as I asked them before buying, it fits to both phantoms, 1 and 2.

And also, Arris dont support 5v power for gopro and fpv out. You have to buy special cable for that.

Unfortunately they dont say it in their website.

 

[Steely]

Thanks for that info.

 

[Mindflights]

Well, Hobby Wing replied to me by admitting that they never test that thing with Phantom 2.

I asked before buying if it fits in Phantom 2, they said OK, but I think I had to ask if it.. stabilizes too!

Finally they asked me to send it back for refunding but that was not the case, so many days trying for nothing.
They should to be more professionals about that by having remarks about the incompatibility with Phantom 2 due to big weight, as they said in their last email, or to make some test with it, they are selling it after all.

Here is the last video I made today, before sending back the gimbal.

http://youtu.be/fjEOCBavuNM

 

[Steely]

That's not good news. I'm sure I saw a video using this gimbal with the Phantom 2. Guess I'll return mine unopened. You've helped me from going through the grief, thanks.

 

[Xrover]

And I was thinking of buying one. I guess I'll hold off!!

 

[Zwyser]

Did anyone found the problem to this issue as I am having the exact same shakiness on a Phantom one with that extended landing gear plate.

 

[d4ddyo]

Did anyone found the problem to this issue as I am having the exact same shakiness on a Phantom one with that extended landing gear plate.

If you read the whole thread the distributor admits that it is not compatible and offered him a refund (weight problem). Looks like a weight distribution issue. Probably try balancing with weights. Or return it

 

[Hiway]

I have the Arris CM3000 mounted on a v1.1.1

The Arris is a stand alone gimbal that works out of the box.

Prior to putting power to the gimbal, it needs to have the gopro mounted, and positioned facing forward as it "centers" based on the direction it faces.

There are many ways it can be connected, and in it's out of the box configuration it stabilizes and has "Yaw Follow" mode by default.

It allows the gopro to take as close to professional footage as you can get before moving up to real aerial and pro grade cameras and gimbals. It turns the gopro into a thing of beauty in the air.

I am sorry you had trouble... but it sounds as if there was some misunderstandings on your part on how it operates, and thee i the possibility it was a defective unit from transport- they test every gimbal before mailing out individually, and send a CD with the parameters for your gimbal in the package.

I think you may have overstepped your paygrade when you tried to hook it up- and while I sympathize if it was a defective unit, I also think it would be fair to acknowledge the level of technical understanding this hobby and the gear require- things are not "plug and play" in all applications, and thee is always fine print to consider.

 

[Mindflights]

I have the Arris CM3000 mounted on a v1.1.1

The Arris is a stand alone gimbal that works out of the box.

Prior to putting power to the gimbal, it needs to have the gopro mounted, and positioned facing forward as it "centers" based on the direction it faces.

There are many ways it can be connected, and in it's out of the box configuration it stabilizes and has "Yaw Follow" mode by default.

It allows the gopro to take as close to professional footage as you can get before moving up to real aerial and pro grade cameras and gimbals. It turns the gopro into a thing of beauty in the air.

I am sorry you had trouble... but it sounds as if there was some misunderstandings on your part on how it operates, and thee i the possibility it was a defective unit from transport- they test every gimbal before mailing out individually, and send a CD with the parameters for your gimbal in the package.

I think you may have overstepped your paygrade when you tried to hook it up- and while I sympathize if it was a defective unit, I also think it would be fair to acknowledge the level of technical understanding this hobby and the gear require- things are not "plug and play" in all applications, and thee is always fine print to consider.

The problem is with the Phantom 2 and as Hobby Wing told me, the problem is the extra weight of the phantom 2 battery which is much heavier than yours, so the asked me to return the gimbal which was operating quite well and they refund me the same day I sent it back.

 

[d4ddyo]

I have the Arris CM3000 mounted on a v1.1.1

The Arris is a stand alone gimbal that works out of the box.

Prior to putting power to the gimbal, it needs to have the gopro mounted, and positioned facing forward as it "centers" based on the direction it faces.

There are many ways it can be connected, and in it's out of the box configuration it stabilizes and has "Yaw Follow" mode by default.

It allows the gopro to take as close to professional footage as you can get before moving up to real aerial and pro grade cameras and gimbals. It turns the gopro into a thing of beauty in the air.

I am sorry you had trouble... but it sounds as if there was some misunderstandings on your part on how it operates, and thee i the possibility it was a defective unit from transport- they test every gimbal before mailing out individually, and send a CD with the parameters for your gimbal in the package.

I think you may have overstepped your paygrade when you tried to hook it up- and while I sympathize if it was a defective unit, I also think it would be fair to acknowledge the level of technical understanding this hobby and the gear require- things are not "plug and play" in all applications, and thee is always fine print to consider.

The problem is with the Phantom 2 and as Hobby Wing told me, the problem is the extra weight of the phantom 2 battery which is much heavier than yours, so the asked me to return the gimbal which was operating quite well and they refund me the same day I sent it back.

I don't get that reason. the battery sits above the gimbal and unless the change in center of gravity affect the gimbal that much?

 

[Hiway]

I suppose they just are not able to make it standardized for the P2- I had my v1.1.1 in the air- with (2) 2200's together, and the gimbal... but only 6 minutes of hair raising flight time.

I run a 2700 maddog and initial tests are showing around 4 to 5 minutes on a new bat... which ain't really gonna do it. I won't give up the gimbal though... I'll build a 550 frame Y6 to carry it eventually. I am sitting here now looking at footage... stunning.

 

[thongbong]

YOUR CABLE!!!! Unwind it 180 degrees from the pitch motor.

Edit: nevermind I thought it was tangled. I had a cm2000, will never buy another arriss again.

 

[Gizmo3000]

I'm at a loss, because I flew the CM3000 on my Phantom 1 and didn't experience such shakiness. (tho short flight times)
but I didn't use the extended landing legs either.
and find it kind of off that it wouldn't shake when the camera is facing another direction, that doesn't quite make sense.

I"m now flying my CM3000 on a heavy F450, and it works ok, (and flies for 10 minutes), so I can't complain.

But at least the folks at Hobby Wing offered a refund and such for you.

 

[Zwyser]

I have now eliminated all other possibilities. It must be the Arris CM3000 gimbal.

I have uploaded a uncut video where you can see the crazy shake dance of the Phantom caused by the gimbal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqzHwXx-Irs

I have now contacted Hobby Wing to get a refund. We will see how this works out.

 

[Rallyeman]

Oh boy, you should have seen it coming.. If you had checked the rcgroups thread you would have read lot of dissapointed phantom users, including me (OrfeasGR) and ton4.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2000268&highlight=cm3000&page=39

I ended up killing it for 150$ and i thanked the guy who bought it too, luckily he had good results with his DIY handheld project.
Seems like the alexmos controllers are very sensitive to vibrations, and phantom is the worst platform to work with (see unibody structure). Whatever you do, dont use 2.4 firmware, and also make sure you convert the mount to compression type so that you can use 4 soft balls. Do an advanced 6 point IMU calibration, and then make sure you have perfect balanced motors and props. Ofcourse, you will then need some luck with the PID tuning to iron vibrations and strange behaviours. Apparently those gimbals work very good in f450/550 multicopters. So if you spent 1 month of trial and error and you still get crappy footage like me, sell it or get yourself a bigger platform to work with. OR consider buing the new dual IMU alexmos 32bit controller. Not cheap, but said to be effective. I pre-ordered a H3-3D. Good luck!