I took the big "leap of faith" and purchased all of the items you suggested...I will let you know how it turned out. Your videos are an inspiration to me...especially when you added the one on the servo tester (at my request) for completeness
Well DYIed. I've done the same thing with a FeiyuTech G2 hand held gimbal by making a gopro mount for a pole. Makes for interesting shots to add to the mix. Takes a bit of practice as the poles get longer though.
Hi James... brilliant idea... I am a safari buy in Africa and want use this system on a vehicle and hook it up to a 12V car battery as you suggested via a cigarette lighter... Is there anything I should be worried about in this method?... such as when the car is running its charging the battery which in this state produces something like 14V.... will this be a problem or should I only use it when car is off and battery back to normal 12V... The amps of a car battery, will that suffice or too much?
I am sure it would be fine, the gimbal controller is marked 2-4S so technically can run 7.4v up to 14.8v, and current drawer would be a couple of amps at most which is well under what cigarette sockets are rated (normally 10Amps). I've heard reports that the hold is not very strong on lower voltage 2S, but I would expect it would be fine on anything above that. I'd suggest using a fused cigarette plug (just find a cigarette lead from an old accessory and chop/extend the wires) just in case you had a fault with gimbal it wouldn't damage vehicle wiring, but should be good to go - will look out for some video !
Anything is possible, but you'd need to mount/balance the phone on the gimbal which would be tricky, and if you couldn't match the gopro weight/balance point (iPhone is heavier than a gopro already I think) you may need to adjust gimbal controller settings (PIDs which determine how it reacts/adjusts), so unless you are looking for a project, it would be easier to buy one of the gimbals designed for iphone5.
They are brushless motors so have almost no torque (but very quick response), so you'd need to mount the phone so it was perfectly balanced (same as you need with gopro, but that is easy as the frame is setup for it). I think this would be awkward to balance a smartphone with this layout, I'm sure anything is possible if you are looking for a project, but I suspect there are easier ways to do this, either buying a smartphone gimbal, or looking for a kit/frame which you could transfer or buy motors/controller/IMU to put into.
Should work fine, you may have to adjust/extend cable runs, but the motors don't care which way is up, they will just hold the camera bar (where the IMU sensor is) level, a while back someone said they were running one on a slow foamie plane like this and it worked fine.
Hi James, I've been so impressed with your video that I've just ordered a gimbal to have a go at making one for my Gopro. I would like to power it using a 12v battery from a Black and Decker battery operated drill that I have, and rig the battery on the handle end of the pole. Can you see any problem in using this type of battery? Thanks- Bob
Great video and an awesome idea! Is there any chance you could do a tutorial on how you made it? With the angle dial and everything? This would be amazing!
Its literally plug and play, the gimbal comes with a wire you plug into the ebay servo tester, mount the camera and slide it till it roughly balances, then plug in battery and it just works.
Hi, this is a really good video, but I have a question: The little light blue box is included the gimbal? Or where can I order it? I haven't drone, and I need just a good stabilizer. I think this is perfect and cheap solution, but you know, If I buy a gimbal from ebay, or an other site, and the controller not included I can't make awesome camera moving. Sorry I don't speak english well, but Can you answer? Where can I order all of stuff from your video?
The blue box is from ebay, they are a couple of dollars search 'servo tester', you will also need a male to male servo lead to plug it into gimbal, the gimbals sometimes come with a cable, but if not they are cheap on ebay as well, as they are used for miniquads and lots of other things.
I would search for cheapest price in your country, as you can get these all over from ebay to amazon etc etc, link in description is where I bought from www.banggood.com/FPV-2-Axis-Brushless-Gimbal-With-Controller-For-DJI-Phantom-GoPro-3-p-908068.html?p=MW2604548780201404KC
jamesb72 hey mate I just tried plugging in the servo tester in between the pitch motor and the board but something started smoking and now my gimbal doesn't work properly! It's all gittery and won't stabilise
vetter2769 did you plug into servo tester as it shows s+- as if you connect sideways it will short out the gimbal control board. the servo tester should be labelled which way to connect.
Thanks for the video - I'm looking to mount a GoPro to my remote control car. Can this gimbal be used inverted? as in upside down? I want to put it on the roof of the rc car. Thanks.
Yes, the gimbal can run inverted, you may have to extend the sensor wires, but thats easy to do (I've done it on one of mine), only issue maybe this will make the car top heavy, so it will grip roll more easily when cornering, so go steady.
Anything is possible, but it would also need some weight adding to balance gimbal arm with the waterproof enclosure, also I suspect the PIDs would need adjusting for the extra weight as it would end up 2-3 times heavier than the naked gopro camera this is designed for.
These basic gimbals have no modes out of the box, they only stabilise to constant position, you can adjust the pitch using a servo tester manually, but not follow a tilt as you track an object upwards etc - if you need this follow feature you have to use something like the Feiyu-Tech or other 'proper' consumer gimbals. UPDATE: Sorry, should have said if you can find GUI which works with unofficial firmware you can change settings, but as the gimbals mostly come with unofficial firmware, you to be careful not to brick the gimbal controller.
