New Brushless Gimbal build

I have been mulling over getting a new gimbal for my red. The existing one I had was ok, but when I needed to use a larger heavier lens without IS it wasn't getting the kind of stabilization I really needed. So I talked to Grayson at Brushlessgimbals.com about my situation. The more we talked the more I was impressed. They are building gimbals that carry side by side epics for 3D and they build a lot more aerial gimbals than I thought. So I decided to pull the trigger and have them build it for me as I just don't have the time needed to do it myself.

I received the new gimbal that Brushless motors built for me last Friday. So far here’s my initial impressions:
1. Excellent installation work. Very clean, very professional. Packaged extremely well. They took my few items I sent them (Lawmate transmitter, HDMI converter) and installed it really nice. I sent them a GRAUPNER receiver and they installed and tested it. They normally use EC5 connectors but installed deans connectors for me as requested. They use a really nice black box on the back of the roll cage to house everything. It has two switches on it which makes it really nice. There’s also a big bright LED display on it so you can monitor battery voltage.
2. I love the upgraded cage with the twin horizontal bars and upgraded tilt plates. Mounting the red camera on the bottom instead of the top seems to get the tilt balance in much easier. I can now balance the tilt all the way throughout the entire range where before it wouldn’t balance above 90 degrees very well. Now it’s very balanced pointed straight up as well as pointing straight down and everything in between.

3. GB110 on the pan is huge (and heavy). I believe I am the first to use this setup.
4. They use a heavier duty down tube to replace the standard 25mm down tube. The clamps are much better for this type of setup. It has the same type of metal tube the new pan bar has. Very nice. The only downside is that the down tube can’t be rotated at all. For smaller CG adjustments I used to rotate the down tube pipe. Now I have no choice but to move the down tube sideways to get the CG right so my down tube is angled slightly sideways. No big deal as the new clamps really hold it in place. It’s not going anyway.


I have about 10 flights on the gimbal and it is definitely holding better. It holds better in extreme conditions. I was performing so very hard movements and it stayed locked where the other gimbal became unstable. I was flying in calm conditions but I think this is going hold up fine in high winds based on the movements I was doing. I could also descend rapidly and it was rock solid, I couldn't do that before. Overall I am very pleased and impressed with this gimbal and I can't wait to start shooting some stuff awesome stuff. I have a few things scheduled this coming week so footage is coming soon.

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I didn't weigh it empty, but it weighs 13 pounds with everything installed. I paid $4200 with a free upgrade on the pan motor. A bit more than I would want to pay but my time is really stretched with a bunch of projects and just didn't have time. Money well spent IMO.

 

With Red scarlet. It weighs 13 pounds equipped exactly how you see it in the pictures.

 

Huge and Heavy!!! Definitely providing the torque needed.

 

I do but nothing I want to show yet because I was playing with the limit acceleration and expo settings and the tilt and pan are a little too fast and hard for my liking. Hopefully something by the end of the weekend. The stabilization though is rock solid.

 

The toad in a hole is an absolute must for me and use it exclusively. I was a little skeptical at first worried if the gimbal would fall out of the sky but that quickly went away. I have 2 different copters and now 3 different gimbals. I also installed a toad on the handle bars so I can convert from aerial to handle bars very quickly. Not only that but its a god send for me by saving a huge amount of time on site. I don't have a big vehicle that I can put the entire rig into one piece. When I travel I have to separate the copter and gimbal to get it to fit so it makes setup a snap. The Toad is a very durable solid piece or should I say set. I don't carrying my rig through the door on its side because my rig is 27 pounds and with the long booms and props its too awkward.

 

So far yes.

 

Here's some footage with the new Brushless Gimbal. I am super excited about these results. I honestly don't think I could ask for better performance.




At the end of this clip I am desending rapdily and it is rock solid!

 

RED scarlet just set flat. Sorry for the poor quality, didn't have time to optimize.

 

Flat 8 with all MK electronics and Tiger 4120 motors. Right now I am in the process of switching over my other flat 8 with Tiger U5's to the KDE 4014's. Just waiting to get the motors back from KDE for the shaft upgrades.