Phantom 1/FC40 with gimbal

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Hello! I have recently bought a gimbal for my Phantom 1 (FC40 without camera). The gimbal works fine after connecting to power, but i can't manage to find out how to make the controller tilt the camera.

The controller works fine, both the sliders and the wheel to tilt the camera are moving. Also after calibration in Nazam. I also have tested the F1 and F2 ports, which have a small current who increase/decrease when i turn the wheel.. But still, no movement on the gimbal..

The manual was a A4-page in chinese, so not much help there either. It says Arris on the gimbal, but have not found anything useful on the web for this..
 
Hello! I have recently bought a gimbal for my Phantom 1 (FC40 without camera). The gimbal works fine after connecting to power, but i can't manage to find out how to make the controller tilt the camera.

The controller works fine, both the sliders and the wheel to tilt the camera are moving. Also after calibration in Nazam. I also have tested the F1 and F2 ports, which have a small current who increase/decrease when i turn the wheel.. But still, no movement on the gimbal..

The manual was a A4-page in chinese, so not much help there either. It says Arris on the gimbal, but have not found anything useful on the web for this..

The gimbal controller seems to be a SimpleBGC 8 bit.
One of the possibilities that can explain why the pitch of your gimbal cannot be driven by the Naza F2 port is that the pitch input is not programmed to accept PWM signal, that is the standard the Naza is working with.
You can discover this only by connecting to the USB port that is visible on one of the gimbal pictures.
If you do not know what software your gimbal uses, try with the CP210xVCP driver and the SimpleBGC2_2b graphic interface. In the SimpleBGC internet site you can find different releases, but the 2_2B is the most common for these types of low cost gimbal.
Do not forget to power the gimbal BEFORE you connect the USB port and remove the USB port BEFORE removing the power.
Before doing anything, simply be sure that the gimbal option in your NAZA is switched ON.
 
Thanx so much for your answer! I have also switched the gimbal option to ON before i tested, but still nothing happens.
Have looked around on the SimpleBGC, but i'm not more wiser.. Waiting for feedback from the producer of the gimbal.
 
Thanx so much for your answer! I have also switched the gimbal option to ON before i tested, but still nothing happens.
Have looked around on the SimpleBGC, but i'm not more wiser.. Waiting for feedback from the producer of the gimbal.

Another common issue is to reverse the signal and ground from Naza. The signal on the Naza F2 port is the pin at the bottom, while the ground is the pin at the top. The ground is mandatory if you power your gimbal with a separate source from the Fhantom battery. If you power the gimbal with the Phantom battery, you can connect ONLY the signal wire. Be sure you have connected the bottom pin of your Naza F2 port with the right signal pin of your gimbal.In the pictures of your gimbal, it looks there is a built-in cable for pitch control that uses 2 wires: be carefull that the yellow wire is connected to the bottom pin of the Naza and to the signal pin(not GND) of the gimbal.
 
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Can this also cause the pitch lever not to work at all???


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
Can this also cause the pitch lever not to work at all???


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

If the electrical connection is wrong, the answer is "yes".
If the electrical connection is OK, so there can be other reasons(PWM or other signal standard set-up, gimbal management not enabled in Naza etc.), but the electrical connection is the first item to be absolutely sure about.
 
I have put aside this for a while since my family gave me a Ph.3 Standard for my 30th birthday, but i cant still find out how to make the FC40 work.
Been fiddling with this for a few days again now. The slider is marked X1 in Naza, it moves when turn the wheel on the controller, so it seems like that is working fine. Some other guy i've been asking says that it should be three wires from Naza to the gimbal, someone who has made a video says ONLY one from Naza to the gimbal, Bottom pin on F1/F2, to top left pin on Gimbal. I have tried EVERYTHING. X1 as well. X2 is taken.

Is there anyone who have mounted a off-marked gimbal on the FC40 who might help?
 
Have you seen this http://www.arrishobby.com/arris-cm2000-2-axis-brushless-gimbal-for-gopro-3-3-4-p-756. Not sure if it relates to the model you have, but it does seem to indicate that Arris have had issues in the past with boards other than the Alexmos. From what I have read elsewhere, a 2-axis gimbal should only need one wire to control pitch, some people adding a second simply to fine adjust the level of the camera in roll. I am in the process of fitting a DYC 3-axis to my P1, hence my interest in your post and problem.
 
Thank you! No, not until now.
I see that the gimbal on that video has three pins, mine has six, like this

2
2
2

Not

3
3

No matter how much i try it, no matter where i put the connector cable, the gimbal will absolutely not move.

I have another gimbal as well, with 3 axis, but no circuit board. How can i connect this..?

