What Gimbal to use?

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Hello all I have a DJI Phantom 1 and I am try to find a gimbal that will work with this. I purchased a gimbal from Amazon for $132 and was able to get it to work except the tilt. I am sending this unit back to Amazon and was trying to find a gimbal that will work with the lever in the back of the transmitter. I read, read, read and read all over and I am still confused to know what Gimbal I should buy that will work with this DJI Phantom? Can someone show me where I can get a gimbal with tilt that will work with my phantom?
 
Every gimbal out there will work with the tilt lever, (probably including the one that you're sending back)
you just have to hook the gimbal tilt up to the F2 , turn on gimbal control, adjust these settings, and make sure the lever is controlling the X1 channel from the Tx.
Obviously the H3-2d will work (but you'd have to install the PMU2 box).
another popular gimbal is the Tarot (which i have connected to my Phantom 1)
 
I fitted, what Is usually referred to as, the Goodluckbuy Gimbal. It's a relatively generic device and is supplied by many other vendors including those on Amazon. It was simple to install and performs an admirable job. Gizmo has highlighted the key points of the installation that surprisingly many overlook.

I had one small issue with mine and that was the failure of the 5Volt regulator that fed the logic and gyro ccts. It was just a simple matter of replacing the main control board and tuning it so as to balance the Gopro, the same board is also used in much larger gimbals.

Regards

Nidge
 
Thanks for the great responses. I ended up ordering the same thing to see if I can get this thing to work. So do I only need to connect F2 to F2 two wires?

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In fact only one wire, the signal wire, is needed if you are going to power the gimbal from the main flight battery e.g. If you solder the connections for he gimbal's power to the mainboard in the Phantom. If you intend to power the gimbal from a separate power source you will also need to use the ground connection. The middle wire, +5Volt, needs to be removed as the low voltage devices on the gimbal are already powered via a 5Volt regulator on the gimbal's control board.

On my gimbal, and all others I've seen, the servo pins are in reverse order to the inputs of the Naza FC. The top pin on the gimbal, the signal pin, corresponds to the bottom pin of F2, vice versa for the ground pin (again if using a separate power source for the gimbal).

Once connected you will need to enable the gimbal function in the Naza Flight Assistant Software, this is under the "Advanced" Tab and sub-tab of "Gimbal". Here there is a small button to click so that the gimbal will respond to the movement of the lever on your transmitter.

QUICK EDIT. I NOTICED ON THE SCAN DOCUMENT AN ERROR. IT CLAIMS THE TOP PIN OF F2 IS THE SIGNAL PIN. THIS IS INCORRECT AND IT'S ACTUALY THE BOTTOM PIN OF F2. THE TOP PIN IS GROUND OR -ve WITH RESPECT TO THE MIDDLE 5VOLT PIN.

Regards

Nidge
 
I tried every combo of the pin connections and still cannot control the tilt with the lever. I have the the usb connected and the Naza software. I still cannot get this to work. I connected 1 wire from bottom of F2 in the phantom naza and I have that wire connected to the bottom left side on 2nd row F2.
 
stunmun said:
I tried every combo of the pin connections and still cannot control the tilt with the lever. I have the the usb connected and the Naza software. I still cannot get this to work. I connected 1 wire from bottom of F2 in the phantom naza and I have that wire connected to the bottom left side on 2nd row F2.

A trivial question, but did you enabled and set parameters for gimbal in Naza Asistant ?
As others said, your gimbal is very easy to connect and tilt with 1 wire only.
I used a similar one and now i'm using this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Walkera-G-2...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ad64f8056

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Thanks Junmanoc. I might just send this one back and try that one. Do I need to do anything to enable X1 on the NAZA or is it already enabled? Is there anyway I can test X1 to make sure it is sending signal? This thing is bugging the heck out of me. I was going to use it this weekend to shoot some motocross video. I may try to connect the first top pin where the scanned document illustrates F1 signal to the bottom pin of F2 on the NAZA controller. The document states that pitch is on F1 pins. Right now I have it connected to the sixth pin (bottom pin of F2) on the gimbal controller.