Sorry, I meant out of the box, the official alexmos firmware/GUI supports follow and other options, but the cheap gimbals all seem to use unofficial/hacked firmware so finding a GUI which will work needs to be done carefully to avoid locking/bricking the controller. If you're happy to take on a DIY project its all doable.
is the arm of gimbal is removable? i have sjcam m20 and i put it on my drone and i wanna buy gimbal like that on the video.. i was thinking how to move the arm of gimbal like the 2nd one gimbal on the video to put my m20 sjcam.how can you modify the gimbal do u hve a video for that?sorry for my english..tnx
The gimbal can be taken apart (its screwed together), but not sure how you would make a new mounting arm that would balance with your SJCAM M20 - personally I would buy one of the cheaper DIY gimbals for this, as you could then play around with balance weights etc without paying for a plug and play WG gimbal only to end up remaking it yourself anyway.
jamesb72 thank you James! What Motors are used? Are these geared stepper motors or servo motors? do you think these will resist and counter the shocks when mounted on a downhill Mountainbike?
They are high kv brushless motors, so they move very quickly but have very little torque, which is why its essential that the camera/gimbal is balanced perfectly (so the motors are not holding weight of camera, just adjusting for angle) - they do work OK on mountainbikes however mounting them is awkward as you need them to be secure but minimise vibration, most people use chest harnesses. For mountain bike, you may do better with something like the FeiyuTech wearable gimbals, ie the WG2 for Hero5/Hero6 which is also waterproof but costs more than these DIY gimbals.
hy James. Can you help me please ? I'm not sure how big battery do i need to buy. Do I need 20.000mAh battery or much enough 3000 or7000 mAh battery ? I know it depends how long time for i want to use it but I'm not sure how long time for works the 3000mAh and 20.000 mAh. Can you tell me which one do you use and for how long time does it works ? Your video is absolutely helpful for me because I try to decide between the gimbal or stedicam stuff. Thanks again !
+Kornél Pásztor Hi Kornel, I would go for a 3S lipo battery around 1000-1300mah capacity (1.0-1.3Ah), which should last an hour at least on gimbal - probably better to get two small batteries, so you can swap when needed (and know how long you have left) - the batteries you mention are much bigger than you need, but if you already had them they would work - just a lot of weight etc. Just checked and the Feiyu Tech gimbal comes with 650mah batteries and they reckon it will run for an hour on those I believe.
There is nothing to it, the gimbal plugs into battery and servo tester plugs into pitch pins, and that's it, how you screw/fit it to handle will depend on what sort of handle/mount your using, but is just drilling and screwing.
Thinking about doing this, thanks for the video. Is there a way to power this without LiPo batteries? I'm not an RC'r or Drone operator so I don't have any of the charging equipment. Ideally powering it on something more common would be ideal. Thanks for the video!
The gimbal runs on 11-12v (spec is 7.4v to 16v, but I understand it doesn't hold well at lower voltages), and for smooth running needs around 2amps max (average would be much lower), so an 8xAA holder with good rechargable batteries would easily manage that, possibly other options around 12v such as a car accessory power etc.
Awesome, thanks for the information, I was thinking about getting a couple of these for when I do back water boating videos, having a 12v 19 ah battery for lighting and fishfinder would easily run it, much better than dishing out the $100 for a wearable. Thanks again for the info.
+RCYI Justinizer the gimbal outputs 5v on the tilt socket, so this powers the servo tester, just needs a male to male servo lead between the tester and the gimbal, super simple.
Awesome video and idea! I tried to repeat it but my gimble seems to jitter about and doesn't stabilize! Would you have any idea what I might be doing wrong?
Hi Nick, The only issues I've had are if the camera isn't balanced on the gimbal with power off, or if the strap isn't tight enough so the camera has play/wobble which allows the gimbal to vibrate, lastly its important that the gimbal is really still when first powered up, if those three things are covered, I'd go back to where you bought it from as it could be faulty.
+Mark chance I run 3S/11.1v lipo - the spec is 2-4S but I heard it doesn't hold well on 2S, so I've always run 3S but anything around 12v would be fine - Lipo's are 3.7v per cell, so a 3 cell/3S would be fine, a 1S/3.7v total would not.
Would depend on how much it was moving around, but am sure it would last longer than camera battery (an hour or so)! I've used 850-1300mah batteries, and never got close to running out but I generally use it for a few shots at a time, not full day stuff.
Thank you, for quick reply! I am going to attach this gimbal gopro chest harnes and ride mountain bike with it :) I will also try to mount it on sports motorcycle to mimic GP style stabilization.
Its just two screws from the gimbal top plate into the handle, as the handles are all different it wouldn't be much of a video ;) The cables just plug in to battery and servo tester, but I did a video on that just to show how simple it is th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
***** just looked at them on eBay, thanks,, need to do some research to see if they will work with the Hero 5 Black, just sold my 3+ Black and bought the 5, got a great bargain, £40 of the price with a code,, so only cost me £309 and I sold my 3 for £150. Only a holiday GoPro type of guy, but think a gimble would help me,, so looking for the best cheap option. Thanks again.
Derek Comer pretty sure none of the hero 3/4 gimbals will take 5 as it is bigger and off balance more. you can fit the hero5 on the fy gimbal with longer yi bracket but I'm sceptical it would work that well as it wouldn't be balanced.
You maybe could, but tilting up/down is the only useful control 99% of the time, side to side wouldn't be something you'd normally need, and if you want one at a time you can swap the lead between the two channels (angle on the other will stay the same until you power cycle).
