Does anyone use the A2 system to control a multirotor and gimbal with one radio?

[Mojave]

Does anyone use the A2 system to control a multirotor and gimbal with one radio? How do you do it? I am using a Futaba 14SG to link to the A2 unit and would like the ability to link a second Futaba receiver (mounted on the gimbal) to occasionally fly and control the pitch and roll of the gimbal.

I have two radios and two receivers for conventional Pilot and Camera Person operation; I would just like the possibility to have options.

 

[kloner]

you just put the second radios rx on the gimbal...... use the second radio fpr that gimbal. a2 gimbal control is for servo gimbals isn't it?

 

[gtranquilla]

Simple pitch control is easy to do thru single RC xmitter for aerial video. If you want to remotely control panning........ best to add a 2nd xmitter...... too distracting to fly safely otherwise - IMHO.
Panning by rotating the MR is rarely a good choice.

Does anyone use the A2 system to control a multirotor and gimbal with one radio? How do you do it? I am using a Futaba 14SG to link to the A2 unit and would like the ability to link a second Futaba receiver (mounted on the gimbal) to occasionally fly and control the pitch and roll of the gimbal.

I have two radios and two receivers for conventional Pilot and Camera Person operation; I would just like the possibility to have options.

 

[gtranquilla]

you just put the second radios rx on the gimbal...... use the second radio fpr that gimbal. a2 gimbal control is for servo gimbals isn't it?

A2 gimbal control can be used to control BGC camera pitch control w/o using the FC gimbal control..... I defaulted to that configuration because I couldn't seem to do it any other way with the A2.....

 

[Mojave]

you just put the second radios rx on the gimbal...... use the second radio fpr that gimbal. a2 gimbal control is for servo gimbals isn't it?

I don't know that answer - probably, but going through my gimbal controller ...

Simple pitch control is easy to do thru single RC xmitter for aerial video. If you want to remotely control panning........ best to add a 2nd xmitter...... too distracting to fly safely otherwise - IMHO.
Panning by rotating the MR is rarely a good choice.

I agree that I want to Keep It Simple and alone I would just like to control Roll or Pitch with a still camera on the gimbal, I have two knobs that I could do this with my my 14SG. Since I do not need a receiver with my Futaba 14SG and the A2 system; the A2 will link with my radio using the FASST (Futaba Advanced Spread Spectrum Technology - aren't abbreviations great). And I was hoping to be able to link the dedicated gimbal receiver to the A2 somehow. But as I write this I am thinking that the A2 system is having enough problems - let alone compounding issues. It may be easier to use two Futaba receivers and forget about the A2 as a receiver?

** Yet is anyone has done this I would like to know - Link an A2 with a second Futaba reciever **

 

[Quinton]

My A2 machine has currently not flown in a few months now, as I have been using my Wookong machine, however I should have it back up and going this week now more important things will be out of the way.

You can link the 2 R7008SB receivers with the one controller, I know the video below shows it with the 18mz but you have the same options in the 14SG
Problem is that you need to have it set to Fasttest (even worse abbreviation) there is no way you can use the A2 controller as a receiver.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37ZENpbYtS4

Gimbal wise I just moved onto the Movi, problem is that this gimbal does NOT support the Fasttest receiver protocol at all (which I only found out after I got it), so there is no way to control the movi with it, it only supports FasT with Futaba radios.

 

[MombasaFlash]

I fly and film one-man far more often than with two - it's a question of economics my boy - and all my airframes are setup with two receivers. One for the flight control and one on the gimbal for camera/gimbal control. Generally the first eight channels are all configured for the flight control and the remaining six for the gimbal and camera.

It is a clean solution. Switching from one-man to two-man is a simple matter of binding the gimbal Rx to the second Tx.

With the EVO the flight control uses the A2 Rx and the Zen uses a standard Futaba 14 channel Rx.

I use Futaba 12Z Tx's, they are FASST but your 14SG supports all three FASST variants so you would not have any issues

 

[Tahoe Ed]

My set up is different than others. S1000 with A2 and Lightbridge. The gimbal is the Z15 for BMPCC. This is DJI's HD gimbal. With LB I can map up to 16 channels. Unfortunately my Tx, Futaba 14SG is only capable of 12. I have 8 on the control side and 5 on the camera side. One channel is dual mapped. I use the 4 channels for pan, tilt, gimbal mode and record control. I would like to add aperture control and shutter control but not enough channels, plenty of switches.

