I know this is old tech, but I could really use some help. I have a cinestar 8 with a 2 axis gimbal that I need to install some radians on. The machine came RTF and I'm not really sure how best to wire this to make it work correctly. Is there anyone that would be willing to help me piece this together?
Landon: Check out http://freeflysystems.com/software-manuals (scroll to the bottom of the page). There are some Radian instructions there. Specifically: http://d27w8s76bjlz9v.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/radianManual-v1.pdf Andy
Thanks Andy. I've looked this over previously, and to be honest, I'm confused. I will give it a shot, but I have a gut feeling that I'm going to blow something up...
What's confusing you, Landon? If you can post some questions, perhaps either I or someone else can help? Andy
I guess part of my confusion is just based out of a lack of knowledge. When I got my system, everything came plug and play. Quite frankly I don't even know where I need to be wiring from. Right now, my gimbal and downlink are all powered from the same lipo as the rest of the copter, so I assume all of that is being powered through my Graupner transmitter. I guess I just need to tear the copter apart and get a better look at how everything is wired to know how I can get the appropriate amount of power to both the radians and servos while still getting enough juice to my downlink.
Making a wiring diagram would be an excellent idea, Landon. Just physically trace the wires from the Radians, and the servos and see where they go. I would avoid unplugging anything at all just to eliminate the risk of plugging things back in to the wrong places. You'll see a bunch of three wire connectors. The colors are likely to be white, black, and red, or alternatively, brown, red, and yellow. Black/brown is "ground" (the negative side of the battery). Red is the positive side of the battery -- typically the receiver and servos will be run on +5v. So somewhere in the system there will be a step down DC/DC converter. White/yellow is the signal telling the servos what to do. But having a wiring diagram just chicken-scratched out on paper is the best place to start. Andy.
Thats a great idea Andy. Thanks. I'll be back with more questions as soon as I have this diagram ironed out.
On a side note, is there a chance that you would be willing to do a skype session or something to help me with the install if I paid you for your time?
Hi Landon: Awfully sorry, but my day job has got me running ragged right now....I can certainly do what I can via the forum though -- and you'll find that there are others who also know the answers! Andy.
It might help to post pictures of what you system looks like. There are several different ways to connect them. One is if you use a serial data protocol like Sbus, Spektrum or PPM. This setup is the simplest if you are able to do it, because you set up one module as the master and the other as the slave. The more complicated way to connect them as independent systems where eachdevice is its own master sort of. This setup can get convoluted as it requires more connections. This is the way you do it if you are physically connecting each independent control channel from the RC radio receiver module. 1. Generally speaking one module gets the power input, which I believe is number 1 but don't quote me on that as I have not messed with these in over a year and a half. 2a. (If using independent channels to control the gimbal) There is a connection for the actual RC channel ie the slider on your remote that actuates the movement of the gimbal such as tilt. 2b. (if using Sbus or something similar their is a connection for that) 3. There will be a connection for the gimbal servo. This is where the radian sends the drive command signal to the servo motor. 4. There is an input for the Mode switch. This is important. The mode switch has three modes. Mode 1 locks the gimbal so it is static and does not move sort of like if the gimbal were a fixed camera cage, ie no compensation at all. Mode 2 Turns on compensation but you have no control of the gimbal. But as the copter banks and tilts the camera stays in one spot. Mode 3 is where you can move the gimbal such as tilting to look at a specific object and it compensates for camera movement at the same time. 5 (if daisy chaining there is an output data cable that goes into the data input of the slave radian.) The thing you will need to find out how your system is controlling the gimbal. A lot of people before the radians came out had the gimbal control done through the Mikrokopter FC gimbal outputs. This is a whole other ball of wax as you will need to change some settings in copter tools to prevent the Mikrokopter from trying to stabilize the gimbal.