+jamesb72 Thx. Great idea with the adjustments. Going to use them on my build. But i need to know one thing. Can i place the circuit board anywher i want ? Or it have to be leveled , like it is when its mouted under the quadcopter.
+nCaine The IMU sensor has to be on the battery bar as this is what the gimbal will try to level - it doesn't have to be level, but the control board will move motors until it is flat, so if you tilt it the camera will always be tilted, I did this on first quad gimbal deliberately (tilting sensor back slightly so camera would always point down slightly, and avoid getting props in frame).
I just searched "motorbike gopro gimbal" and found lots of videos, so I would look at those, both for mounting tips, and what others are doing, I don't think a waterproof box would work well as you'd be filming through the box, which would distort video, main issue with motorbike I suspect is gimbal is fighting airflow on camera, which is why you need to check a known good option for this application.
+Cee Gee I've used this with various camera's which are slightly different weights with no issues, Gopro3 and SJ4000 shown, so any gopro sized camera of similar weight should be fine without adjustment. I don't believe you can get any of these gimbals to work with the waterproof housing as the weight/size/mounting would be impossible - the gimbal itself won't be waterproof anyway, people have been asking this since the first cheap 2-axis gimbals came out a couple of years ago and no-one has come up with anything yet - I've seen a kickstarter style project for waterproof gimbal, but I don't think it is available yet!
+jamesb72 thanks for the reply man! its not really waterproofing im interested but more just protection as i want to use this to film skating and wouldnt want to damage the lens if pebbles hit it or i fell off. i might just try to build a little lens protector thingy in order to not have to use the case.
+Cee Gee I use a cheap 22mm rubber ferrule (walking stick end) cut down the tip is a great lens cap, and you can use the remaining 'tube' as a lens 'bumper' it won't protect from everything, but does mean the lens won't scrape on the floor if camera hits etc. I've also used the gopro lens protector on quadcopter gimbal for protection, which gimbal didn't seem to notice, so that's another option.
James love the video, so you need the following ? 2 Axis Brushless Gimbal w/Controller&Sensor (131482833148) 3S Lipo battery 12V or 11.1V? (141647229039) 3 Channel Servo Tester (131261487979) Charger for lipo battery (110881787118) Paint brush extenstion pole (18ft-216inch-548cm)- (9ft-274cm-108inch) Paint brush angle adapter
+Maurice Tjon Soei Len Yes list is correct, not sure about the item number - that isn't a charger. 3S lipos are all the same, don't be confused by voltage they are described as 11.1v asnominally 3.7v per cell, but fully charged will be about 12.6v, and run down to about 10v. For a charger 131223505837 looks fine from same seller - any 3S balance charger will be fine, as you won't be in a rush for quick charging.
Anything is possible, but you would have to come up with a way to attach session to camerabar (as strap won't work it would cover lens), and balance the gimbal.
+grokster5 Its supposed to work with 2-4S but I have only run 3S, and I have read that hold wasn't great on 2S. Also 250mah sounds a bit small to me, so you could try it and it might be fine if you already have that lipo kicking around, if your buying a battery just for this, I would stick to 3S 800mah or higher (which I've used and its fine).
+grokster5 Google works best, depending on your country you can get these from anywhere from a local hobby store, to hobbyking/amazon/ebay. Just check which connector you want is on the battery, smaller batteries tend to come with red JST connector, larger batteries come with the larger yellow XT60 you can swap connectors easily if your happy to solder, but if you want plug and play just check the battery has the right connector to match your gimbal first.
How did you configure the gimbal for the xiaomi and sj4000? They are lighter than gopro, and as long as I know the controller gives issues without the exact weight. Btw, nice video.
+Dashz I haven't touched configuration, this is as it came setup for gopro, the weights are slightly different, but as long as you balance the camera on gimbal with power off, and ensure camera is strapped tightly to camera bar they worked fine for me.
Michael Noon gimbal doesnt come with battery. Any small 3s lipo with jst connector from 850mah up will fit fine you can get these on ebay/amazon etc and price will vary by country/shipping option so best to do your own search.
its a cheap servo tester from ebay, if you search 'servo tester' there are loads on there video showing how they are connected is here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
Hi James, nice videos! I ordered one of these and am waiting for arrival. I plan on just using it for my Samsung Galaxy S6 with a gorilla tripod as I have no copters. :) I assume it doesn't come with a battery? Any chance I can get info on the type of battery I need to order? Or any of those nice handles and stuff you used. Geez, I'm asking too much I think. :)
Larry Wangemann You just need a 12v supply for this, so either a 3S lipo battery (but you will need a matching charger so that could be more hassle than its worth). The handles are just a paint brush holder and decorators extension pole, so google will find you those.
***** Thanks for the info James! I put all the stuff I need for the lipo battery in my Amazon shopping cart, battery, charger, fireproof bag, etc. One thing I'm curious about, you said I need either a lipo battery or...and I don't see an "or" option. :) What other option is there besides the lipo battery?
Larry Wangemann sorry I was going to say any other small 12v battery, but realised there aren't really any light options, as 8xAA in a holder would be a hassle, and there aren't really any other small/light 12v batteries. A 3S lipo will be perfect, its just annoying to have to buy charger etc for one battery - but I'm sure you will find some other stuff to use it for.
