Walkera G2D Install with no soldering

[Jermz]

You can install a Walkera G2D Gimbal onto a phantom FC40 or Phantom 1 without soldering or splicing any wires or cables. You can do it by opening the phantom up and simply plugging some things in.

Besides the gimbal, this is everything you need.

-Parts
An XT60 adapter with a two pin JST
JST Extension
Breadboard cable - female to female, I used a male to female extension because mine wasn't long enough. Most of the time you find these as a ribbon cable, where you just peel off the ones you need.

-Tools
5/64 Hex wrench (Allen Wrench), I believe this is the equivalent of a #2 metric. You want to have one with a good handle. These screws are easy to strip, especially the first time you take them out. You will need one with a long skinny head that will fit into a deep spot for four of the screws. I used the fancy screwdriver for all but these four, and used the basic allen for the those.

-A very tiny phillips head screwdriver. I'm not sure what size this is, but with the set of tiny screwdrivers, it was the smallest I had. Not eye glasses small, but very small.

-Electrical tape, just to make sure stuff doesn't come unplugged.

Here we go

If you compare your gimbal to this one, you'll see that the top plate has been spun around 180 degrees. This needs to be done so that the gimbal will sit underneath properly, if you don't do this it will sit under the battery door and you won't be able to open it. Just pop the rubber bubbles out of it, flip it around and pop them back in. This takes a little bit of time. You shouldn't ever have to do this again.

You can look at the plastic mount (it came with your gimbal) and see which way it needs to be oriented. Screw it onto the bottom of the phantom. The gimbal should slide on and off of the mount, but not so easy that it comes loose.

A this point remove the legs (the legs block a screw), and the prop guards if you have them (there is a screw that needs to be removed thats under the prop guard). Take notice of the compass cable.

Be very careful to pull just on the white head, not the off white part above it, and not on the gray cable. This head can pull off very easily, and you don't want to mess it up.


These are the screws you must remove. You need to do this on each of the four arms. The red circles are the hex/allen screws, the green one the tiny phillips. You do not need to remove the motor screws (if you have prop guards you already took the two out to get the guards off, the other two can stay). These screws are a different length than the leg screws, so take notice which are which.

-More in the next comment

 

[Jermz]

At this point you get to open your phantom up. Next step is put the JST extension on the XT60 adapter, and plug it in into your phantom's power cable.

You can electrical tape over the connection to make sure it stays put. It will go out the back leg hole like this.

This is the rear leg that the antenna comes out. The rubber grommet pops right out, you can use the tiny screwdriver for this, just don't hit any components on the board right by it.

Next take your breadboard cable, and plug it into the NAZA. This is for pitch control.

It plugs into the bottom pin of the F2 port.

NOTE: Some have stated that they cannot get it to work without all three wires going into the gimbal. I'm not sure why that would be the case, as the top two are pos and neg for power, and your gimbal gets it's power through the power cable, and the motors don't need separate power. If you find this is the case, you can use three male to female breadboard cables to extend the 3 pin cable that came with your gimbal, and it should be fine.

Your pitch cable comes out the rear leg, the same hole as the compass.


-More in next comment

 

[Jermz]

Now you get to close up your phantom. Make sure the top is aligned properly, as you could rotate it around incorrectly. Your GPS is in the top, and it needs to stay oriented correctly.

It should look like this now. Make sure no cables are sticking out around the edges, and close it up. Put all the screws back in. Make sure the compass is still on the same corner (left rear looking from the front of the phantom).


Here's where your pitch cable goes in. I marked the corner with a sharpie to help me plug it in correctly.

So now it should look like this.



A few more comments next.

 

[Tallyrver]

Very nice , I wish I saw this three months ago when I installed mine

 

[Jermz]

You can test it now. Make sure your props are OFF when you test it indoors. Also make sure your remote is ON. The gimbal needs to be roughly level while it powers on. The red blinky light on the gimbal will go green, and then it's good. You'll see the gimbal go into place when it's ready. You can pick up the phantom, and roll it and pitch it and you'll see it work. For good measure power up the phantom motors (this is why props are off) and confirm all four lights light up and that all four props spin.

