Arris CM3000 3-axis brushless gimbal

[mediaguru]

OK, I understand the yaw damper may swing the filter into a leg or two...oh well.
Just to confirm, you are not using FPV transmitter or iOSD?? Trying to get an idea of what your flight times should be.
With the above equipment, and the Zen 3d-2 whatever, I'm at 5 minutes 20 seconds before 1st level red flash begins.
No case for my Go Pro 3.....
My total weight is 2.8 lbs(on a home digital weight scale), or 1270 grams. IF, you get a chance, could you weigh your set-up??
If you have a new baby-ya gotta have one of them baby scales

I'm not using an FPV. I do have a garmin GPS I'm considering mounting but haven't yet.

So the setup is a stock Phantom 1, Arris CM3000 with jello mount and the landing gear extensions.

I'm curious on the weight as well and I'll let you know.

One thing which does suck is that I bought a case for the phantom which now is too small after adding the landing gear extensions. They're not convenient to add or remove so now I'm looking at a new case. It never ends.

 

[Ksc]

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/D ... -/22-17815

get this case. more head room.

 

[mediaguru]

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DURATOOL-22-17815-/22-17815

get this case. more head room.

Great thanks. I bought the other case from MCM too. Great deal and a heck of a lot less expensive than my pelican.

 

[Gizmo3000]

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DURATOOL-22-17815-/22-17815

get this case. more head room.

that's a really great value for those who've extended the landing gear of their Phantoms!

both my CM3000 and my Tarot kinda scrape the ground when on my Phantom, but I wanted to keep weight down and still fit in my 8" high duratools case.

Just learned tho that the Phantom 2 legs will fit an original Phantom , adding about 1/4" (for about $10).
one could add a little bit of extra foam or rubber to those to achieve a bit more height to those as well.

 

[havasuphoto]

Welcome to my Phantom 1 case+Helipad; http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite...bucket_id=irsbucketdefault&findingMethod=p13n

It's basically a Sterlite/Rubbermaid 72 gallon tub. Everything fits inside!! And, you can put the lid back on, and use it as a base/helipad. That price is for a set of 4.....I think I only paid like $20.
The only "issue" is, that it's not padded-so it takes some creative arrangement to get everything to fit in. Then I use some towels to cover and cushion as necessary-done.

Get the Rubbermaid Tub, and that way, when you're on snow/grass/sand-it doubles as your Helipad...works great for me.
Note the masking tape with the numbers-I line the rear skid up with the marks, then look through the FPV monitor to pre-tilt the camera to a particular number on the tape......so I can repeat that exact angle on subsequent flights.
And, my "reminder"...

 

[FangsCPO]

Flight times will really be affected. I have the CM2000 and it killed my times, especially using stock batteries. I found the dronefly batteries were more stronger at 45c and lasted somewhat longer...about 2 minutes more for me. Good luck!!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Ksc]

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DURATOOL-22-17815-/22-17815

get this case. more head room.

that's a really great value for those who've extended the landing gear of their Phantoms!

both my CM3000 and my Tarot kinda scrape the ground when on my Phantom, but I wanted to keep weight down and still fit in my 8" high duratools case.

Just learned tho that the Phantom 2 legs will fit an original Phantom , adding about 1/4" (for about $10).
one could add a little bit of extra foam or rubber to those to achieve a bit more height to those as well.

Phantom 2 legs fit the phantom 1? So that means the phantom 1 legs fit the phantom 2. Which means this fits the phantom 2.... right?: http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-extende ... antom.html

 

[mediaguru]

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/DURATOOL-22-17815-/22-17815

get this case. more head room.

that's a really great value for those who've extended the landing gear of their Phantoms!

both my CM3000 and my Tarot kinda scrape the ground when on my Phantom, but I wanted to keep weight down and still fit in my 8" high duratools case.

Just learned tho that the Phantom 2 legs will fit an original Phantom , adding about 1/4" (for about $10).
one could add a little bit of extra foam or rubber to those to achieve a bit more height to those as well.

Phantom 2 legs fit the phantom 1? So that means the phantom 1 legs fit the phantom 2. Which means this fits the phantom 2.... right?: http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-extende ... antom.html

I have that leg extension installed now. It is quite nice, but with all those metal poles there's quite a bit of weight added. I'll be running my first test flight today with the whole CM3000 setup and leg extensions.

 

[Ksc]

Just to be clear, you are talking about the CM3000 and the extension kit on a phantom 2, right?

 

[mediaguru]

Just to be clear, you are talking about the CM3000 and the extension kit on a phantom 2, right?

Phantom 1. Not sure I'll get to fly today. Very windy. Hope it dies down.

 

[blackd1964]

Has anyone connected this to a P2 with an FPV setup? I'd be interested in the flight times

 

[havasuphoto]

Has anyone connected this to a P2 with an FPV setup? I'd be interested in the flight times

I've not seen anyone yet do that.
I think we're all kinda waiting though......