I think it would be a bit too heavy for the Syma X8HG but I haven;t tried this, you could test by adding ~180g of weight to your X8hg and see how it flies, this would give you a good idea before spending the money on a gimbal.
You can see from this video its just the gimbal screwed to a plastic paint brush holder, the cabling/servo tester is shown here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
I haven't tried a Yi2, it is a bit wider than the Yi so probably depends on the weight/balance, so I can't say for sure, but I think there is a good chance you could mount/balance this possibly with some weight added blutac or plasticine.
nice one james that make a good steady .and i have never seen a servo tester before where have they been hiding all my life i just ordered one £2.99 ebay, bargain !
jack00scarecrow The servo tester is great to have, I've used it for everything from testing esc/motors (save damaging a receiver if they are bad), to checking Heli FBL systems, I've got quite a collection of them now, the cheapo ones are even cheaper than that - 99p delivered from china on ebay, I have a couple of nicer ones which do speed testing and you can use to calibrate ESC's - I did a video on them a while back th-cam.com/video/FRUGUe3b4Z0/w-d-xo.html
***** Cool build!!! I found you and subscribed looking for a way to easily set the tilt just like you did here. But I am wondering how this would work on the quad? Is there an easier way? can you adjust it and then unplug the servo tester so the quad doesn't have to carry it? will it stay in the position you left it after unplugging? i had a pretty careful look at how you did the servo tester here. I think i have the same board on my gimbal, was there anything special you did or just plugged it in? also have you played with the software used for calibration etc? I am lost as to what version to try to use to play with that.
I took the big "leap of faith" and purchased all of the items you suggested...I will let you
know how it turned out. Your videos are an inspiration to me...especially when you added the one on the servo tester (at my request) for completeness
Thanks, hope you get on OK with the gimbal, any problems let me know and will do what I can to help.
Hi James, I haven't seen videos from you since our 350qx days! Your video came across my feed, I'm glad your still making good videos!
Well DYIed. I've done the same thing with a FeiyuTech G2 hand held gimbal by making a gopro mount for a pole.
Makes for interesting shots to add to the mix. Takes a bit of practice as the poles get longer though.
Uuu, I like that small controller on top! Nicely done.
Very nice video. I am waiting for camera and gimbal so your movies are helpfull. Have you done any setup with gimbal pids ect. ?
Thanks.
Hi James... brilliant idea...
I am a safari buy in Africa and want use this system on a vehicle and hook it up to a 12V car battery as you suggested via a cigarette lighter... Is there anything I should be worried about in this method?... such as when the car is running its charging the battery which in this state produces something like 14V.... will this be a problem or should I only use it when car is off and battery back to normal 12V... The amps of a car battery, will that suffice or too much?
I am sure it would be fine, the gimbal controller is marked 2-4S so technically can run 7.4v up to 14.8v, and current drawer would be a couple of amps at most which is well under what cigarette sockets are rated (normally 10Amps). I've heard reports that the hold is not very strong on lower voltage 2S, but I would expect it would be fine on anything above that. I'd suggest using a fused cigarette plug (just find a cigarette lead from an old accessory and chop/extend the wires) just in case you had a fault with gimbal it wouldn't damage vehicle wiring, but should be good to go - will look out for some video !
Is it possible to mount an iPhone 5 on there? Since it weighs about the same as a go pro but I'm not sure about the balance.
Anything is possible, but you'd need to mount/balance the phone on the gimbal which would be tricky, and if you couldn't match the gopro weight/balance point (iPhone is heavier than a gopro already I think) you may need to adjust gimbal controller settings (PIDs which determine how it reacts/adjusts), so unless you are looking for a project, it would be easier to buy one of the gimbals designed for iphone5.
That is fantastic, can you tell me please if you can use a POT also on the horazontal part of the gimbal/
I believe so, there are roll pins on the gimbal control board, but I've never used these as generally want a horizontal/level horizon.
Amazing. Do you think these servos would handle the weight load of a smartphone if you were to modify the mounting plate?
Thanks
They are brushless motors so have almost no torque (but very quick response), so you'd need to mount the phone so it was perfectly balanced (same as you need with gopro, but that is easy as the frame is setup for it). I think this would be awkward to balance a smartphone with this layout, I'm sure anything is possible if you are looking for a project, but I suspect there are easier ways to do this, either buying a smartphone gimbal, or looking for a kit/frame which you could transfer or buy motors/controller/IMU to put into.
I was wondering if this will work if the whole thing is turned upside down? Thanks
Should work fine, you may have to adjust/extend cable runs, but the motors don't care which way is up, they will just hold the camera bar (where the IMU sensor is) level, a while back someone said they were running one on a slow foamie plane like this and it worked fine.
Hi mate I'm looking to buy this same product but I was wondering if u could explain how it gets power..?
The gimbal plugs into a battery, a amsll 3S lipo is perfect (its what I use), but any battery around 12v would be fine it only draws a couple of amps.
where did you get that dial your using to adjust the gimbal
+Mark chance ebay search servo tester they are about a dollar
Hello, how are you
How did you do that control of the gimbal, you change the angle up or down? Could you describe me the material used ????
Grateful!
Its a cheap servo tester from ebay, plugged into gimbal tilt pins with a male to male servo lead.
Hi James, I've been so impressed with your video that I've just ordered a gimbal to have a go at making one for my Gopro.
