HD-3D Gimbal acting up

[tferrari]

I'm seeing some of your same issues, Tristan1234. I have re-calibrated X1 several times now and it does not operate the same, as it did "out of the box'". I attribute this to the fact that I upgraded firmware to V3.04 (along with the other associated upgrades to the various firmwares on the Phantom.) That's when I started having problems with my H3-3D not 'stopping' in-between the UP and DOWN positions of the switch. It worked much better before the upgrade, but I can still stop it in-between if I move the X1 lever VERY slowly. However, it seems to have a very narrow range now between fully UP or fully DOWN...like maybe a 1/4 of the travel distance of the X1 lever and it goes either fully UP or fully DOWN, leaving the other 3/4 of the travel distance of the X1 lever absolutely useless. I've re-calibrated X1 several times and can not get it to change to use the entire travel distance of the X1 lever.

Try following these directions:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23621

 

[ussvertigo]

could it be a bad pot in the tx?

 

[jflyer3]

Ok...This problem is not going away. Now I calibrate and there is no repeatability. Sometimes it comes right in and then eventually tilts down. It will be pointing straight ahead and then after a second or two (without touching the RC) or after going through the limits of the X1 it will come to rest tilting down. Here is a new issue that is related to this (I think). The X1 has no "in between" meaning I can't stop the camera in between straight on horizontal and vertical when I move X1 it goes to one extreme or the other. Really weird....Anyone seeing this?

I'm having the exact same issues too --the gimbal is stuck pointing straight down. It happened during a flight on Sunday (see below). After the flight I went through the X1 calibration and noticed that when the tilt control on the Tx was moved the slider bar in the Assistant software would only move slightly or suddenly jump to the beginning of the bar. There was no smooth movement. As I was doing this, the gimbal was dutifully doing what the X1 was showing on the Assistant control screen. Most of the time the slider was pegged to the right (gimbal down), no matter how I moved the tilt control. But if I SLOWLY moved it back to level, it would jump suddenly all the way to the left onscreen and the gimbal would be level.

Like ussvertigo says, the behavior likely indicates a bad pot in the DJI transmitter and not a problem with the gimbal. At least that's my current theory. If you search on Youtube there is a guy who shows how to replace the tilt control with a dial potentiometer mounted on the front of the transmitter. I ordered the parts he referred to and will install it on my Tx. Hopefully this will cure the problem.

See 11:39 in this video. That's where I lose control of the gimbal.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe-WcHapAdA[/youtube]

 

[tferrari]

I'm having the exact same issues too --the gimbal is stuck pointing straight down. It happened during a flight on Sunday (see below). After the flight I went through the X1 calibration and noticed that when the tilt control on the Tx was moved the slider bar in the Assistant software would only move slightly or suddenly jump to the beginning of the bar. There was no smooth movement. As I was doing this, the gimbal was dutifully doing what the X1 was showing on the Assistant control screen. Most of the time the slider was pegged to the right (gimbal down), no matter how I moved the tilt control. But if I SLOWLY moved it back to level, it would jump suddenly all the way to the left onscreen and the gimbal would be level.

Like ussvertigo says, the behavior likely indicates a bad pot in the DJI transmitter and not a problem with the gimbal. At least that's my current theory. If you search on Youtube there is a guy who shows how to replace the tilt control with a dial potentiometer mounted on the front of the transmitter. I ordered the parts he referred to and will install it on my Tx. Hopefully this will cure the problem.

Try following these directions:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23621

 

[JDN]

post by tferrari » Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:55 pm

Try following these directions:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23621

Thanks tferrari! Excellent info... I followed these steps to the letter and now I have FULL control of the tilt function on my H3-3D gimbal. I had been following them pretty closely, but I noticed two differences in these instructions than what I had been doing before. I was moving the "X1" lever quickly back and forth, rather than slowly during the calibration steps and I was doing the "Command Sticks Calibration" BEFORE doing the "X1 Calibration" in the DJI Phantom 2 Assistant software. So I followed these instructions precisely and now my gimbal is tilting properly again, just like it did "out of the box" before I did any firmware updates! Thank you again for the help!

 

[tferrari]

post by tferrari » Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:55 pm

Try following these directions:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23621

Thanks tferrari! Excellent info... I followed these steps to the letter and now I have FULL control of the tilt function on my H3-3D gimbal. I had been following them pretty closely, but I noticed two differences in these instructions than what I had been doing before. I was moving the "X1" lever quickly back and forth, rather than slowly during the calibration steps and I was doing the "Command Sticks Calibration" BEFORE doing the "X1 Calibration" in the DJI Phantom 2 Assistant software. So I followed these instructions precisely and now my gimbal is tilting properly again, just like it did "out of the box" before I did any firmware updates! Thank you again for the help!

My pleasure. I wrote that procedure because I too thought I had a bat pot until I finally figured out I was just doing the calibration incorrectly.

 

[EdmontonPhotog]

tferrari,

Good job! I had the same issue after upgrading to v3.06 and went back and forth between the two assistants until it finally settled down and worked properly again. Your clear step by step will be very helpful as this seems to be a common problem after a firmware update.

 

[jflyer3]

post by tferrari » Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:55 pm

Try following these directions:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=23621

Thanks tferrari! Excellent info... I followed these steps to the letter and now I have FULL control of the tilt function on my H3-3D gimbal. I had been following them pretty closely, but I noticed two differences in these instructions than what I had been doing before. I was moving the "X1" lever quickly back and forth, rather than slowly during the calibration steps and I was doing the "Command Sticks Calibration" BEFORE doing the "X1 Calibration" in the DJI Phantom 2 Assistant software. So I followed these instructions precisely and now my gimbal is tilting properly again, just like it did "out of the box" before I did any firmware updates! Thank you again for the help!

What can I say…you did it, tferrari! I followed your instructions to the letter like JDN and now I have control of my tilt. My problem was that I only calibrated X1 with the Phantom 2 Assistant. I didn't do the RC System Assistant calibration (I read somewhere that you're not supposed to calibrate X1 with the RC System Assistant, but I guess this is incorrect). I guess I won't be needing that new potentiometer after all. Thank you!