Is there any way to test if the signal is being sent from the Naza? Using a small light bulb, a servo, motor or anything?
Like i said earlier, there is a small change in voltage when i turn the wheel, but i think that was only on the positive and negative wires..
 
Thank you! No, not until now.
I see that the gimbal on that video has three pins, mine has six, like this

2
2
2

Not

3
3

No matter how much i try it, no matter where i put the connector cable, the gimbal will absolutely not move.

I have another gimbal as well, with 3 axis, but no circuit board. How can i connect this..?

Is there any way to test if the signal is being sent from the Naza? Using a small light bulb, a servo, motor or anything?
Like i said earlier, there is a small change in voltage when i turn the wheel, but i think that was only on the positive and negative wires..
About the Naza connection and if it is necessary to connect signal and ground or signal only, please check answer 4 of this discussion.
Without an operating manual, it is disfficult to interpret the meaning of the pinout you shaw.
The signal from Naza is a PWM (pulse width modulation) signal at 400 Hz: so only an oscilloscope can tell you if your F2 output is sending the signal.
However, if the Naza is not broken, the signal is sent providing the gimbal control is switched on in the Advanced/Gimbal menu of the Naza attendant software. The minimum and max limits should be set to -1000 to 1000 and the manual gain of X1 should be set to 100: with this setup the Naza is driving the PWM signal. Obviously your gimbal software should be set to accept PWM signal type.
 
Glad I looked at this thread as I have now installed a DYS 3-axis gimbal on my P1. I have hard-wired it into the on-board power supply and when a battery is connected it works well, nice and stable in all 3 axis. However when I connect it to the laptop via the USB I get constant beeping and an error message in the middle of the Simple BGC GUI. I am guessing that it might be a driver issue (?) I have downloaded the USB to UART driver but it doesn't seem to recognize the connection as no comm port comes up (Windows 10 issue?). I would like to be able to control the pitch angle, having installed an aftermarket 'POT' to the front of my Tx rather than using the lever originally intended to be fitted on the back of the Tx and which is no longer available.
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
 
Glad I looked at this thread as I have now installed a DYS 3-axis gimbal on my P1. I have hard-wired it into the on-board power supply and when a battery is connected it works well, nice and stable in all 3 axis. However when I connect it to the laptop via the USB I get constant beeping and an error message in the middle of the Simple BGC GUI. I am guessing that it might be a driver issue (?) I have downloaded the USB to UART driver but it doesn't seem to recognize the connection as no comm port comes up (Windows 10 issue?). I would like to be able to control the pitch angle, having installed an aftermarket 'POT' to the front of my Tx rather than using the lever originally intended to be fitted on the back of the Tx and which is no longer available.
Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
I had issues only installing the DJI driver on Windows 10 and I solved by temporarily change the date back to 2014.
With USB to UART driver (CP210x_VCP_Windows, 64 bit installer) I had no problem: I do not remember, but probably I installed it running as Administrator and running "Solve compatibility problems" before installation.
 
The gimbal did as it should do, stay stabile no matter how i move around the Phantom.
It's just that i have no idea how to make the tilt-function work. It works on Naza on mac, even if i connect a small LED on F2, or what it was.. But does not move the gimbal.

Unfortunately, i have connected both my gimbals to the SimpleBGC, and now they are both shaking and moving in every direction. I must have pressed "write" somehow. Dang it.

So the next thing i need help with, is to have the values from a chinese gimbal to put into BGC.. Anyone?
 
The gimbal did as it should do, stay stabile no matter how i move around the Phantom.
It's just that i have no idea how to make the tilt-function work. It works on Naza on mac, even if i connect a small LED on F2, or what it was.. But does not move the gimbal.

Unfortunately, i have connected both my gimbals to the SimpleBGC, and now they are both shaking and moving in every direction. I must have pressed "write" somehow. Dang it.

So the next thing i need help with, is to have the values from a chinese gimbal to put into BGC.. Anyone?

Attached you find my settings for a Chinese low cost 2 axis gimbal and a BGC 2b2 controller.
Do not forget to install the camera when you make any setting or calibrate the IMU.
 

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Wow! Thank you so much! Just hope this will work!

It is very important that, before you perform any setting and power your gimbal, the camera is mounted in a way that its position is mechanically balanced. In addition, always power on the gimbal BEFORE connecting the USB port and disconnect the USB port BEFORE you power off the gimbal.
Otherwise you give power to the gimbal using the USB port that is not designed to do that and you risk to burn it.
 
Yeah, thanx. I'm trying it out now, but no matter what i do, no matter what i calibrate, the gimbal shakes in every axis. Dang it.
 

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