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stunmun said:
Hello all I have a DJI Phantom 1 and I am try to find a gimbal that will work with this. I purchased a gimbal from Amazon for $132 and was able to get it to work except the tilt. I am sending this unit back to Amazon and was trying to find a gimbal that will work with the lever in the back of the transmitter. I read, read, read and read all over and I am still confused to know what Gimbal I should buy that will work with this DJI Phantom? Can someone show me where I can get a gimbal with tilt that will work with my phantom?

Just my own opinion here...

The Zenmuse Gimbal form DJI is designed for the Phantom and impressive. A little on the heavy side and not cheap. Takes a little to configure (not plug n play) very well balanced!
The Stella Gimbal form XAircraft is the lightest gimbal and only one that plugs directly into a computer (USB) for adjusting config. Also, expensive...worth every penny.
The Tarot Gimbal is very good and not so expensive. Take a little extra part to fit on a Phantom but minor issue. Not used this one but reviews are excellent.
The ones that sell in the 80-120 range are good gimbals but you have to work with them a bit to extract the features such as tilt.

One tip of you are using dampening balls and if you're talking gimbals you probably are, be sure to put a small zip tie (loosely) through one of them. If all of the damening balls come apart in flight you're gimbal and expensive camera won't come tumbling out of the sky. :D Had it happen once to me and thankfully had come across this tip before they came apart in flight. A dangling gimbal is always better than one in small pieces.
 
I'd like to get a Gimbal for my new Phantom V1.1.1.

Looking for something inexpensive (ie: I'd rather spend $90-130 than $200+) that's relatively easy to install. Tarot T-2D or Walkera G-2D maybe?

Do all gimbals require soldering for power, if you're going to use the Phantom's internal power?

And if you're powering it off the Phantom, how much is battery life impacted between the extra weight of the gimbal and the need to power it?

Pardon the noob questions; appreciate any advice!
 
Another noob question if I may. I want to add a gimbal, the ZenMuse or Stella look like the best ones. I need to upgrade my board right? Do I just order a 2.0 board. Who has the upgrade board? Who are the better retailers/deals for the gimbals?

Thanks. The bumpy azz video is killing me.
 
DennyA said:
I'd like to get a Gimbal for my new Phantom V1.1.1.

Looking for something inexpensive (ie: I'd rather spend $90-130 than $200+) that's relatively easy to install. Tarot T-2D or Walkera G-2D maybe?

Do all gimbals require soldering for power, if you're going to use the Phantom's internal power?

And if you're powering it off the Phantom, how much is battery life impacted between the extra weight of the gimbal and the need to power it?

Pardon the noob questions; appreciate any advice!

The Tarot is an excellent choice. Not cheap but not expensive. You will need that small adapter to connect it to your phantom but that fairly cheap too.

Using the internal power in the vast majority of cases will include some soldering. I've seen it can be done without it but soldering is always a wiser choice considering the vibrations involved in flying quads. Also, it is not required to use the power from the phantom to operate a gimbal. I used a gimbal for a brief time with a secondary (smaller much lighter battery) strapped under the Phantom to power it.

Minimal impact on battery usage adding a Gimbal. Not like you're going to just lose 2 or 3 minutes flight time by tapping into the main power source, not at all. The added weight of the gimbal itself will have a more direct impact on flight time. Every gram counts!
 
FredMurtz said:
Another noob question if I may. I want to add a gimbal, the ZenMuse or Stella look like the best ones. I need to upgrade my board right? Do I just order a 2.0 board. Who has the upgrade board? Who are the better retailers/deals for the gimbals?

Thanks. The bumpy azz video is killing me.

You do not have to upgrade the board on the 1.1.1 to use the Stella gimbal. You will have to decide how you want to mount it to your Phantom since it was designed for the XAircraft rail system. I know of two ways to get it attached and both work very well, there may be more.

By everything I've seen about the Zenmuse gimbal it looks like some form of upgrade is needed if using on a 1.1.1 version. At least that's my impression. No personal experience with it other than watching hours of YouTube videos on the subject.
 

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