how to install tarot or dys gimbal (wires) on Phantom 2

xpsje · Apr 14, 2014

Hi all,

I have a Phantom 2 for about one week now. I am new with this but i like it very much.

Because the zenmuse h3 2d gimball is difficult to buy in the netherlands i want to buy a tarot 2 axis or dys 3 axis gimbal.

The only thing that i can not find on the Internet is how i have to solder the wirres for power and tilt.

Can somebody explain me how i have to solder this?

I hope someone wants to help me out.

Tonnie

sxmdrones · Apr 19, 2014

Can anyone post a link to step by step instruction for isntalling the Tarot T-2D gimbal to the Phantom 2? Most instructions found online are for Phantom 1 only.

Webspook · Apr 23, 2014

Guys, same requirement here. First one to find out the wiring pinout post here for the others will do same.

Willpowers · Apr 29, 2014

I could use some help with this too.
I was thinking about wiring a jst connector to the red and black lead wires coming out of the bottom.
Does anyone know if this is a bad idea?

CarlJ · Apr 29, 2014

It's fine to use the Aux power cable that is held in one of the leg grommets. I believe it's grey and red in color, and it's perfect to supply power to your Tarot gimbal. I'm not sure what other questions you guys have about the wiring, but I'm assuming it's for tilt control?

sxmdrones · Apr 30, 2014

I have already used the red and grey wire coming from the cam connector onboard to supply power to my vtx but need extra power for the Tarot T-2D gimbal. The Tarot gimbal is already assembled and fitted right below the screw hold in center of the P2 and i drilled another hole to add a screw to tighten the Tarot gimbal.

Willpowers · May 1, 2014

I could use some advice regarding tilt control. I'm not sure how my dys gimbal will receive the information from my controller to tell it to tilt. I'm pretty new to this hobby. Any information you can give me would be appreciated.

Also, can I use a splitter on the wires coming from the bottom? (red/grey)
I need to power a transmitter also.

Thanks

asainz320 · May 1, 2014

I'm trying to get my tilt control to work as well. So far I know that the gimbal will receive the signal from port F2 of the NASA receiver, but the problem is that there seems to be no data coming out of that port. I have already checked the X1 channel on the Assistant Software and it moves in its full range when I move the lever on the back of the controller, but there's no movement on the gimbal. I called DJI and was told that with the new update there's no longer support for other gimbals other than the Zenmuse. If anyone could help us out it would be great.

CarlJ · May 1, 2014

I believe you can power more than one device off the Aux power cable, or I should say that I've read you can. Your other option would be to solder where the battery ties to the main board. I would be concerned that the gauge of the Aux power line would be too thin, but I read that the gimbal only uses a minuscule amount of power. I can't really say as I haven't done it.

I'm working on wiring my gimbal for tilt right now, and I'm taking pictures to post here. There are a few versions of Tarot gimbal, and a new mounting plate design (V2). If you're using an older gimbal it's most likely necessary to update your firmware. If you're using the new V2 plate you'll need the new adapter.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRR ... UTF8&psc=1

I hope to post some pics tonight.

CarlJ · May 1, 2014

asainz320 said:
I'm trying to get my tilt control to work as well. So far I know that the gimbal will receive the signal from port F2 of the NASA receiver, but the problem is that there seems to be no data coming out of that port. I have already checked the X1 channel on the Assistant Software and it moves in its full range when I move the lever on the back of the controller, but there's no movement on the gimbal. I called DJI and was told that with the new update there's no longer support for other gimbals other than the Zenmuse. If anyone could help us out it would be great.

Which gimbal do you have? What firmware are you using? There use to be a 3 wire solution, but with the latest firmware you only only need 2 wires going to F2 (T and -) or Tilt and negative. This has confused me as well, but from what I've read firmware version dictates how you wire it.

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but did you enable the gimbal control in the Naza assistant software?

