Spektrum DX18 and X-plus expander with Zenmuse 15N
- Thread starter Zzr
- Start date
Droider
Drone Enthusiast
Hay Zzr. Thanks for sharing this. Sometimes when we dont get an answer to a quiry on here its coz... well it probibly aint been done. So in a way you are the trail breaker when you have done all your research and pressed the paypal button you hope its all going to pan out ok.
Its a bummer when to does not and great when it does. Whats great about this forum is that we all share the success and failures to helpothers move on or save a few shekels.
Again thanks for being the first to post on this and taking th time to make the video
Dave
Its a bummer when to does not and great when it does. Whats great about this forum is that we all share the success and failures to helpothers move on or save a few shekels.
Again thanks for being the first to post on this and taking th time to make the video
Dave
seagee
Member
I’ll sum this up…
With the original receiver bundled with the DX18, only 9 channels are available. Since the WKM MCU requires a minimum of 5 channels for craft control, only 4 are available for the gimbal. The X-Plus expander on the Spektrum DX18 allows for an additional 9 channels to be utilized in addition to telemetry (eg. signal loss, battery voltage levels & altitude).
For single operator control the X-Plus expander may be useful in allowing flight control and the use of all 8 inputs to the Z15 GCU from a single radio.
I understand that testing fail safe is to ensure that this is carried through to additional channels on the X-Plus expander so that if control is lost the failsafe settings are activated rather than the defaults. Zzr, can you confirm that this is what you tested?
My initial thoughts were that it would be essential to have control of all of the (8) inputs to the Z15 GCU. However, over the past few days of testing, I’ve found that only 3 channels (TILT, MODE and SHUTTER) are necessary for the gimbal to function in a similar way to my previous gimbals but still with the added advantage of switching MODEs: lock-on subject; normal and FPV. The Z15 places those functions whose hannels are disconnected at reasonable defaults so the gimbal may still behave in a satisfactory manner.
I’ve found that in fact my 8 channel radio will provide sufficient control to do this.
So for single operator control: if you don’t need to control gimbal pan or roll and are happy to leave these at their defaults then 8 channels should suffice for both flight and gimbal control. If you need to pan the gimbal independent of craft yaw; or roll the camera to say shoot in portrait mode then > 8 channels will be necessary and the DX18 with X-Plus expander could be considered for the job.
On a side note, for single operator control, I’ve found it useful to set my camera tilt to a three way distinct switch rather than a continuous (slew/return to centre) dial. I’ve reduced my endpoints on the radio channel from 100% to 20% to get sufficiently slow tilt movement. The middle switch position stops the tilt while up or down slowly continues tilting in the corresponding direction.
Should I have a need to dynamically alter roll and pan from their defaults I would consider a DX18.
Colin
With the original receiver bundled with the DX18, only 9 channels are available. Since the WKM MCU requires a minimum of 5 channels for craft control, only 4 are available for the gimbal. The X-Plus expander on the Spektrum DX18 allows for an additional 9 channels to be utilized in addition to telemetry (eg. signal loss, battery voltage levels & altitude).
For single operator control the X-Plus expander may be useful in allowing flight control and the use of all 8 inputs to the Z15 GCU from a single radio.
I understand that testing fail safe is to ensure that this is carried through to additional channels on the X-Plus expander so that if control is lost the failsafe settings are activated rather than the defaults. Zzr, can you confirm that this is what you tested?
My initial thoughts were that it would be essential to have control of all of the (8) inputs to the Z15 GCU. However, over the past few days of testing, I’ve found that only 3 channels (TILT, MODE and SHUTTER) are necessary for the gimbal to function in a similar way to my previous gimbals but still with the added advantage of switching MODEs: lock-on subject; normal and FPV. The Z15 places those functions whose hannels are disconnected at reasonable defaults so the gimbal may still behave in a satisfactory manner.
I’ve found that in fact my 8 channel radio will provide sufficient control to do this.
So for single operator control: if you don’t need to control gimbal pan or roll and are happy to leave these at their defaults then 8 channels should suffice for both flight and gimbal control. If you need to pan the gimbal independent of craft yaw; or roll the camera to say shoot in portrait mode then > 8 channels will be necessary and the DX18 with X-Plus expander could be considered for the job.
On a side note, for single operator control, I’ve found it useful to set my camera tilt to a three way distinct switch rather than a continuous (slew/return to centre) dial. I’ve reduced my endpoints on the radio channel from 100% to 20% to get sufficiently slow tilt movement. The middle switch position stops the tilt while up or down slowly continues tilting in the corresponding direction.
Should I have a need to dynamically alter roll and pan from their defaults I would consider a DX18.
Colin