Storm SD-10 gimbal?

[Tobrouk]

Hi again! Here a quick link to a little video to show you the problem I think I have. When the Phantom is lying on a flat table do you hear the motor noise and see the gimbal moving...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzf9gf ... sp=sharing

If the Phantom is tilted on the side, no more noise and movement...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzf9gf ... sp=sharing

UPDATE: I had an answer from Helipal. They confirmed that my gimbal is not working properly. They will send me a new one! Now I can wait another 2-3 weeks Hope that you will have better luck!

 

[labmansid]

Sorry yours did not work properly, but glad they are willing to replace it. Sucks that they take so long to ship.
For those that have ordered one of these, how long did it take to receive the gimbal from the time you ordered, and what country are you located? I am in the USA and ordered one of these on Dec. 18th. It supposedly left Hong Kong Dec. 21st, and I still have not received it. Tracking from USPS, which is pretty much a joke, just says "Origin Post is Preparing Shipment". Starting to get a little impatient! Hope it works properly once I finally get it.

 

[Tobrouk]

Thanks! Yep I'll have to wait now... I live in Switzerland.

Deposit on Dec 24th
Left HK on Dec 29th
Arrived in Switzerland on Jan 3rd
Delivered on Jan 8th

All Helipal orders were delivered in about 2-3 weeks (normal shippment)

 

[Fair Game]

I have had 2 gimbals from Helipal. The first did not fit the Phantom and the replacement, a 'Storm' although my original order was not for a storm, just doesn't work properly. Now they are not responding to emails.
I should have paid the extra for a Zenmuse and bought from my local dealer!

 

[Colombus]

Northboundndown

Let us know your final conclusion on the gimbal.

I am interested too in case it gives good results.

 

[whitepuff]

I received mine from Helipal, and will install it during the week and take it for a spin on the weekend if weather permits. Will report back unless someone else has tested it before me

 

[Colombus]

I received mine from Helipal, and will install it during the week and take it for a spin on the weekend if weather permits. Will report back unless someone else has tested it before me

Great

Looking forward for your feedback.

M

 

[Northboundndown]

Northboundndown

Let us know your final conclusion on the gimbal.

I am interested too in case it gives good results.

I finally got around to installing it last night, very simple and easy install. Upon installation I noticed the same issue as seen above in the video. HOWEVER, I determined that for the first several seconds on start-up when the gimbal calibrates, the position of the platform depends on how much resistance there is on the motor. With no camera attached, the gimbal tries to compensate for the incorrect angle but instead makes the gimbal go into a "seizure". So for the second time, I hit the reset button and set my cell phone on the platform and all seemed to be ok. I'll know for sure when I actually put the gopro on it and take flight.

In other words, do not calibrate or "reset" unless there is something on the gimbal platform, because it wont know what to do. At least that's how it worked for me.

And for anyone that has tilt issues, remember, you need to use the Naza user interface and activate the capability to use the tilt lever on the transmitter.

 

[Colombus]

Northboundndown

Let us know your final conclusion on the gimbal.

I am interested too in case it gives good results.

I finally got around to installing it last night, very simple and easy install. Upon installation I noticed the same issue as seen above in the video. HOWEVER, I determined that for the first several seconds on start-up when the gimbal calibrates, the position of the platform depends on how much resistance there is on the motor. With no camera attached, the gimbal tries to compensate for the incorrect angle but instead makes the gimbal go into a "seizure". So for the second time, I hit the reset button and set my cell phone on the platform and all seemed to be ok. I'll know for sure when I actually put the gopro on it and take flight.

In other words, do not calibrate or "reset" unless there is something on the gimbal platform, because it wont know what to do. At least that's how it worked for me.

And for anyone that has tilt issues, remember, you need to use the Naza user interface and activate the capability to use the tilt lever on the transmitter.

Thank you Northboundndown for your feedback on the gimbal.

I think you are completely right, I remember reading on helipal website that you should never start-up the gimbal without the camera on.

In the meantime I could not wait longer and I decided to press the button and get the gimbal. It will take a while until it gets all its way to France.

Reading on Helipal tips, the number three confuses me (see below). Does it really mean that you need to hand hold the gimbal leveled while starting it up?

"Tips for the gimbal
1. Must put the camera in the gimbal before start up. Gimbal is very weight sensitive, it requires very well weight distribution.
2. Make sure NO cable tangling the gimbal.
3. Hand held the gimbal as level as possible when starting up, that helps the gimbal to work better."

 

[Northboundndown]

I think they mean to hold the phantom, but I plan on doing my final calibration with the phantom on a table and go from there.