 

[Mojave]

A2 gimbal control can be used to control BGC camera pitch control w/o using the FC gimbal control..... I defaulted to that configuration because I couldn't seem to do it any other way with the A2.....

gtranquilla - If you use the A2 and plug in the appropriate leads into the Brushless Gimbal Controller for pitch control; I see what you are getting at. I see that F2, F3, and F4 (F4 - right?) could be available for the gimbal.
- - - - -
I could actually see doing this on the AV200 IDD 3Axis because it has the a Pan Shaft and one could thread wires down through the tube (there is a nut and spring pin but wires could be threaded through) and set pitch and pan and have an extra for snapping photos.


View attachment 18956

 

[Mojave]

I fly and film one-man far more often than with two - it's a question of economics my boy - and all my airframes are setup with two receivers. One for the flight control and one on the gimbal for camera/gimbal control. Generally the first eight channels are all configured for the flight control and the remaining six for the gimbal and camera.

It is a clean solution. Switching from one-man to two-man is a simple matter of binding the gimbal Rx to the second Tx.

With the EVO the flight control uses the A2 Rx and the Zen uses a standard Futaba 14 channel Rx.

I use Futaba 12Z Tx's, they are FASST but your 14SG supports all three FASST variants so you would not have any issues

MombasaFlash - So I can understand: to switch from a single radio to two radios you would need to 'de-link' the two receivers than rebind them to their own radio - is that correct?

 

[Mojave]

My set up is different than others. S1000 with A2 and Lightbridge. The gimbal is the Z15 for BMPCC. This is DJI's HD gimbal. With LB I can map up to 16 channels. Unfortunately my Tx, Futaba 14SG is only capable of 12. I have 8 on the control side and 5 on the camera side. One channel is dual mapped. I use the 4 channels for pan, tilt, gimbal mode and record control. I would like to add aperture control and shutter control but not enough channels, plenty of switches.

Thanks Ed. Alas I do not have the DJI gimbal nor do I have LightBridge at this time. I think to do what I want to do I will need two receivers. One on the ship to bypass the A2 receiver and connect to it via the sbus, and one receiver on the gimbal and link and de-link like MombasaFlash does. When I want to use a camera operator with a dedicated Gimabl Radio it may just be easier to rebind to the gimbal receiver (if I understand what MombasaFlash was suggesting). What gtranquilla was suggesting is nice but moving the gimbal on and off my 1.1 meter diameter hexacopter carrying a AV200 gimbal would be a bit more problematic with the extra wire connections, I am thinking. My rig has the ability to fold up so it is 1.1 meter long but about 40 cm wide. With the legs extended and the gimbal off I could ship it a bit easier.

Not done yet but getting closer: View attachment 18957

 

[Tahoe Ed]

If you are in Las Vegas, let me know and we can go fly. Good luck with your build.

 

[MombasaFlash]

View attachment 23289

That's different! The two right-angled quick-release brackets are facing each other. They should both be facing the same direction eg. forwards, then the whole assembly slides in and out ... erm ... quickly. To secure it the red tabs are moved to the down position and to release they are turned back to horizontal. Your assembly will require bending the top mounting parts on their anti-vibe cushions and forcing the quick-release tongues into their retaining slots.

You can blame Droidworx if you like because they even show this part assembled wrongly on their website.

MombasaFlash - So I can understand: to switch from a single radio to two radios you would need to 'de-link' the two receivers than rebind them to their own radio - is that correct?

I do not know which radio you use but in Futabaland there is no expression "de-link". Linking a receiver to a new radio is achieved by turning on both the radio and the Rx and then, when the Rx LED is flashing green - which indicates that it has located a signal but that it is not 'it's own' - you push the small binding button until the LED flashes red and then release the button. A successful bind will cause the LED to light green.

To bind to another radio this process is repeated. There is no 'un-binding' or de-linking'.

On the newer telemetry enabled Futaba radios the binding process can be done directly with the transmitter.

... I think to do what I want to do I will need two receivers. One on the ship to bypass the A2 receiver and connect to it via the sbus, and one receiver on the gimbal ...

It is your choice whether or not you bypass the receiver that is built into the A2 and use an additional S-Bus Rx. Personally, I do not see the point - unless your Transmitter is incompatible with the A2 receiver. The A2 system is currently receiving quite a bit of flack for inconsistent or unreliable or weird behaviour, but the feeling is that it seems to depend on whether or not you are sent a 'good' one or a 'bad' one. The first one I bought was a 'bad' one. Happily, it was replaced with a 'good' one. At least, so far it has been a 'good' one. Regardless, these issues are related to the Flight Control part of the A2, not the receiver.


So, on my MR the A2 is used as both radio receiver and Flight Control and then a single additional receiver is mounted on the Camera Mount/Gimbal. Switching from One-Man to Two-Man operation requires binding the Gimbal Rx to the second radio. To revert to One-Man operation bind the Rx to the first radio. This airframe has a Zenmuse gimbal but there is another that uses an AV200. In fact it has the DW quick-release (assembled the correct way so that quick-release is quick, rather than long-winded and fiddly) and can accept a variety of gimbals. Each gimbal has its own receiver and they are all bound (binded, linked?) to the same Futaba 12Z Tx module, so if I want or need to use a different radio I can just swap over the removable RF module to the next radio and all the receivers are still linked.

