Cheap starter gimbal?

BMc

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I didn't want to ask this in the H3-2D section as it might ruffle some feathers but has anyone in hear had any luck with cheap ebay or the like gimbals? I am building my FC40 as a starter unit so I don't immediately crash a more expensive hex right off the bat. Anyway, I have an FC40 with an old GoPro H2 mounted in the standard FC40 spot and the FC40 camera mounted behind and below to provide FPV flight video while the GP take much better video. Anyway, I am looking for an inexpensive gimbal to stabilize the video a bit. I am holding off on buying the GP H3 because the GP H4 is due out mid this year and by then I will likely be in the process of building a much nicer, long range hex with a, H4 compatible gimbal.

Any thoughts? My hole idea is keeping this unit under $750 and it being my trainer unit and if smash it into the ground breaking everything, it's just a started unit and not a super nice one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Sorry, I may have been a bit vague. I have searched for them however there appears to be a boat load of different ones. I was looking for a more specific one that someone had purchased and would recommend. I will do some more forum searching however thanks for the info.

Edit: I thought you meant search on ebay for cheap gimbal but I am guessing you meant search this forum. Doing that now :lol:
 
CunningStuntFlyer said:
BMc said:
I was looking for a more specific one that someone had purchased and would recommend.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tarot-Brushless ... 1270443419

Thanks! I had seen that one but I believe that one is specifically made for a GP H3 meanwhile I was looking for something to work with my old GP H2. I am skipping buying an H3 because the H4 will be out in 6 months or so. I will wait and buy a much better, H4 specific gimbal at that time.

Thanks guys.
 
Thanks! That certainly is cheap. It's somewhat a double edge sword in that sure I would like a cheap one in case I crash it and destroy it but I don't want a piece of junk. Thanks for the help.

I am currently looking to see if I can convert to pitch control on the 5.8 GHz radio for the FC40/P2V. It's a piece of cake on the P2's 2.8 GHz but not sure if the 5.8 will allow for it.
 
I took my P2V apart today and played around with the servo. It seems to be a standard metal geared servo (with the horns filed off) like this: http://hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/ ... 13sec.html

I attached another servo to F2 port on the NAZAM and sure enough, when the P2V pitched, so did the servo. Attaching a servo to F1 port will react when the P2V is rolled.

This is however not practical when attaching a gimbal with its own pitch/roll control. The pitch/roll can be "disabled" by setting the values for Automatic Control gain to zero, on the gimbal section (Advanced tab) in the Phantom 2 Vision Assistant Software v1.08.

7th channel control can be enabled using the Phantom2-Tool discussed here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7973.
 
I would only go with a goodluckbuy/ebay gimbal if you truly have a limited budget AND you have the ability/skill to figure things out.- as it seems almost every person who buys one ends up posting "how do I connect it to manually tilt down" and other little things.

Personally, i would dig a bit deeper into your piggy bank and consider spending a bit more for a Tarot, which is one of the most popular mid-range gimbals. - which has more user support.
 
Gizmo3000 said:
I would only go with a goodluckbuy/ebay gimbal if you truly have a limited budget AND you have the ability/skill to figure things out.- as it seems almost every person who buys one ends up posting "how do I connect it to manually tilt down" and other little things.

Personally, i would dig a bit deeper into your piggy bank and consider spending a bit more for a Tarot, which is one of the most popular mid-range gimbals. - which has more user support.

I appreciate your input. I can dig deeper and that's not an issue. My first instinct is to dive in full hog on this but it is only my first quad of any real quality and I don't want to get bored and or crash it and have a really expensive paper weight. The Tarot is awesome and maybe $100 more so that is no biggy. I only have about 30 flights under my belt and want to ease into this and not end up going '****, how did I get 2 grand tied up in this...should have started with a better platform!' I have a bit of a go big or go home problem and a very understanding wife :lol:

I will likely go with a Tarot or a storm SD-10 or something nicer. I have a feeling an ebay one would just end up in the trash before long.

Thanks!
 
Is it because it's harder to open up the body of the phantom instead of just
Powering up the gimbal and letting its control board make the adjustments?
 
According to the Naza m manual it should be possible.
 

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is not that hard to get it up 2 grand I am almost there Iand i haven't even bought the Gimbal yet.. case, extra batteries and chargers spare parts.. Really is no that hard..but form my point of view a must have..
 
Are there also people here who have dug into the subject of gimbals and have acquired a bit of knowledge about their weights and how much these differ from each other? Are cheaper ones usually significantly heavier for instance? Are there exceptions? Which are the lightest and which are the heaviest?
 
I have done some digging, the lightest gimbal I could find is the Stella gimbal (http://www.xaircraft.com/camera-gimbal/) at 120g. I wrote the company and asked if it would fit the Phantom 2 Vision, and they replied they didn't own a Phantom, but how it looked? Hmm.

Other than that, it is a matter of simple math: 2 gimbal motors and a AlexMos style board including one or more IMUs is required. Gimbal motors (2206/2208/2209) weigh in at approx. 32.2g and up. AlexMos board approx. 15g. Add some carbon fiber plates, bolts, rubber dampeners etc...
 
What's making this extra difficult for me is that I do not own a GP Hero3 nor do I intend on buying one with the Hero4 coming out late this summer. I was primarily looking for a cheap one to use my old Hero2 that I already own. Do you know if there are Tarot quality gimbals that will work with the Hero2?
 

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