CarlJ · May 1, 2014

I'm going to try and post as much of this as I can:

First assemble your gimbal, but do not mount the control board, that will be the very last step of the install. Once you have all the rubber grommets pushed in and you've installed the gimbal arm with screws, you'll want to get power to the gimbal. You'll need a set of JTS connectors (male & female) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRR ... UTF8&psc=1

DON'T run the power directly to the gimbal, it'll work, but you won't be able to calibrate your compass with the gimbal on, in fact the gimbal HATES it. Not that I would...I mean who would do such a thing? Moving on!

Locate your Aux Power Cable, there are round rubber grommets with slits in them in the center of the leg mounts. It's **** hard to see it, but it's there. If you have ninja like skills you can pull the wire out with tweezers. Solder the JTS connector to the Aux Power Cable matching RED to RED and GREY to BLACK.

Make sure you thread the Aux Power cable thru the leg hole, the wire will have to pass thru the hole in your phantom landing gear. Ignoring this step will leave you really screwed.

And now to test my photo forum skills, I'll continue posting info and pics of all the steps.

CarlJ · May 1, 2014

This is the install of the adapter for the Tarot V2 mounting plate. There is a Tarot V1 mounting plate, but there are MANY videos on youtube you can watch on installing that version. For the V2 you'll need this mount adapter http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IRR ... UTF8&psc=1

You install the adapter to the mounting plate first, using the smallest screw, you'll notice that the adapter has a recessed screw hole. Screw the Adapter to the mounting plate as show in the photo. Then place the adapter (with the mount attached) on your Phantom. Follow the photos example to fix the mount and adapter.

This is the reason we didn't mount the control board, if we had it would have been in the way. Not that I did that...

If you plan on adding tilt, leave the board off.

Edit:
Just to clarify in the photo you're unable to see the screw hole marked "long screw hole", clearly my photoshop skills suck. I hope this image can help:

CarlJ · May 1, 2014

This is the install instructions for the Tarot Tl68a00 with V2 Mount, tilt control.

The next step will be to open your Phantom, if you need help on the process you can watch this video: [youtube]www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjra00HaAwg[/youtube]

You will also need a servo extension cable: http://www.ebay.com/itm/300mm-Servo-Ext ... 48612e4a54

First wire the gimbal control board using the breakout cable provided with the Tarot gimbal, it has 3 wires (red, white, and black). We'll only use the white and black. Offset the connector so that the white wire connects to T on the gimbal control board. Just below that you'll connect the black wire to - (negative).

Connect the servo extension to the breakout cable, and then plug that into F2 on your Naza. It should only plug in one way, but black will be on the top pin on F2 and white will connect to the bottom pin on F2. Please see photo:

Lastly turn on gimbal control in the assistant software.

If you have any questions let me know.

CarlJ · May 2, 2014

I just wanted to follow up with a topic I kinda avoided, which is how you fit your servo extension cable into your phantom. The way I see it you have 2 options, both of them bad.

#1) You can use a dremel and cut a notch into your phantom's case allowing you to lay the cable in the notch.

#2) Splice the servo extension cable and then thread the wire thru a leg grommet.

I don't cut holes in my Phantom, but that's just me.

Zeety · Jun 2, 2014

CarlJ

The 3 wires in a Server cable are held in with little black tabs which you can lift up, and slide out the wires.

Once you do that, you can get them through the leg grommet, then put the wired back into the connector (or not).

CarlJ · Jun 3, 2014

Zeety said:
CarlJ

The 3 wires in a Server cable are held in with little black tabs which you can lift up, and slide out the wires.

Once you do that, you can get them through the leg grommet, then put the wired back into the connector (or not).

I had seen that done in a video or something, but was unable to pull mine out. Off setting seems to be working well, but your method would be more tidy.

onderwaterfoto · Jun 13, 2014

Hi there,

I got the g2-d gimbal and installed it and installed the lever on the back of the tx. I connected the pit cable (white) to the lower ping on the F2 port of the naza. But the gimbal does not tilt when i move the lever. I enabled the gimbal in the naza software.

Any thoughts?

