ARRIS CM2000 Brushless Gimbal for GoPro

[Gizmo3000]

some flying I did yesterday, much of it shot with my Futaba controlling the Roll

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoAtfFRMCH4&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

 

[BruceTS]

Finally completed the Futaba install, followed Gizmos programming, but several changes since I have the airplane version Tx. The gimbal still holding steady, but will need some fine tuning on roll since there is a slight oscillation near 80 degrees. Otherwise roll and tilt functions working nice.

Will definitely need to run advance calibration again, I think swapping around ESC/motor assemblies may have mess up stability just a bit, since it now wants to move around in a small circle during hover.

 

[chad556]

This Gimbal seriously frustrates the hell out of me. I shouldnt have to re-calibrate the gimabal once a week, but that seems to be the norm for many owners. I purchased the HERO 3 case to see if that would make it perform better, it doesn't. Here's a thought ARRIS... if you make a case specifically designed for the H3, make sure the wifi button on the H3 isnt continuously pressed within the case.

This on top of the high price of the Zinmuse and the crappy firmware on the H3 (I've been though 2 now) make me think that rather than dumping any more money into this Phantom, I'd be better off dropping 5 grand on a real aerial platform.

 

[MX45OR]

This Gimbal seriously frustrates the hell out of me. I shouldnt have to re-calibrate the gimabal once a week, but that seems to be the norm for many owners. I purchased the HERO 3 case to see if that would make it perform better, it doesn't. Here's a thought ARRIS... if you make a case specifically designed for the H3, make sure the wifi button on the H3 isnt continuously pressed within the case.

This on top of the high price of the Zinmuse and the crappy firmware on the H3 (I've been though 2 now) make me think that rather than dumping any more money into this Phantom, I'd be better off dropping 5 grand on a real aerial platform.

I know how you feel. I too have been down the road with the Cm2000 AND the glitchy H3. My heros would stop recording in mid flight, sometimes after 30 seconds off the ground, others around 2:00. It would freeze up and I would always have to remove the battery (pain in the ar$e on the Arris), to get it to turn off. The only constant was the inconsistency of the camera and to add insult to injury the wifi button is ALWAYS turning on. Not to mention the Gimbal itself is really a glitch monster. I have to carry my computer around and constantly plug in to the board. sometimes the settings disappear and I have to load them back.
It sometimes gets so bad it does "Poltergeist" type rotations on the pitch. I'm ready to sell this awesome gimbal to the highest bidder. :?

 

[chad556]

This Gimbal seriously frustrates the hell out of me. I shouldnt have to re-calibrate the gimabal once a week, but that seems to be the norm for many owners. I purchased the HERO 3 case to see if that would make it perform better, it doesn't. Here's a thought ARRIS... if you make a case specifically designed for the H3, make sure the wifi button on the H3 isnt continuously pressed within the case.

This on top of the high price of the Zinmuse and the crappy firmware on the H3 (I've been though 2 now) make me think that rather than dumping any more money into this Phantom, I'd be better off dropping 5 grand on a real aerial platform.

I know how you feel. I too have been down the road with the Cm2000 AND the glitchy H3. My heros would stop recording in mid flight, sometimes after 30 seconds off the ground, others around 2:00. It would freeze up and I would always have to remove the battery (pain in the ar$e on the Arris), to get it to turn off. The only constant was the inconsistency of the camera and to add insult to injury the wifi button is ALWAYS turning on. Not to mention the Gimbal itself is really a glitch monster. I have to carry my computer around and constantly plug in to the board. sometimes the settings disappear and I have to load them back.
It sometimes gets so bad it does "Poltergeist" type rotations on the pitch. I'm ready to sell this awesome gimbal to the highest bidder. :?

