Gimbal Gimbal

[ianwood]

If, like me, you are involuntarily stress testing the Phantom by crashing it on more than one occasion, you may have broken the gimbal mount like I have. I've ordered the 3D printed replacement from Shapeways but because Shapeways parts are "made in the future", i.e. the distant future, I've taken to hastily making a replacement bracket out of aluminum. It ain't pretty but it actually does the trick.

Best of all, if (when) I crash again, the aluminum will bend absorbing some of the energy and unlike the original part, I can simply take it off and bend it back into shape without snapping it like a twig. It does hang a bit low but it still clears at full tilt. BTW, the penny on the paper clip is to counterbalance the ND filter which also works quite handily. I posted that in the Zenmuse forum but it seems like there's only crickets in there.

 

[havasuphoto]

I love the idea of the paper clip/penny. That's just the idea I've been looking for.
My ND set-up is a bit heavier than yours-Snake River Protytpe 52mm adapter, and ND400 filter. But, now I have an idea of how to balance the thing, thanks.

 

[ianwood]

I love the idea of the paper clip/penny. That's just the idea I've been looking for.
My ND set-up is a bit heavier than yours-Snake River Protytpe 52mm adapter, and ND400 filter. But, now I have an idea of how to balance the thing, thanks.

Takes a bit to experiment with clip length and how much weight but the gimbal is a natural balance so it makes it easy. The only thing you need to be careful of is if you're at full tilt and leaning a lot to the right, the weight may get in the way of the mount. Fortunately, it's not too common a scenario. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with it.