What am i missing?

dano7602 · Jun 14, 2014

I have recently put a tarot v2 on my phantom 2 successfully with tilt without drilling holes. I am willing to help anyone that needs it as I was in need of help but with little help available on the V2 gimbal especially for the P2 I was pretty much on my own. Firstly I think Carl J was giving instruction regarding mounting the gimbal on a P1 as you need two different mounting brackets to mount a V2 gimbal on a P2. For more mounting info take a look at this thread http://phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=12974&hilit=tarot+gimbal+phantom+2. To mount a V2 gimbal on your P2 you will need the DJI go pro Camera aluminum bracket for phantom 2 and the Tarot T2d v2 carbon fiber adapter. Combining these two brackets together will allow you to mount your V2 on a P2 without drilling any holes. As for issues related to getting the tilt to work follow Carl J's instructions for properly hooking up the wires to F2 port.

For proper tilt configuration the key is to configure the tilt control on FIRMWARE 1.08. Once your phantom is on firmware 1.08 you will then calibrate the TX in R/C assistant software. The next step is to go to the gimbal tab in the P2 assistant software 1.08 and select the "gimbal on" selection and set the gimbal gains. After setting gains you then need calibrate the X1 channel in P2 assisant software 1.08. Your gimbal tilt should now respond after you calibrate the X1 channel. If the gimbal is now tilting properly you can go ahead upgrade your firmware back to 3.04 and the tilt function should still work.

I spent a few days figuring out how to mount and configure this gimbal so I would be happy to help anyone as it can be a headache as there is very little literature on mounting a tarot V2 gimbal on a Phantom 2.

CarlJ · Jun 14, 2014

dano7602 said:
I have recently put a tarot v2 on my phantom 2 successfully with tilt without drilling holes. I am willing to help anyone that needs it as I was in need of help but with little help available on the V2 gimbal especially for the P2 I was pretty much on my own. Firstly I think Carl J was giving instruction regarding mounting the gimbal on a P1 as you need two different mounting brackets to mount a V2 gimbal on a P2. For more mounting info take a look at this thread http://phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=12974&hilit=tarot+gimbal+phantom+2. To mount a V2 gimbal on your P2 you will need the DJI go pro Camera aluminum bracket for phantom 2 and the Tarot T2d v2 carbon fiber adapter. Combining these two brackets together will allow you to mount your V2 on a P2 without drilling any holes. As for issues related to getting the tilt to work follow Carl J's instructions for properly hooking up the wires to F2 port.

For proper tilt configuration the key is to configure the tilt control on FIRMWARE 1.08. Once your phantom is on firmware 1.08 you will then calibrate the TX in R/C assistant software. The next step is to go to the gimbal tab in the P2 assistant software 1.08 and select the "gimbal on" selection and set the gimbal gains. After setting gains you then need calibrate the X1 channel in P2 assisant software 1.08. Your gimbal tilt should now respond after you calibrate the X1 channel. If the gimbal is now tilting properly you can go ahead upgrade your firmware back to 3.04 and the tilt function should still work.

I spent a few days figuring out how to mount and configure this gimbal so I would be happy to help anyone as it can be a headache as there is very little literature on mounting a tarot V2 gimbal on a Phantom 2.

Dan,

Thank you for posting this. You are correct that the mounting was for a Phantom 1(FC40), so I'm sure you have many grateful P2 owners reading this. I wasn't really aware they didn't have the same mount. This wasn't really a planned explanation, I just jumped in here because some were having trouble with the tilt wiring, and I threw the mounting info in because I found it so vexing...something I'm sure you can relate too.

CarlJ · Jun 14, 2014

onderwaterfoto said:
Hi there,

I got the g2-d gimbal and installed it and installed the lever on the back of the tx. I connected the pit cable (white) to the lower ping on the F2 port of the naza. But the gimbal does not tilt when i move the lever. I enabled the gimbal in the naza software.

Any thoughts?

What am i missing?

I think I responded to this in another thread. As Dan pointed out in a post above, you need to calibrate your X1 in the Naza Asst Software(also enable your gimbal control there).