I would like to power it using a 12v battery from a Black and Decker battery operated drill that I have, and rig the battery on the handle end of the pole. Can you see any problem in using this type of battery?
Thanks- Bob
Hi Bob, Glad video is useful, a 12v black and decker battery should work fine, and will be a nice counter weight for pole !
Great video and an awesome idea!
Is there any chance you could do a tutorial on how you made it? With the angle dial and everything?
This would be amazing!
Its literally plug and play, the gimbal comes with a wire you plug into the ebay servo tester, mount the camera and slide it till it roughly balances, then plug in battery and it just works.
I've put a quick video up showing the servo tester to gimbal connections here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
Hi, this is a really good video, but I have a question: The little light blue box is included the gimbal? Or where can I order it? I haven't drone, and I need just a good stabilizer. I think this is perfect and cheap solution, but you know, If I buy a gimbal from ebay, or an other site, and the controller not included I can't make awesome camera moving. Sorry I don't speak english well, but Can you answer? Where can I order all of stuff from your video?
The blue box is from ebay, they are a couple of dollars search 'servo tester', you will also need a male to male servo lead to plug it into gimbal, the gimbals sometimes come with a cable, but if not they are cheap on ebay as well, as they are used for miniquads and lots of other things.
I've put a quick video up showing the servo tester to gimbal connections here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
can you be a little more specific about the servo tester. where are the input and output connectors
NO problem, I've put a quick video up showing this here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
You are the greatest, fast and considerate
Can you share a link to the gimble to buy?
I would search for cheapest price in your country, as you can get these all over from ebay to amazon etc etc, link in description is where I bought from www.banggood.com/FPV-2-Axis-Brushless-Gimbal-With-Controller-For-DJI-Phantom-GoPro-3-p-908068.html?p=MW2604548780201404KC
hi, sir james, are there 3 wires from the gimbal to the servo tester? Thanks in advance...
+Rusty Allacar Yes, its a std male to male servo lead so has 3 wires, black/brown is ground, red is +5v, white/orange is signal.
Do you have a video on how to connect the servo tester to the gimbal?
Its just a male to male servo cable it just plugs into the servo tester one end and the gimbal the other.
Got it. Thanks!
jamesb72 hey mate I just tried plugging in the servo tester in between the pitch motor and the board but something started smoking and now my gimbal doesn't work properly! It's all gittery and won't stabilise
vetter2769 did you plug into servo tester as it shows s+- as if you connect sideways it will short out the gimbal control board. the servo tester should be labelled which way to connect.
jamesb72 I took care and I think I did, but I something went wrong :(
Would be handy if you could put up a pic of exactly how to connect it up?
Thanks for the video - I'm looking to mount a GoPro to my remote control car. Can this gimbal be used inverted? as in upside down? I want to put it on the roof of the rc car. Thanks.
Yes, the gimbal can run inverted, you may have to extend the sensor wires, but thats easy to do (I've done it on one of mine), only issue maybe this will make the car top heavy, so it will grip roll more easily when cornering, so go steady.
Thanks for your reply, Im going to take the plunge! Any recommendations on a battery for the gimbal?
Could one mount a 3d hero case ? it´s too wide but do you think one could make the bars holding the second motor longer to fit the wider 3dhero case ?
Anything is possible, but it would also need some weight adding to balance gimbal arm with the waterproof enclosure, also I suspect the PIDs would need adjusting for the extra weight as it would end up 2-3 times heavier than the naked gopro camera this is designed for.
hi, can you set the follow "pitch" mode on this gimbal? is it works?
These basic gimbals have no modes out of the box, they only stabilise to constant position, you can adjust the pitch using a servo tester manually, but not follow a tilt as you track an object upwards etc - if you need this follow feature you have to use something like the Feiyu-Tech or other 'proper' consumer gimbals. UPDATE: Sorry, should have said if you can find GUI which works with unofficial firmware you can change settings, but as the gimbals mostly come with unofficial firmware, you to be careful not to brick the gimbal controller.
Sorry, I meant out of the box, the official alexmos firmware/GUI supports follow and other options, but the cheap gimbals all seem to use unofficial/hacked firmware so finding a GUI which will work needs to be done carefully to avoid locking/bricking the controller. If you're happy to take on a DIY project its all doable.
is the arm of gimbal is removable? i have sjcam m20 and i put it on my drone and i wanna buy gimbal like that on the video.. i was thinking how to move the arm of gimbal like the 2nd one gimbal on the video to put my m20 sjcam.how can you modify the gimbal do u hve a video for that?sorry for my english..tnx
The gimbal can be taken apart (its screwed together), but not sure how you would make a new mounting arm that would balance with your SJCAM M20 - personally I would buy one of the cheaper DIY gimbals for this, as you could then play around with balance weights etc without paying for a plug and play WG gimbal only to end up remaking it yourself anyway.
Do you think it's possible to mount the camera sitting on top of everything?
Yes, people have done this, you may have to extend the wires to the IMU sensor on the camera bar but its only 4? wires and easy to solder.
jamesb72 thank you James! What Motors are used? Are these geared stepper motors or servo motors? do you think these will resist and counter the shocks when mounted on a downhill Mountainbike?