 

[Quinton]

That's different! The two right-angled quick-release brackets are facing each other. They should both be facing the same direction eg. forwards, then the whole assembly slides in and out ... erm ... quickly. To secure it the red tabs are moved to the down position and to release they are turned back to horizontal. Your assembly will require bending the top mounting parts on their anti-vibe cushions and forcing the quick-release tongues into their retaining slots.

You can blame Droidworx if you like because they even show this part assembled wrongly on their website.

Actually I have mine like this and it is very quick still, I do believe it is not a mistake, but the correct way.
I thought it was strange too at first, but on the outside of the angle brackets you can see 45 degrees notches, this lets you slide the quick release plate straight into both slots really easily, in 1 direction, (one from the front, the other slides in backwards) there is no need at all to try and pull the plastic vibration plates down on one side to make it go in?

 

[MombasaFlash]

Hmmm, well whatever works for everyone is good.

But it is all a bit bizarre, having just looked at the assembly manual (it is part of the Upgrade_SkyJib_Build_Manual.pdf). It shows the tongues pointing inwards in as you have described. But then what is the rear red plastic locking catch for once it is all assembled? It does nothing!

I have front and rear tongue sets both facing forward and I slide the whole assy in and out from the rear. Both red plastic locking catches then swivel down to prevent their respective 'tongue brackets' sliding back out.

 

[Quinton]

Hmmm, well whatever works for everyone is good.

But it is all a bit bizarre, having just looked at the assembly manual (it is part of the Upgrade_SkyJib_Build_Manual.pdf). It shows the tongues pointing inwards in as you have described. But then what is the rear red plastic locking catch for once it is all assembled? It does nothing!

I have front and rear tongue sets both facing forward and I slide the whole assy in and out from the rear. Both red plastic locking catches then swivel down to prevent their respective 'tongue brackets' sliding back out.

I hear ya, I thought it was strange too, I even questioned the manual, then "my wife" said to me look, slide it in like this all in 1 go from the front, and she was right
The back red locking switch actually does prevent it from going back out the same way you put it in, and it can not go forward either as it hits the white plastic.
When you have it the way you have it, could it not theoretically go out the other back side if the front red knob wasn't down?

I think maybe thats why the manual stipulates that it has to be done that way...who knows though, you just need to think of them both being the same, and they just slide in as normal, one from the front one from the back, try it sometime and you will see what I mean.

 

[iceman]

I hear ya, I thought it was strange too, I even questioned the manual, then "my wife" said to me look, slide it in like this all in 1 go from the front, and she was right
The back red locking switch actually does prevent it from going back out the same way you put it in, and it can not go forward either as it hits the white plastic.
When you have it the way you have it, could it not theoretically go out the other back side if the front red knob wasn't down?

I think maybe thats why the manual stipulates that it has to be done that way...who knows though, you just need to think of them both being the same, and they just slide in as normal, one from the front one from the back, try it sometime and you will see what I mean.

FWIW I also have my QRB set up this way, it's also the correct way and both red locks work.

 

[MombasaFlash]

I hear ya, I thought it was strange too, I even questioned the manual, then "my wife" said to me look, slide it in like this all in 1 go from the front, and she was right
....

Your wife said "slide it in like this all in 1 go from the front ..."?

Er .... ??


Okay, now I'm getting really confused. I thought you said the tongues are facing inwards? On my 'botched' assembly that is precisely what I do - slide it all in, all in one go ... except I go in from the rear - that must be just a personal preference !!

With the 'correct' assembly I am guessing that you hook on one set of inward facing tongues, at the front first for example, and then, using the flexibility of the dampers, pull the whole lot rearwards a bit to be able to hook on the rear tongues?

As to your question about the front locking tab, I rarely swivel that one down, partly because being inside, it is slightly inaccessible and partly because locking the rear one has been sufficient. The front tongues cannot slide out.

 

[Quinton]

Your wife said "slide it in like this all in 1 go from the front ..."?

Er .... ??

That is so funny now you have pointed that out .. LOL

One of the tongues you are sliding in backwards, the other forwards, they simply slide in, they can be facing either way it does not matter there is no pulling the dampening slots.
Try it with your own, instead of sliding both in forwards, try sliding it in backwards, with the closed off lugs going in first.
When you do it you will say, ohhh yeah, just like the first time I did with my wife

 

[MombasaFlash]

Duh! OK, the penny just dropped. It works with the tongues either way round but having them facing each other frees up finger space inside.