First my Apologies to Rich for taking so long to get to this. That GPS failure on solo 1 created a mess a couple days before heading out on vacation. In a panic I grabbed solo 2 for 599 in case I could not get 1 back in the air before leaving. Ultimately the parts got here but the vacation train was rolling. So I left solo 1 with the broken GPS and the gimbal mod at home.
Now that I have had some time to get back to the real world I have solo 1 up and running. So it was test time. First a bit about the a mix of 1 and 2 that I will fly most of the time.
Solo is stock with the exception of T-Motors Including fully shielded HDMI and Data Gimbal cables.
The gimbal mod was installed, and was very easy.
Solo has been upgraded to Rev B GPS and Shield from 3DR
Gimbal is carrying a GPH4 Black with Peau 3.97 lens and PolarPro ND Filter. I have it balanced withn an IMP productions balance kit. GImbal is balanced perfectly but heavier than stock.
Running on Android 2.3 and Frimware 2.4 (did not do calibrations after update and bird drifts and is twitchy, you can see weird gimbal behavior in the video) will be doing full calibrations prior to next test.
Conditions were very windy and I was flying on Medium speed and gimbal. Not sure if it was the wind or calibrations. but there were a couple times solo literally convulsed in the air. You can see those and no gimbal would fix that. So basically this was and acid test for this mod and gimbal. Wind was reported at 15mph but check out the trees, I think it was more.
The video is still processing and I will post untouched and unedited.
My thoughts
I like it, I like it a lot. In these crazy conditions the video was better on hole than I normally get during a traditional shoot.
The mod appears to be more effective during aggressive flight than hover flight. So for you folks who like fast action this is your mode.
I would imagine on more suitable days with a properly calibrated solo hover would have been fine. There are hover shots in the video that are totally usable.
Was amazed at the orbit in this video with the crosswinds blowing I could normally never make a full radius orbit without that one spot where the wind hint the gimbal just right and spoiled it. The closing shot where I am coming in solo was everywhere in the sky, but video looked great.
the end was a quick Multipoint as I was running out of battery.
Honestly I have spent a ton of money (ribbon cables, motors) trying to reduce vibes. Judging by this very limited test, this is as effective as anything I have done so far.
Would I pay for it? Considering I paid for two ribbon cables and had to jettison those, then Yes. If I had to chose between this and a ribbon I would chose this.
If you ever decide to sell them let me know I will buy a second set.
Where am I going from here.
Tomorrow I need to get my x8 back in the air, so I am going to take solo along. This test was done in my neighborhood. I don't really like flying here.
So tonight I will be performing all the calibrations on solo, and possibly stripping my HDMI and Data Cables.
The problem is wind is not supposed to go down through the weekend and it is at the century mark temp wise here in Texas.
Stand by for video