They are high kv brushless motors, so they move very quickly but have very little torque, which is why its essential that the camera/gimbal is balanced perfectly (so the motors are not holding weight of camera, just adjusting for angle) - they do work OK on mountainbikes however mounting them is awkward as you need them to be secure but minimise vibration, most people use chest harnesses. For mountain bike, you may do better with something like the FeiyuTech wearable gimbals, ie the WG2 for Hero5/Hero6 which is also waterproof but costs more than these DIY gimbals.
Looks awesome mate. Could you run this upside down with the base plate thing, thats normally on the top, on top of a helmet, for instance?
Yes, you just need to re-route the wires, so may need some new cable ties.
hy James. Can you help me please ? I'm not sure how big battery do i need to buy. Do I need 20.000mAh battery or much enough 3000 or7000 mAh battery ? I know it depends how long time for i want to use it but I'm not sure how long time for works the 3000mAh and 20.000 mAh. Can you tell me which one do you use and for how long time does it works ? Your video is absolutely helpful for me because I try to decide between the gimbal or stedicam stuff. Thanks again !
+Kornél Pásztor Hi Kornel, I would go for a 3S lipo battery around 1000-1300mah capacity (1.0-1.3Ah), which should last an hour at least on gimbal - probably better to get two small batteries, so you can swap when needed (and know how long you have left) - the batteries you mention are much bigger than you need, but if you already had them they would work - just a lot of weight etc. Just checked and the Feiyu Tech gimbal comes with 650mah batteries and they reckon it will run for an hour on those I believe.
+jamesb72 Thank you !
Great little project :)
Do hv any step by step tutorials ?
There is nothing to it, the gimbal plugs into battery and servo tester plugs into pitch pins, and that's it, how you screw/fit it to handle will depend on what sort of handle/mount your using, but is just drilling and screwing.
***** thanks for clarification :)
Thinking about doing this, thanks for the video. Is there a way to power this without LiPo batteries? I'm not an RC'r or Drone operator so I don't have any of the charging equipment. Ideally powering it on something more common would be ideal. Thanks for the video!
The gimbal runs on 11-12v (spec is 7.4v to 16v, but I understand it doesn't hold well at lower voltages), and for smooth running needs around 2amps max (average would be much lower), so an 8xAA holder with good rechargable batteries would easily manage that, possibly other options around 12v such as a car accessory power etc.
Awesome, thanks for the information, I was thinking about getting a couple of these for when I do back water boating videos, having a 12v 19 ah battery for lighting and fishfinder would easily run it, much better than dishing out the $100 for a wearable. Thanks again for the info.
great video! do you recommend a special charger for the battery?
No any balance charger designed for lipo battery should be fine.
I have question. How you power your servo tester?
+RCYI Justinizer the gimbal outputs 5v on the tilt socket, so this powers the servo tester, just needs a male to male servo lead between the tester and the gimbal, super simple.
***** thanks jamesb72. Got it.
Justin Tan
How did you wire the angle adjuster/servo tester?
+Ryan Alston Its just a male to male servo lead, one end goes into gimbal tilt channel, the other goes into servo tester.
Awesome video and idea! I tried to repeat it but my gimble seems to jitter about and doesn't stabilize! Would you have any idea what I might be doing wrong?
Hi Nick, The only issues I've had are if the camera isn't balanced on the gimbal with power off, or if the strap isn't tight enough so the camera has play/wobble which allows the gimbal to vibrate, lastly its important that the gimbal is really still when first powered up, if those three things are covered, I'd go back to where you bought it from as it could be faulty.
can i use a 3.7V 20C battery for this gimbal?
+Mark chance I run 3S/11.1v lipo - the spec is 2-4S but I heard it doesn't hold well on 2S, so I've always run 3S but anything around 12v would be fine - Lipo's are 3.7v per cell, so a 3 cell/3S would be fine, a 1S/3.7v total would not.
+jamesb72 thanks for the info man
This is awesome bro, thanks for the share!
Interesting! Thanks for the info sir! I appreciate that :)
beautiful..............................................
Hi jamesb72, how long does the gimbal work on 1800mAh batery?
Would depend on how much it was moving around, but am sure it would last longer than camera battery (an hour or so)! I've used 850-1300mah batteries, and never got close to running out but I generally use it for a few shots at a time, not full day stuff.
Thank you, for quick reply!
I am going to attach this gimbal gopro chest harnes and ride mountain bike with it :)
I will also try to mount it on sports motorcycle to mimic GP style stabilization.
Sounds good, will keep an eye out for your video !
Clever. You should make another and video yourself making it. Great idea
Its just two screws from the gimbal top plate into the handle, as the handles are all different it wouldn't be much of a video ;) The cables just plug in to battery and servo tester, but I did a video on that just to show how simple it is th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
Cheers will watch it later. Don't need a £250 gimble but would like a DIY one for about £50 lol.
There are cheaper options, I have the FY-WG mini which I got for under £100, and works really well.
***** just looked at them on eBay, thanks,, need to do some research to see if they will work with the Hero 5 Black, just sold my 3+ Black and bought the 5, got a great bargain, £40 of the price with a code,, so only cost me £309 and I sold my 3 for £150. Only a holiday GoPro type of guy, but think a gimble would help me,, so looking for the best cheap option. Thanks again.