 

[whitepuff]

I installed my SD-!0 this afternoon, and tried to check for instructions on the Helipal website, but it seems they've removed it form their product list???

anyway, got it installed but took a while to figure out the the settings in the naza software before I could get it to work properly. Setting the min and max was quite important as if it goes to far either way it starts to oscillate , but with limits set, I could move the gimbal via the v1.1.1's control on the back of the TX. At first I struggled with the pitch auto leveling as it was to slow, but fooled around with the settings and got it to respond perfectly - seems it over compensated so had to bring the gain way down on the settings...anyway, its dark out so won't be able to test it tonight...will do a test run first thing in the morning...will post back my findings. In the mean time herewith the settings that I ended up with:

 

[Colombus]

I installed my SD-!0 this afternoon, and tried to check for instructions on the Helipal website, but it seems they've removed it form their product list???

anyway, got it installed but took a while to figure out the the settings in the naza software before I could get it to work properly. Setting the min and max was quite important as if it goes to far either way it starts to oscillate , but with limits set, I could move the gimbal via the v1.1.1's control on the back of the TX. At first I struggled with the pitch auto leveling as it was to slow, but fooled around with the settings and got it to respond perfectly - seems it over compensated so had to bring the gain way down on the settings...anyway, its dark out so won't be able to test it tonight...will do a test run first thing in the morning...will post back my findings. In the mean time herewith the settings that I ended up with:

Whitepuff, thank you for your post.

I've ordered this gimbal on helipal to find out that they have run out of stock. They do not list products that are out of stock.
I look forward for your feedback once you managed to test it properly.

M

 

[whitepuff]

So I took it out first time this morning , and the weather was very windy and gusty, and I thought what the heck lets give it a go, and I am happy to say it performed flawlessly. I didn't even have to re-level and calibrate it, it remembered the settings since last night when I did the calibration. The quad worked hard to maintain gps position in the wind and was very shaky but the video came out super steady. I need to work on my yaw control as I turn it to fast and with the steadiness of the gimbal it becomes very clear that I yaw to fast. But overall I am very happy. Fooled around with the pitch control on the back of the tx during flight and again no issues, works great. Its very easy to accidentally knock the little lever on the tx and then shift it to a new angle, guess one just needs to be weary of this.

It is quite heavy, so I got 5:30 form a 2200mah pack. I thought the climb rate will be hugely affected but it doesn't seem the case - little impact, but it does sink much faster than before.

The gimbal just fits snuggle with the stock landing gear, with about 3-4mm clear of the ground, so for safety sake I think I will extend the landing gear just a little, just in case I need to put it down in on very uneven terrain.

 

[Northboundndown]

5:30 seems a little low, even with the wind. What else do you have as far as add-ons?

 

[whitepuff]

5:30 seems a little low, even with the wind. What else do you have as far as add-ons?

Nope, just the gimbal with naked gopro

V1.1.1 with stock props and prop guards

 

[Northboundndown]

Seems odd. I have the V1.1 as well. Last weekend I took it down to my friends house and forgot the factory GoPro mount so we instead used 3M VHB tape and attached a GoPro brand mount to the bottom, making it fairly heavy. Winds were at a steady 20mph that day and I still got 9:30 flight time. Maybe those prop guards may be the culprit. If you're not concerned about flight time then I would just leave them, they are nice add-on to save the props in the event of a crash.

 

[whitepuff]

Seems odd. I have the V1.1 as well. Last weekend I took it down to my friends house and forgot the factory GoPro mount so we instead used 3M VHB tape and attached a GoPro brand mount to the bottom, making it fairly heavy. Winds were at a steady 20mph that day and I still got 9:30 flight time. Maybe those prop guards may be the culprit. If you're not concerned about flight time then I would just leave them, they are nice add-on to save the props in the event of a crash.

Yeah, still new to quads, so need all the help i can get for now... Once my experience pick's up, I'll get rid of them... Saved my butt a couple of times...

 

[Colombus]

Whitepuff, when you have a change I will be very interested on a demo video. That will help a lot.!!!

Cheers,

M

 

[whitepuff]

Whitepuff, when you have a change I will be very interested on a demo video. That will help a lot.!!!

Cheers,

M

Here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4rpAmzocqw&sns=em

Wind was quite gusty -also fooled around with the pitch control. Short vid only but you'll get the idea.

One thing i noticed though is one needs to isolate the top carbonfibre shelf from the electronics, as i accidentally squashed the jellyballs while checking out the gimbal and the electronics rouched top carbon shelf causing sparks ans smoke

Added a layer of thick tape between the electronics ans top shelf to prevent reoccurrence

 

[Northboundndown]

Glad to see how stable that is! And no jello or distortion!

Can't wait to actually use mine. Too bad its still cold here. -52 today... It's been like 3 weeks of this s**t. Super depressing