Zenmuse (revision 2) and Upgrade board working great

[MikeEvangelist]

I finally got the Phantom configured and working the way I want, so I shot this little video to show how it's set up. I've got the Phantom upgrade board, Zenmuse H3-2D gimbal, and a cobbled-together FPV system.

So far it's working great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buxDwEIDgXE&feature=youtu.be

 

[malachor]

That's pretty awesome, could you show us pictures or a video of the inside too?

 

[MikeEvangelist]

That's pretty awesome, could you show us pictures or a video of the inside too?

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take inside shots before I put it all back together.

 

[deluge2]

Thanks very much for the info and the link to your very nice video (though it is too bad you didn't have a chance to document the internal view). I've never hooked up FPV electronics before. Are you powering the VTx using just the smaller ribbon cable (3-wire) from the upgrade board kit? DJI has been unclear about whether the output from the discrete GCU includes V+ or not. However this is moot once the Phantom upgrade board is installed.

The VTx I have has a 5-pin cable input with V+ and Ground for 'battery in' and then Video in, V+ out (to power the FPV camera which is not needed with GoPro on the Zen), and Camera Ground. My question is whether I need to hook up both grounds to the ground from the Phantom cable, or whether I simply use V+, Ground, and Video in coming straight from the smaller ribbon cable.

Steve

I finally got the Phantom configured and working the way I want, so I shot this little video to show how it's set up. I've got the Phantom upgrade board, Zenmuse H3-2D gimbal, and a cobbled-together FPV system.

So far it's working great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buxDwEIDgXE&feature=youtu.be

 

[frankieplus]

I finally got the Phantom configured and working the way I want, so I shot this little video to show how it's set up. I've got the Phantom upgrade board, Zenmuse H3-2D gimbal, and a cobbled-together FPV system.

So far it's working great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buxDwEIDgXE&feature=youtu.be

How do you mean 'Zenmuse Revision 2' ?? Is there an upgrade to the Gimbal itself?

 

[MrMediaGuy]

Thanks very much for the info and the link to your very nice video (though it is too bad you didn't have a chance to document the internal view). I've never hooked up FPV electronics before. Are you powering the VTx using just the smaller ribbon cable (3-wire) from the upgrade board kit? DJI has been unclear about whether the output from the discrete GCU includes V+ or not. However this is moot once the Phantom upgrade board is installed.

The VTx I have has a 5-pin cable input with V+ and Ground for 'battery in' and then Video in, V+ out (to power the FPV camera which is not needed with GoPro on the Zen), and Camera Ground. My question is whether I need to hook up both grounds to the ground from the Phantom cable, or whether I simply use V+, Ground, and Video in coming straight from the smaller ribbon cable.

Steve

I don't know if your vTX isolates the camera ground from the supply ground, but it's not going to hurt anything to hook them both up. You could start by sending VCC and GND from the 3-wire cable to your vTX's V+ and GND and not connecting the camera GND, just the video signal line. If it doesn't work, then also connect the camera GND to the same ground on the 3-wire cable and you should be golden.

 

[MikeEvangelist]

I've never hooked up FPV electronics before. Are you powering the VTx using just the smaller ribbon cable (3-wire) from the upgrade board kit?

I used just the ground and video wires from the upgrade board's camera output (the three-wire connector). To power the FPV I soldered the transmitter power leads directly to the main power pads on the upgrade board.

 

[MikeEvangelist]

How do you mean 'Zenmuse Revision 2' ?? Is there an upgrade to the Gimbal itself?

There has been some controversy about this, since there's been no official acknowledgement of any changes, but DJI has definitely made some significant changes to the components.

I can confirm this directly as I got a Zen a few weeks ago that I sent back because it appeared to be used. On the new one, the motors are different, the upper mounting plate (that attaches to the Phantom) is changed, the u-shaped bracket which secures the GoPro is now plastic instead of metal, and the screws for attaching the gimbal to the shock mount are in different positions. There is even a slightly updated (but still ridiculously incomplete) PDF manual for the Zen, reflecting some of these changes.

 

[deluge2]

Thanks very much for this and your prior answer to my questions. I will proceed along the lines you've recommended.

Steve

I've never hooked up FPV electronics before. Are you powering the VTx using just the smaller ribbon cable (3-wire) from the upgrade board kit?

I used just the ground and video wires from the upgrade board's camera output (the three-wire connector). To power the FPV I soldered the transmitter power leads directly to the main power pads on the upgrade board.