 

[mediaguru]

I'm writing a detailed blog post for this but thought I'd chime in now that I've had my first flight with the CM3000.

Handling was pretty bad, but still could deal with it based on the fact that I'd be hoping for smooth video with this setup.

The real BAD news with the CM3000 AND leg extensions is the weight and flight time. I'm at 3:30 and no more than 4 minutes before the bird starts to drop. That blows. Bad.

I threw the bird on a mailing scale, not digital. It is coming up at about 3 pounds or 1360 grams.

Now I'm going to go back to seeing if I can use the CM3000 without the big leg extension setup an use my old plastic clamp on extenders.

 

[havasuphoto]

That's kinda what I thought would happen. Bummer.
When you say "handing was really bad"..do you mean the aircraft handled like a pig??

There is no weight shown for the leg extensions. But, I did some math, and by removing the Zen, and the GCU, and adding a CM3000, it would weigh a little more than what I have now-by about 30 grams. Maybe a bit more....

 

[Ksc]

he is flying on a P1. flight times on the P2 should be 15 minutes and over. I believe gizmo has the P2 and the cm3000 so he may be the answer. I don't know if media has a P2.

 

[Hiway]

.... I'm at 3:30 and no more than 4 minutes before the bird starts to drop. That blows. Bad.

...

While it is far from ideal, it doesn't put me off just yet as most any other 3 axis gimbal will come close to this weight range I am sure.

3 to 4 minutes isn't much, but for many of the subjects I want to shoot, it just means a slew of batteries and lots of launching and landing.

The more I contemplate it, the more I think I will end up going with purpose built quads- my Phantom will become a short flight and close range specialist, with a larger (450 maybe) custom built machine for the fpv I am craving to try.

 

[mediaguru]

That's kinda what I thought would happen. Bummer.
When you say "handing was really bad"..do you mean the aircraft handled like a pig??

There is no weight shown for the leg extensions. But, I did some math, and by removing the Zen, and the GCU, and adding a CM3000, it would weigh a little more than what I have now-by about 30 grams. Maybe a bit more....

I have not handled a pig, so I can't be sure. But the unit does not respond as quickly. It drops like a rock when throttling down. It does not gain altitude as easily or quickly. Sort of like driving a sports car with all four tires half flat.

I'll post my (boring) video soon. It is great to see footage where there is NO change in the horizon... I do have some jello, but it may be because I didn't tighten the camera mount properly.

 

[mediaguru]

Here's a link to my full blog post on my first flights with the CM3000, including a 6 minute video.

http://www.ambientflight.com/2014/01/13/first-dji-phantom-flight-with-3-axis-gimbal-good-news-bad-news/

 

[Gizmo3000]

The real BAD news with the CM3000 AND leg extensions is the weight and flight time. I'm at 3:30 and no more than 4 minutes before the bird starts to drop. That blows. Bad.

I threw the bird on a mailing scale, not digital. It is coming up at about 3 pounds or 1360 grams.

Now I'm going to go back to seeing if I can use the CM3000 without the big leg extension setup an use my old plastic clamp on extenders.

I flew my CM3000 on a P1 as well.

But I definitely agree,. the P2 should make a much better platform for the heavier gimbal.

Tho to get better flyings times with the Phantom1+CM3000, you really want to go as light as possible.
I didn't do landing leg extensions, but I think mine weight close to 1290, and I was getting some flights of over 5 minutes.
-i ran larger 9x4.5 MR props (sort of similar to the new Vision/P2 props) all of which I highly recommend
I found that with those props, at that weight, even when it hit battery failsafe2, i could still push the throttle and the craft would hold or climb (barely), but it would keep the craft from outright dropping.
-keep things light, if those landing leg extensions weight more than 60g , right there you're losing a minute of flight time
-perhaps consider a larger zippy 2800mah battery.
-cautiously lower your battery failsafe levels from stock. I have my 2nd level set to 11/.5loss/10.5 loaded.
(some guys go even lower than that, but be careful)

You really have to think of it as "glass half full" rather than "glass half empty" with the decreased flight time.
4.5 minutes def not a lot compared to the 8-10 minutes we'd get with just a stock Phantom and GoPro, but it's more than enough time to get a few good shots, land, and swap out to another battery.
back in the old days we'd shoot super-8 movies, and those would only be good for 5 minutes as well.

that said, I'm much more satisfied flying the CM3000 with my f450. with a good battery I get more than 10 minutes of flight, which seems to last forever!

 

[mediaguru]

Gizmo3000: YES you are right. 3-4 minutes of great video with no horizon shift beats the hell out of 8-10 minutes of crap video. I will definitely look at it that way.

I'm going to try going back to the stock landing gear with very light clipon extensions, new Phantom 2 props and a 2700 battery pack and see how that works.

I do think if I'm doing photography only, I will use just the gopro mount on the unit with no gimbal and set the cam to shoot every 1 or 2 seconds, unless a different setup works out.