Derek Comer pretty sure none of the hero 3/4 gimbals will take 5 as it is bigger and off balance more. you can fit the hero5 on the fy gimbal with longer yi bracket but I'm sceptical it would work that well as it wouldn't be balanced.
Can i use 2 servos joystick tester in this rig? it's not that cheap but can by useful :D
You maybe could, but tilting up/down is the only useful control 99% of the time, side to side wouldn't be something you'd normally need, and if you want one at a time you can swap the lead between the two channels (angle on the other will stay the same until you power cycle).
+jamesb72 you are right. right now i realize its 2 axes gimbal .. but still thanks for answer
can i fit sjcam m10 on this one?
+Mark chance Sorry I don't have one so cannot check, if you can balance it on the camera bar it would be worth a try.
What the voltage for the battery ? I waiting for delivery , just buyed one.
+nCaine The specs say 2-4S but I've only used 3S and understand 2S doesn't hold well, so I would stick to 3S.
+jamesb72 Thx. Great idea with the adjustments. Going to use them on my build. But i need to know one thing. Can i place the circuit board anywher i want ? Or it have to be leveled , like it is when its mouted under the quadcopter.
+nCaine The IMU sensor has to be on the battery bar as this is what the gimbal will try to level - it doesn't have to be level, but the control board will move motors until it is flat, so if you tilt it the camera will always be tilted, I did this on first quad gimbal deliberately (tilting sensor back slightly so camera would always point down slightly, and avoid getting props in frame).
I need some advice, I want to mount a gimbal to my motorbike, any pointers?
Carlos Tilbury I'd look for some motorbike specific gimbal videos as mounting and vibration are pretty specific.
hi James, I've had a look and can't find much, I might buy one of these and build a waterproof box for it.
I just searched "motorbike gopro gimbal" and found lots of videos, so I would look at those, both for mounting tips, and what others are doing, I don't think a waterproof box would work well as you'd be filming through the box, which would distort video, main issue with motorbike I suspect is gimbal is fighting airflow on camera, which is why you need to check a known good option for this application.
Nice mate!! bought the same gimbal, when i try it first time it almost set on fire..
so if you were to adapt this to another cam/gopro+case would the weight difference mess it up or is there any way to adjust that?
+Cee Gee I've used this with various camera's which are slightly different weights with no issues, Gopro3 and SJ4000 shown, so any gopro sized camera of similar weight should be fine without adjustment. I don't believe you can get any of these gimbals to work with the waterproof housing as the weight/size/mounting would be impossible - the gimbal itself won't be waterproof anyway, people have been asking this since the first cheap 2-axis gimbals came out a couple of years ago and no-one has come up with anything yet - I've seen a kickstarter style project for waterproof gimbal, but I don't think it is available yet!
+jamesb72 thanks for the reply man! its not really waterproofing im interested but more just protection as i want to use this to film skating and wouldnt want to damage the lens if pebbles hit it or i fell off. i might just try to build a little lens protector thingy in order to not have to use the case.
+Cee Gee I use a cheap 22mm rubber ferrule (walking stick end) cut down the tip is a great lens cap, and you can use the remaining 'tube' as a lens 'bumper' it won't protect from everything, but does mean the lens won't scrape on the floor if camera hits etc. I've also used the gopro lens protector on quadcopter gimbal for protection, which gimbal didn't seem to notice, so that's another option.
James love the video, so you need the following ?
2 Axis Brushless Gimbal w/Controller&Sensor (131482833148)
3S Lipo battery 12V or 11.1V? (141647229039)
3 Channel Servo Tester (131261487979)
Charger for lipo battery (110881787118)
Paint brush extenstion pole (18ft-216inch-548cm)- (9ft-274cm-108inch)
Paint brush angle adapter
+Maurice Tjon Soei Len Yes list is correct, not sure about the item number - that isn't a charger. 3S lipos are all the same, don't be confused by voltage they are described as 11.1v asnominally 3.7v per cell, but fully charged will be about 12.6v, and run down to about 10v. For a charger 131223505837 looks fine from same seller - any 3S balance charger will be fine, as you won't be in a rush for quick charging.
+jamesb72 thanks James!
That, my friend, is fucking genius. Well played.
is there a posibility to put the gopro hero session
Anything is possible, but you would have to come up with a way to attach session to camerabar (as strap won't work it would cover lens), and balance the gimbal.
jamesb72 will a 7.4v 25c 250mAh Li-Po battery work on this Gimbal?
+grokster5 Its supposed to work with 2-4S but I have only run 3S, and I have read that hold wasn't great on 2S. Also 250mah sounds a bit small to me, so you could try it and it might be fine if you already have that lipo kicking around, if your buying a battery just for this, I would stick to 3S 800mah or higher (which I've used and its fine).
+jamesb72 any idea where I can order a 3S battery?
+grokster5 Google works best, depending on your country you can get these from anywhere from a local hobby store, to hobbyking/amazon/ebay. Just check which connector you want is on the battery, smaller batteries tend to come with red JST connector, larger batteries come with the larger yellow XT60 you can swap connectors easily if your happy to solder, but if you want plug and play just check the battery has the right connector to match your gimbal first.
***** thank you. I was able to purchase the battery yesterday. Thank you for all your help.
How menie v bat. you use PUERTO RICO.