You'll need to
-install a pitch control on your controller. There are several different ones out there, and several youtube videos showing this.
-Setup the phantom to give the gimbal pitch control. There are instructions out there on how to do this as well.

Others things you may want
-The legs on the phantom aren't really long enough for the gimbal. You'll want to get some longer ones. There are many options out there. When you move the compass, 1. The tiny phillips screwdriver will work for removing this, 2. Make sure it's on the same leg as before, and roughly the same distance from the phantom, 3. That it is oriented the same way on the leg as before. This is all very important, your phantom will get confused and maybe fly away if the compass is pointed the wrong way.
-The adapter on the power cable makes things very tight. You may want to invest in a larger battery door. There are several options available at shapeways.

I hope this is helpful for all of you.

 

[Jermz]

Alternatives to a couple of things

You could get a separate tiny lipo battery and run the gimbal straight off of that. You can attach it to the back of the lower plate on the gimbal. The argument about adding extra weight vs using power off the main battery can go on forever, so I'm not sure what is better.

You could splice and solder a male 4 pin jst to a female 2 pin jst and plug it into the balance connector on your phantom battery. I may do this because the xt60-jst adapter makes things very tight in the battery compartment. I included the adapter in this guide to show anyone scared of soldering (like me) that you can do it.

You can solder a 2 pin female jst to the extra power cable that came out of one of the legs on your phantom. Once again, if you're scared of soldering (especially to the phantom) then leave this alone.

 

[IflyinWY]

Really great post Jermz.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[lake_flyer]

I power the gimbal and the tilt both with just one JST cable coming from F2 and into the pitch port from the gimbal.
That's all. Makes it very easy to swap between my FC40 and P2 (gimbal is attached with velcro on both).

Never figured out why everybody uses separate wires for the tilt and gimbal power when it can be done with just one.

 

[Lonewolf]

I power the gimbal and the tilt both with just one JST cable coming from F2 and into the pitch port from the gimbal.
That's all. Makes it very easy to swap between my FC40 and P2 (gimbal is attached with velcro on both).

Never figured out why everybody uses separate wires for the tilt and gimbal power when it can be done with just one.

Hmmm, your comment does make sense. Whereas, the F2 port would be supplying power to the pitch controller. So, power to the gimble would have to be powered by the F2 port as well. Therefore, nothing would be needed to be plugged into the power input on the gimble. But the F2 port is a triple post (+/- & signal), and the jst connector is a 2 wire connector. Likewise so is the Pitch jst connector on the G2-d. How did you do this?

I'd like to try this when my G2-d arrives. Thanks to both you and Jermz for your great suggestions.

 

[lake_flyer]

Hmmm, your comment does make sense. Whereas, the F2 port would be supplying power to the pitch controller. So, power to the gimble would have to be powered by the F2 port as well. Therefore, nothing would be needed to be plugged into the power input on the gimble. But the F2 port is a single pole, and the jst connector is a 2 wire connector. Likewise so is the Pitch connector on the G2-d. How did you do this?

I'd like to try this when my G2-d arrives. Thanks to both you and Jermz for your great suggestions.

Sorry, I meant a standard servo cable - 3 wire. JST is 2 wire power if I'm not mistaken this time. The cable I meant is the standard female-female servo cable with power in the middle, ground up and signal down.

Thanks for your correction, it could confuse people otherwise.

 

[Jermz]

I power the gimbal and the tilt both with just one JST cable coming from F2 and into the pitch port from the gimbal.
That's all. Makes it very easy to swap between my FC40 and P2 (gimbal is attached with velcro on both).

Never figured out why everybody uses separate wires for the tilt and gimbal power when it can be done with just one.

I didn't realize that it would actually power the gimbal up from the f2 port to the pitch input. I thought that would just power the pitch motor.

 

[lake_flyer]

I didn't realize that it would actually power the gimbal up from the f2 port to the pitch input. I thought that would just power the pitch motor.