I feel for you... seriously. lol

 

[martcerv]

The problems with the h3 black are mostly due to the sd cards, gopro took the specs literally regarding class 10 being a minimum 10MB/s write speed. The fastest recording rate of the h3 black is only 45Mbps which is 5.625MB/s which is well inside spec. But most c10 cards cant actually even maintain a sustained write speed just over half their rated spec.

Sandisk has admitted the issue with their ultra cards as they also fail to meet this spec at times. They are about to release some new extreme cards but at the moment the only card that will give guaranteed stability in all modes seems to be the sandisk extreme pro but its only 16GB capacity.

People having issues should maybe get one of these or wait for the slightly cheaper but higher capacity extreme cards out soon. I use the sandisk ultra 64gb cards and they have been fine for me but many others have issues with these so Ibwouodnt recommend them for guaranteed trouble free use.

 

[MX45OR]

The problems with the h3 black are mostly due to the sd cards, gopro took the specs literally regarding class 10 being a minimum 10MB/s write speed. The fastest recording rate of the h3 black is only 45Mbps which is 5.625MB/s which is well inside spec. But most c10 cards cant actually even maintain a sustained write speed just over half their rated spec.

Sandisk has admitted the issue with their ultra cards as they also fail to meet this spec at times. They are about to release some new extreme cards but at the moment the only card that will give guaranteed stability in all modes seems to be the sandisk extreme pro but its only 16GB capacity.

People having issues should maybe get one of these or wait for the slightly cheaper but higher capacity extreme cards out soon. I use the sandisk ultra 64gb cards and they have been fine for me but many others have issues with these so Ibwouodnt recommend them for guaranteed trouble free use.

Yup, I have a 64gb that is corrupt, Sandisc ultra from using the gopro. So I went out to get a couple of the 16gb and I still have the same issues, but hasn't been corrupted yet. I can get six flights before I feel I have to dump into the computer. What does the extreme pro cost? If its just.the card, why do the hero 3 cameras lock up? I have gone through 2 of them. That is I'm on my third Hero 3. Best Buy has an extended warranty that is awesome too.

 

[BruceTS]

The problems with the h3 black are mostly due to the sd cards, gopro took the specs literally regarding class 10 being a minimum 10MB/s write speed. The fastest recording rate of the h3 black is only 45Mbps which is 5.625MB/s which is well inside spec. But most c10 cards cant actually even maintain a sustained write speed just over half their rated spec.

why do the hero 3 cameras lock up? I have gone through 2 of them. That is I'm on my third Hero 3. Best Buy has an extended warranty that is awesome too.

Already answered, the manufacturers are so greedy to make claims about their products that aren't true have caused the Hero 3 to get the brunt of the blame. Since the cards can't preform to the specs advertised, the GPH3 tries to write faster than the card can handle, the camera locks up. Not the camera's fault, but the micro SD cards fault. Those camera's you returned probably didn't have anything wrong with them, but the cards your using are at fault.

I've had my camera since they were first introduced and had purchased several of the sandisk ultra 64 cards. From the extensive testing that was done by users on the GoProUser forum on a variety of different cards, the problem was discovered and work arounds introduced. I just make sure I don't exceed the true write capability of the cards and have never experienced a camera freeze.

 

[xzoticskillz]

I now use the nomojello mount on the phantom with arris gimbal and so far its working out well. Still need some minor tweaks adjusted but it helps getting the props out of the frame. Here is a video I made with my setup that I'm submitting for the DJI video contest. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNHUXNKnE8&hd=1

 

[Gizmo3000]

I now use the nomojello mount on the phantom with arris gimbal and so far its working out well. Still need some minor tweaks adjusted but it helps getting the props out of the frame. Here is a video I made with my setup that I'm submitting for the DJI video contest. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNHUXNKnE8&hd=1

great video!

 

[xzoticskillz]

I now use the nomojello mount on the phantom with arris gimbal and so far its working out well. Still need some minor tweaks adjusted but it helps getting the props out of the frame. Here is a video I made with my setup that I'm submitting for the DJI video contest. Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNHUXNKnE8&hd=1

great video!