I use a 3S 11.1volt lipo 850mah as I have them for other models, but the gimbal says 2-4S lipo
wow what a great idea bro subbed your channel
hi I already bought that gimball for gopro but i have sj cam 4000 Do i have to change some setting or I can put sj 4000 on gimbal and wil be work ?
+emil30driv If you watch video this is shown at 4m43s with SJ4000.
How did you configure the gimbal for the xiaomi and sj4000? They are lighter than gopro, and as long as I know the controller gives issues without the exact weight. Btw, nice video.
+Dashz I haven't touched configuration, this is as it came setup for gopro, the weights are slightly different, but as long as you balance the camera on gimbal with power off, and ensure camera is strapped tightly to camera bar they worked fine for me.
Does the battery come with the gimbal or bought separately if separately can you post a link to it plesss
Michael Noon gimbal doesnt come with battery. Any small 3s lipo with jst connector from 850mah up will fit fine you can get these on ebay/amazon etc and price will vary by country/shipping option so best to do your own search.
pls give us tutorial to make those movement button
its a cheap servo tester from ebay, if you search 'servo tester' there are loads on there video showing how they are connected is here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
how about the cable? do u make it? or u buy it
its just a male to male servo cable they are very cheap on ebay video showing cable connection is here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
Can you make a step by step guide?
+Alessio5005 Sure 1. buy gimbal 2. bolt to handle 3. plug servo tester into tilt socket 4. fit camera and film - there really isn't much to it ;)
Hi James, nice videos! I ordered one of these and am waiting for arrival. I plan on just using it for my Samsung Galaxy S6 with a gorilla tripod as I have no copters. :) I assume it doesn't come with a battery? Any chance I can get info on the type of battery I need to order? Or any of those nice handles and stuff you used. Geez, I'm asking too much I think. :)
Larry Wangemann You just need a 12v supply for this, so either a 3S lipo battery (but you will need a matching charger so that could be more hassle than its worth). The handles are just a paint brush holder and decorators extension pole, so google will find you those.
***** Thanks for the info James! I put all the stuff I need for the lipo battery in my Amazon shopping cart, battery, charger, fireproof bag, etc. One thing I'm curious about, you said I need either a lipo battery or...and I don't see an "or" option. :)
What other option is there besides the lipo battery?
Larry Wangemann sorry I was going to say any other small 12v battery, but realised there aren't really any light options, as 8xAA in a holder would be a hassle, and there aren't really any other small/light 12v batteries. A 3S lipo will be perfect, its just annoying to have to buy charger etc for one battery - but I'm sure you will find some other stuff to use it for.
How do you cable the pitch control.
I meen how do you wire it up.
You plug a servo tester into the gimbal tilt channel with a male to male servo lead, this gimbal came with one.
+jamesb72 in which pins? All the three?
+iTouchReview99 do you Need to Plug the servotester in the battery?
Yes, the three pins are ground, +5v for power, and signal for tilt angle
will this also work with the Gopro 4 black ?
+ShootAirsoftVideos Should be fine the Gopro 4 is same size/shape as 3 and 3+.
does it work with x8hg (drone)?
I think it would be a bit too heavy for the Syma X8HG but I haven;t tried this, you could test by adding ~180g of weight to your X8hg and see how it flies, this would give you a good idea before spending the money on a gimbal.
Tks a lot :)
sir can u do a video that , how to make this plzzzzz
You can see from this video its just the gimbal screwed to a plastic paint brush holder, the cabling/servo tester is shown here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
Does it fit with Xiaomi yi2?
I haven't tried a Yi2, it is a bit wider than the Yi so probably depends on the weight/balance, so I can't say for sure, but I think there is a good chance you could mount/balance this possibly with some weight added blutac or plasticine.
Awesome, thanks.
I've put a quick video up showing the servo tester to gimbal connections here th-cam.com/video/qC3BtQj_ACo/w-d-xo.html
is it waterproof
No, the gimbal isn't waterproof, but neither are the camera's without housing, which doesn't fit on these gimbals.
that was sarcasm pal
nice one james that make a good steady .and i have never seen a servo tester before where have they been hiding all my life i just ordered one £2.99 ebay, bargain !
jack00scarecrow The servo tester is great to have, I've used it for everything from testing esc/motors (save damaging a receiver if they are bad), to checking Heli FBL systems, I've got quite a collection of them now, the cheapo ones are even cheaper than that - 99p delivered from china on ebay, I have a couple of nicer ones which do speed testing and you can use to calibrate ESC's - I did a video on them a while back th-cam.com/video/FRUGUe3b4Z0/w-d-xo.html
***** Cool build!!! I found you and subscribed looking for a way to easily set the tilt just like you did here. But I am wondering how this would work on the quad? Is there an easier way? can you adjust it and then unplug the servo tester so the quad doesn't have to carry it? will it stay in the position you left it after unplugging? i had a pretty careful look at how you did the servo tester here. I think i have the same board on my gimbal, was there anything special you did or just plugged it in? also have you played with the software used for calibration etc? I am lost as to what version to try to use to play with that.
you sirrrrr are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+real logic Thanks - you're not so bad yourself !
Whats the battery called? +jamesb72
This is a 3S lipo which is 11.1v, I had a 1300mah kicking around which fitted into handle neatly, but any size would work
Is there battery low voltage protection on the pcb ?
I would think probably not, so you'd have to keep an eye on this yourself.