DSLR Brushless Gimbal Build/Conversion under $1000

multirotorxy8

multirotorxy8

Member
View attachment 12182

Those are the parts we are dealing with. The spools to the right are stand-ins for their future shapes after being shoved through the head of a 3D printer.

The gimbal itself is the 700 (shipped) CM301 from rctimer.com. This is a pretty-close-to-exact (dimensions-wise) clone of the Cinestar with the exception of going cheap on the screws, bolts, servos, boom clamps and pots. The rest is, from what I've seen, pretty good quality CF.

Not pictured is the 3rd axis of the gimbal and a few other parts.


The motors/controller:

2 x iPower GBM5206-150T These were rated at 2000g when I ordered, since then it has been dropped to 1400g. Odd, yes. We will see.
1 x Brushless Gimbal v3.0 Martinez board with IMU
----
$218 shipped.

Throw in some new screws, possibly some new clamps, and you are still sitting right under $1000.

How much weight will this actually hold, provided you achieve as perfect a balance as possible? Who knows, we will have to wait and see.

Still need to design and print the adapters for the BL motors and something to hold the Martinez in place.

I can't promise I'll be quick with this, but I will share whatever steps I take along the way. If you have one of these or the cinestar, the same process should apply.
 

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multirotorxy8

multirotorxy8

Member
Good stuff Peter, how has the balance been with a 5D on there? It is what I'm hoping to fly as well. Have you put it into action? I'd love to see the result of the handheld setup.

Eric
 


X

xerofly

Member
peterd said:
Hi Eric,

balnce with 5D ( but with a relatively heavy lens..without handles and accessories ) https://picasaweb.google.com/116792...tavovanieSMKIII?authkey=Gv1sRgCJXRgajAsNLp9gE
...
complete with accessories .. Monitor, TX, etc ... https://picasaweb.google.com/116792...USENSTVANABLMOVI?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaK3tPd1urraA


practical tests will never mounted a third axis..,Then II will give video

Peter
Click to expand...

Hi Peter,
kudos....do you have a conversion kit ? For Tarrot to direct drive 3 axis? Are you using Aleximos or Martinez?how much Amp Martinez or Aleximos able to handle?

Thanks Check PM
 

X

xerofly

Member
multirotorxy8 said:
View attachment 15493

Those are the parts we are dealing with. The spools to the right are stand-ins for their future shapes after being shoved through the head of a 3D printer.

The gimbal itself is the 700 (shipped) CM301 from rctimer.com. This is a pretty-close-to-exact (dimensions-wise) clone of the Cinestar with the exception of going cheap on the screws, bolts, servos, boom clamps and pots. The rest is, from what I've seen, pretty good quality CF.

Not pictured is the 3rd axis of the gimbal and a few other parts.


The motors/controller:

2 x iPower GBM5206-150T These were rated at 2000g when I ordered, since then it has been dropped to 1400g. Odd, yes. We will see.
1 x Brushless Gimbal v3.0 Martinez board with IMU
----
$218 shipped.

Throw in some new screws, possibly some new clamps, and you are still sitting right under $1000.

How much weight will this actually hold, provided you achieve as perfect a balance as possible? Who knows, we will have to wait and see.

Still need to design and print the adapters for the BL motors and something to hold the Martinez in place.

I can't promise I'll be quick with this, but I will share whatever steps I take along the way. If you have one of these or the cinestar, the same process should apply.
Click to expand...

Hi,
Good job..how do you compare with Tarrot Gimbal qualitatively ?
cheers
 

P

peterd

Member
xerofly said:
Hi Peter,
kudos....do you have a conversion kit ? For Tarrot to direct drive 3 axis? Are you using Aleximos or Martinez?how much Amp Martinez or Aleximos able to handle?

Thanks Check PM
Click to expand...
Hi,

I using Alexmos elektornik....Tarot is just the mechanical parts..

Peter
 


X

xerofly

Member
peterd said:
Hi,

I using Alexmos elektornik....Tarot is just the mechanical parts..

Peter
Click to expand...

