My new gimbal… oh what a joy to connect

[IflyinWY]

So I bought a “budget Chinese” gimbal and was fortunate enough to have only 6 pieces in the box. There are 4 rubbers, 1 mounting bracket, and the gimbal itself. No instructions, screws, or decoder ring. I’ve found a couple videos which were very helpful. I’m just looking for a bit of input before I put power to the gimbal and possibly fry $70.00 or worse yet, beat the daylights out of my new Hero 3+ Black.

The Naza connections seem straightforward. F2 bottom is the pitch controller I am looking for.

The gimbal has 4 columns of 3 pins. I’m thinking the Chinese are building them all pretty similar so the inboard column is the winner. I can’t imagine connecting the pitch control to “GND”, which is the bottom pin. I’m thinking the next pin is power because of the “VCC” next to it. That just leaves the “A3” pin which will go to the Naza F2 bottom pin.

Here's what I picked up from Amazon but the product image only has 2 columns of 3 pins. Guess I got the super-deluxe model.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GAY ... UTF8&psc=1

52:30 into this Rotorpixel video seemed to answer my question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxODGoGo8O4

I’m willing to go with whatever most folks suggest. I’m new at this.

Your reward will be some pretty cool video of the Big Horn Mountains and maybe some wildlife, the four-legged kind.

We got a foot of snow last week and yesterday it was 86 degrees. Anyone else get a peek at Winter yet?

Thanks

UPDATE:

That's what I did and it tests OK on the bench. Going flyin'.

Update to the Update:
Life is good, video is awesome. Antelope don't really like their picture taken.

 

[Whitwellian]

Many thanks for putting up the links to video and ad for getting a Chinese gimbal.

I got a Phantom with the fc40 camera earlier this year and was pleased how easy it was to control but the photo & video quality, although an improvement on a Parrot AR drone, still wasn't the quality I wanted and so I got a GoPro 3+ silver a few weeks ago and I'm highly satisfied with the picture quality. Now all I want is the improved stability of a gimbal.

So, thanks again for your links IflyinWY

By the way, I live in the middle of England - in the county of Derbyshire.

 

[IflyinWY]

Re: Here's an UPDATE to My new gimbal… oh what a joy to conn

The stock landing gear is barely tall enough. There is sufficient clearance on a flat surface. I'm not sure it would even clear the camera strap on a fresh cut green. I know it doesn't clear on a gravel road. So I got this: ZJchao(TM) Tall Landing Gear for DJI Phantom 1 2 Vision Quadcopter Wide & High Extend Black
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JPC ... UTF8&psc=1
This landing gear helps by adding over 1 inch of clearance and has survived a couple "rough" landings. I found it on Amazon for $9.00 Prime. If you're going to put them on, do it when you install the gimbal or you will have to do the wiring all over again... Duh!

Connection to the gimbal circuit board and how to write a run-on sentence.
My gimbal has 4 columns of 3 pins (indicated by RED dots in the photo) and when looking down on the circuit board, with the front of the gimbal towards me, I need to hook up to the UPPER pin on the RIGHT (labeled "AO", which is the same as in the videos I have seen) to utilize the pitch control. I'm mentioning this because all the videos I have seen are hooking up to the UPPER LEFT pin. Mine works with the UPPER RIGHT "AO" pin (at least on the bench). I'm hoping it doesn't all blow up in a few minutes.

Poor photo quality in the attachment, but it's the best I can do at the moment.

FYI & in case someone else has had a similar experience... my gimbal ran into a 4 wheeler a quarter mile out, at about 10 mph, and now doesn't always boot up correctly. I've put it where I think it should be and it seems to kinda wake up. I've also unplugged the battery and waited a few seconds to power it up again, which also works sometimes.

I wish the gimbal wasn't attached to the quad when it ran into the 4 wheeler. I guess I'll be using it as a crash test dummy till I get better at flying and have good FPV to help.

The FC40 is proving to be a pretty tough machine. The GoPro catches every second of impact too. Gotta love the winds here.

Am I really the only person in Wyoming flying a Phantom?

I apologize to those who visited before I attached the photo.
AttachmentsGimbal-Board_Pins.jpgCheap Chinese gimbal pitch connection

 

[Rustysocket]

I found that there is a button just to the left of the pins. If you disconnect your pitch control wire you can use the button to set the angle where you want it.

 

[IflyinWY]

Cool, I guess, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of having control over the pitch?

 

[Rustysocket]

Cool, I guess, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of having control over the pitch?

yes, but just another feature given the lack of documentation, and while waiting for the transmitter lever