Yeah, I found out when I pulled out the cable from the power port on the gimbal, and noticed the gimbal was still working. Then I figured it must be because the 5 Volts it's getting through the pitch port, I used the standard servo cable with 3 wires because I didn't have anything else.

Anyway, it saves a 2 pole cable and a solder job.

 

[mikey]

Yeah, I found out when I pulled out the cable from the power port on the gimbal, and noticed the gimbal was still working. Then I figured it must be because the 5 Volts it's getting through the pitch port, I used the standard servo cable with 3 wires because I didn't have anything else.

Anyway, it saves a 2 pole cable and a solder job.

Lake flyer,

My understanding is the F2 terminals only give 5v, will this not be sufficient, i thought power for the gimbal had to be 7.5v , something lik that as well minimum?

I've ordered this gimbal and would love the clarification before it arrives.

Thanks.

 

[Beario]

Lake flyer,

My understanding is the F2 terminals only give 5v, will this not be sufficient, i thought power for the gimbal had to be 7.5v , something lik that as well minimum?

I've ordered this gimbal and would love the clarification before it arrives.

Thanks.

I have this setup and everything working very well and I have no plans to change it. The pitch speed will not be fast, but slower is more precise for me when I am getting shots while flying

 

[2014fc40]

I have a Walkera on my FC40 using the camera the FC40 comes with. I've had nothing but erratic behavior even after following the Engrish directions and tweaking the trim settings. I have lead weighted counter balances to mimic the weight of what ever the Go Pro was it is designed for.
I have to say I think it was a waste of +$100. Unless I can buy an easy to trim gimbal that comes with a good wifi cam and HD1080, it's just junk in a box to me....

 

[mikey]

I have a Walkera on my FC40 using the camera the FC40 comes with. I've had nothing but erratic behavior even after following the Engrish directions and tweaking the trim settings. I have lead weighted counter balances to mimic the weight of what ever the Go Pro was it is designed for.
I have to say I think it was a waste of +$100. Unless I can buy an easy to trim gimbal that comes with a good wifi cam and HD1080, it's just junk in a box to me....

Sorry to hear you're having issues. I'm not very savy so there isn't much I can help you with off hand, other than just suggesting to take a bit of time (it can eat a few hours) and go through the forums, there's been many 'different' problems people have encountered, perhaps there's someone who has had a similar experience.
I received my walkera gimbal a few weeks back, installed it according to instructions in this forum, and it was basically a plug and play experience for me, I have a SJCAM and I'm getting incredible video out of the combo (walkera G2D + SJcam)...
Best of luck!‎

 

[Jermz]

I have a Walkera on my FC40 using the camera the FC40 comes with. I've had nothing but erratic behavior even after following the Engrish directions and tweaking the trim settings. I have lead weighted counter balances to mimic the weight of what ever the Go Pro was it is designed for.
I have to say I think it was a waste of +$100. Unless I can buy an easy to trim gimbal that comes with a good wifi cam and HD1080, it's just junk in a box to me....

You need to add some weight to the camera. The fc40 camera is considerably lighter than a GoPro, or any other camera the gimbal is made for. It needs to be pretty close to the same weight as a GoPro for it to function properly. It'll just jerk around crazily if it isn't balanced right.

 

[MrFus]

I installed a walkera gimbal on my FC40 and never needed to add weight to get it to work as should be, not sure if there is a difference between versions of the gimbal or if mine is just odd...

 

[MrFus]

 

[Jermz]

I have a Walkera on my FC40 using the camera the FC40 comes with. I've had nothing but erratic behavior even after following the Engrish directions and tweaking the trim settings. I have lead weighted counter balances to mimic the weight of what ever the Go Pro was it is designed for.
I have to say I think it was a waste of +$100. Unless I can buy an easy to trim gimbal that comes with a good wifi cam and HD1080, it's just junk in a box to me....

I didn't read earlier that you added the weights to it. I wonder if something is wrong with yours. There's not much that really needs to be done. I had one of the cheap aluminum goodluckbuy gimbals and it would act erratically at times, but I haven't had any issues with the walkera. There are cables on the goodluckbuy that can be hooked up wrong, but there's really not much you can do wrong with the walkera.