Thanks Gizmo3000!!

 

[Flykam]

Happy to report I mounted the gimbal further back and with the nomojello it is a massive improvement flying hard or into the wind.
Move those gimbals back out of the prop wash.

 

[pteittinen]

There's a v4.0 of the gimbal on Hobby-wing's website now. It's got 8 damper balls.

 

[MX45OR]

There's a v4.0 of the gimbal on Hobby-wing's website now. It's got 8 damper balls.

Is that the only difference or are they changing boards again?

 

[Gizmo3000]

There's a v4.0 of the gimbal on Hobby-wing's website now. It's got 8 damper balls.

Is that the only difference or are they changing boards again?

I've lost track on what boards they're using, as it seems like they've changed boards even between versions.

But at least it seems as if less people are having troubles.

 

[pteittinen]

Moved the gimbal backwards by approx. 1.5 inches and it helped quite a bit, as the wash from props no longer hits the camera quite so much.

Also, installed carbon fiber "wings" and attached two 1800mAh Zippy batteries on them. Expected a longer flight time but nope: managed barely 5 minutes and 45 seconds. On the other hand it's no big surprise as the Phantom now weighs a lot.

 

[Audaciter]

Also, installed carbon fiber "wings" and attached two 1800mAh Zippy batteries on them. Expected a longer flight time but nope: managed barely 5 minutes and 45 seconds. On the other hand it's no big surprise as the Phantom now weighs a lot.

Only 1800 mah batteries ? If you are mounting them outside the Phantom's shell, you could have gotten larger batteries.
Even the little stock battery is 2200mah.

I have seen those carbon fiber mounts for additional batteries on eBay, but have not seriously considered it because everyone
on the forum who has tried multiple batteries have said there is no gain.
I also don't want to modify my case.

 

[pteittinen]

Only 1800 mah batteries ? If you are mounting them outside the Phantom's shell, you could have gotten larger batteries. Even the little stock battery is 2200mah.

Yeah, I meant to get larger batteries but they were out of stock everywhere near me, so had to settle for 1800mah ones. One also has to keep in mind that larger batteries weigh more, and since added weight shortens the flight time...

I have seen those carbon fiber mounts for additional batteries on eBay, but have not seriously considered it because everyone on the forum who has tried multiple batteries have said there is no gain. I also don't want to modify my case.

Yeah, it certainly looks like there's no gain; the added weight kills the added mAh. However, there was no need to modify the case in order to install the mounts.

 

[Audaciter]

Yeah, it certainly looks like there's no gain; the added weight kills the added mAh. However, there was no need to modify the case in order to install the mounts.

I wasn't talking about the Phantom's shell. I was referring to the storage case.

 

[pteittinen]

I wasn't talking about the Phantom's shell. I was referring to the storage case.

Ah, OK

Well, I added a knob to the controller and moved the 7th channel to it for controlling pitch on the gimbal. To make things extra tasking, I also borrowed two 3000mAh batteries and installed them on the "wings" to see if they enabled longer flights.

I made the error of adjusting the knob's center while on firmware 3.12, marking a black dot on the controller to mark the center, then upgrading Phantom's fw to 3.14. Once the Phantom took to the skies, I quickly learned the black dot no longer matched the "no movement on pitch axis" center. Anyhoo, the test flight was interrupted by very strong winds, and I somehow managed to make a graceful landing even while the Phantom was being violently thrown around my backyard. I clocked a flight time of 5 minutes and 40 seconds - but all 6 cells had 3.89 volts of juice left by the time of landing, so I'm pretty sure I could have pushed it past 7 minutes if winds hadn't interfered.

Something else I noticed: during the last 2 minutes of the flight the Phantom began making a vertical slow-motion yoyo movement, i.e. it took more and more throttle to keep it airborne. It was like the engines were losing power or something.