Information on wiring Banggood gimbal on Phantom 2?

[dlambfra]

Hello,
I just received a (cheap) gimbal from Banggood and was looking for information on how to wire it to a Phantom 2. The elegant solution would be to use the existing 8-pin connector for the Zenmuse H2-3D gimbal which is already there, but I can't find any information on this, so I guess it either can't be done or that no-one has tried it? Hard to believe if the latter is the case. If you cannot use the exsiting connector, then I guess you have to find a way of getting power to the gimbal and wiring up the tilt function so that you can use the wheel on the top RH of the controller?
Be grateful for any first-hand experience of fitting this gimbal!

 

[photokreso]

I would also like to try some other gimbal cause may zenmuse drop dead,so can you send me which one did you buy from bangood??
Thanx

 

[dlambfra]

Oops! I wasn't remembering correctly - I actually got it from AliExpress (for an SJ4000, but they do a GoPro version as well - I suspect they may be the same anyway) :

RTF DJI Phantom SJ4000 Camera CNC Brushless Gimbal/Motor/Controller WK QR X350 Black-in Parts & Accessories from Toys & Hobbies on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Regards

 

[dlambfra]

This one on Banggood looks like the same thing:

FPV 2 Axis Brushless Gimbal With Controller For DJI Phantom GoPro 3

 

[TeamYankee]

The ribbon cable for the zenmuse connects back into the zenmuse gimbal control circuit. The aliexpress gimbal has its own controller all you need is power and a tilt control back to F2 on the p2 flight controller. There are various YouTube bids about it.

 

[dlambfra]

Hello
Yes, I've seen a few YouTube videos, but mainly on P1 not P2 with connector. Tilt control I get, but ideally I'd like to take power from the Zen muse connector but haven't found any vdeos or the pinouts for the connector (to know where to get power from) on the Web so far :-(

 

[dlambfra]

Just had another look at my P2 v2 - in fact beside the Zenmuse grey ribbon cable & connector which is dangling from the underside there is an additional ribbon cable with no connector, with yellow/orange/brown wires - anyone any idea what this is for and what the signals on the wires are? I guess I'll have a better idea once I've opened up the P2 to wire in the battery connectors for my Banggood gimbal, but perhaps someone has already come across this ribbon cable and knows what purpose it serves....

Regards

 

[Tx121]

i am in process of trying to figure out this same thing.keep us updated .

 

[dlambfra]

So far I haven't found any specific information on either the Zenmuse connector or the additional ribbon cable, strange that no-one out there has asked the same question. However it looks pretty simple if you forget about trying to use the existing connectors - you have to open the Phantom to wire in the two power cables and run a further wire from the Naza module to a pin on the gimbal to get the tilt control on the RC to work with it. I found these two You Tube videos for example:

They're for a P1, but the principle is the same.

Personally I've ordered some battery connectors and wires to do a clean job of it, so am waiting for them to arrive before I crack open my P2 and wire up my gimbal

 

[Tx121]

I was able to find find a video of someone who has successfully figured this out on a p2 so it is 100% workable. asked him to post a close of video of of his wiring and such..well seeYouTube

 

[Tx121]

For power you can get it off the cables prewired behind the gimbal cable https://m.youtube.com/?rdm=1qgoxs40w&client=mv-google#/watch?v=Zv7pE_sM5x8...&

 

[dlambfra]

Hmm, interesting, I'd be keen to see that. However both of those You Tube links take me to the You Tube home page for some reason, not to a specific video :-(

 

[Tx121]

Get on YouTube search" dji phantom 2 vision and Goodluckbuy gimbal" and search " dji phantom 2 + iosd mini +5.8ghz immersion 600mw"

 

[dlambfra]

Found them - thanks! Interesting stuff, so there are power wires on the ribbon cable (2nd video), although in the video they're being used to power an FPV module and not a gimbal. I wonder if the voltage and current drain are the same?

 

[Tx121]

The first video shows the whole setup I am just waiting for a response as how to he wired everything I don't Wana fry anything

 

[dlambfra]

Sounds like a wise choice, I'll do likewise Surprising that the wiring information for the stuff that dangles from the bottom of a P2 appears to be so hard to find, you'd have thought that DJI would provide the wiring diagrams and signal info, especially for the 'bare' ribbon cable. Or perhaps I've just overlooked it somewhere...

 

[dlambfra]

Just had another look at the videos - first one seems to suggest that you need to solder a 3-pin connector to the gimbal, which is missing originally (don't have mine to hand to check what is/isn't there)? Not sure where the 3-wire ribbon cable from that then goes (on the Naza module somewhere?) and what functionality it provides. Is that all you need to get power to the gimbal and enable the pitch control wheel on the RC?

On watching the second video, it appears that you can power the gimbal from the brown (ground) and red (+ve) wires on the 'bare' ribbon cable and then wire the pitch control as shown on the videos I posted for the P1 (which involves opening the P2 casing to connect to the relevant pin on the Naza module). Assuming that the power wires provide the correct voltage and sufficient amperage to power the gimbal without any problems - regarding the voltage, I guess I just have to put a multimeter on the wires and measure the output voltage.

 

[Tx121]

do that and let me know !. i know for sure that bare cable is called the (Fpv cable via dji ) its ment for the a/v transmitter but there is another fellow on this site that said he has both a gimbal and a immersion A/v transmitter running off it.not 100%. i still wonder how your flight time would be affected if you have both running off the systems main battery it would almost be worth it to have a small 3d printed battery holder made and run a small 3s lipo battery .but if not affected ideally id like to not have to do that .. we shall see

 

[dlambfra]

As soon as I receive the battery connectors and wires I've ordered and find some time I'll sit down & have a look, I'll keep you posted!

 

[dlambfra]

Just to update - got some battery connectors from Aliexpress and wired up the gimbal connections. Had to open up the P2 to access the connectors - soldered the two wires on the battery connector plug directly to the +/- terminals on the P2 main board and fed the connector out through one of the holes beside the feet so that you can plug the gimbal power cord into it - pretty straightforward. Then connected a wire to the F2 port of the Naza module - 'signal' connector at the bottom of the far left row of pins on the module - and connected it to the 'signal' connector on the top right of the row of pins on the gimbal ('A0' signal). According to what I've seen on You Tube, this is all that is required to enable pitch control with the P2 controller (

). It's not clear whether I have to change something on my Naza controller or download and use configuration software for the gimbal to calibrate it (for example) for it to work correctly though. I also took advantage of having the P2 opened to remove the 'Camera' and 'Naza' cables which dangle form the underside of the P2, since they simply plug into the main board and so can be easily removed if unused (and plugged in again later if need be).
In any case, on first power up the gimbal vibrates and makes buzzing noises but never seems to settle down - I can move the phantom around and it will compensate, but it never quietens down and becomes completely stable. When I tilt the P2 way back, the camera will 'bottom out' and then remains there, and will not return to a horizontal position. The pitch control certainly had an effect on the gimbal, but in view of the other problems I ended up disconnecting it and concentrating on just trying to get the gimbal to initialise correctly and stay still (unsuccessfully)! Pity there's no info out there on how to do this all easily.
So not too encouraging so far - I have sent a message to the seller on Aliexpress to see what they have to say, and I also see a user comment on the Banggod site with someone having a similar problem (looks like the same gimbal as the one on Aliexpress) - unfortunately the response isn't posted.
To be continued...