Hi,
I see you have AV200 with Picloc 3x pro stab are you happy with this? How is the video quality?I use AV200 with RSGS and CANON 550 D stills are good video is not..

cheers
 







multirotorxy8

multirotorxy8

Member
UPDATE:

Physically it is all put together. You can see in the pictures that so far this meant drawing out and printing a number of brackets, nothing too complex. Wired everything together, finally plugged in the battery, and....

Nothing.

View attachment 12737View attachment 12738View attachment 12739View attachment 12740

The blue light you see is being powered off the usb port. Plugging in the battery does nothing. This is the martinez board, v2 I believe. Anyone seen this? In a moment of desperation, I broke down and ordered the Alexmos board with the 3rd axis add-on. So now the price has gone up another $250 or so. Less if you take out the price of the non-functioning martinez board.

Out on holiday next week for 3 weeks or so. That will give it time to arrive from whatever unlisted country I just ordered it from. Shipping said 15-30 days, so my guess is it is not sitting at a shop in the States.

And now I wait.
 

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dazzab

dazzab

Member
I bought something very similar to this at copterframes.com but it wasn't brushless. I've just ordered a brushless upgrade kit from them and with that I'd say it will be virtually identical to this one. Same price range as well. Astonishing how the price is coming down. It might be a bit smaller than this one and I plan on using it with a Sony NEX on a Droidworx CX-600.

While I was ordering the brushless upgrade I noticed they have a new beefed up version of what I bought that looks very nice for the price. See http://www.copterframes.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=132. I may buy that for my Nikon D600 on my Droidworx SkyJib Lite.

I'll put in a good word for Copter Frames as well because yesterday I wrote to tell them that a mounting plate they were selling for Droidworx camera mounts was for the older Droidword mount and didn't fit the new mount Droidworx now sells which is bigger. Within a few minutes I had a response asking me what the dimensions of the new mount were. I measured it up and sent through a message. Thirty minutes later they sent me a CAD drawing asking if they had it right telling me they would be happy to make these and sell them on the site for other Droidworx users. I actually gave them the wrong dimensions and they did two more drawings in the next hour before it looked right to me. All this for a part that sells for $11. I sent it off to Droidworx for confirmation that it was right. In comparison Droidworx has a policy, which I just gave them negative feedback about, of two days to respond to enquiries.
 

multirotorxy8

multirotorxy8

Member
Sounds like some good customer service. No sense in selling something no one can use!

At the price point of the gimbal you linked, I would advise someone looking to make a purchase to get the CM301 and get their hands dirty. Nothing against the gimbal linked, but they've chosen the motors for you and appear to have opted for a few less bearings than the CM301 on the tilt axis. For an extra hundred or less you will end up with a 3-axis gimbal with landing gear and a bit more robust build. Things are moving at breakneck speed, and I believe that even if the current brushless motors can't handle a Red sized camera, ones will be out soon that can. With the CM301, which is basically a 1-for-1 rip-off of the cinestar, you have the space to go as big as you want.




dazzab said:
I bought something very similar to this at copterframes.com but it wasn't brushless. I've just ordered a brushless upgrade kit from them and with that I'd say it will be virtually identical to this one. Same price range as well. Astonishing how the price is coming down. It might be a bit smaller than this one and I plan on using it with a Sony NEX on a Droidworx CX-600.

While I was ordering the brushless upgrade I noticed they have a new beefed up version of what I bought that looks very nice for the price. See http://www.copterframes.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=132. I may buy that for my Nikon D600 on my Droidworx SkyJib Lite.

I'll put in a good word for Copter Frames as well because yesterday I wrote to tell them that a mounting plate they were selling for Droidworx camera mounts was for the older Droidword mount and didn't fit the new mount Droidworx now sells which is bigger. Within a few minutes I had a response asking me what the dimensions of the new mount were. I measured it up and sent through a message. Thirty minutes later they sent me a CAD drawing asking if they had it right telling me they would be happy to make these and sell them on the site for other Droidworx users. I actually gave them the wrong dimensions and they did two more drawings in the next hour before it looked right to me. All this for a part that sells for $11. I sent it off to Droidworx for confirmation that it was right. In comparison Droidworx has a policy, which I just gave them negative feedback about, of two days to respond to enquiries.
Click to expand...
 


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