DIY HDMI cable

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Just thought I'd post my home made HDMI cable. I found micro HDMI connectors on Amazon for around $3 a pair, and had some ultra flexible 36 gauge wire on hand. It was some pretty fine soldering, but not too bad.

Its shielded under the white, I figure people weren't having a problem stripping the shielding/sheath from the stock cable, so leaving that last inch shielded hopefully won't cause any issues.

Haven't had the chance to try it yet, my gimbal is being replaced for the right facing issue. As soon as I get the replacement, I'll give this a try. The wire is extremely flexible, so I have to think it'll help the small vibrations I've been getting.
 

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Look forward to hearing how well it works for you. I think you are correct, lack of shielding appears to be a non issue from all that I've read to date.

If you find the white tape too stiff you've got options. I've used soft RC silicone fuel line spiral cut at a 45 degree. It's flexible and it conforms to pretty much any diameter bundle of wires as a cable wrap.
 
Sorry for the delay. The cable is right around 4 inches end to end. I just got my replacement gimbal and have it installed. I was able to pull out the stock cable and snake it past the one main board mount/standoff, and slide my cable into place. There's just enough length for a small loop right before the connector goes into the gimbal.

I'll test it out in flight ASAP, but we have some bad weather on the way this weekend. Video on the ground was clear as a bell, so the cable works.
 
Sorry for the delay. The cable is right around 4 inches end to end. I just got my replacement gimbal and have it installed. I was able to pull out the stock cable and snake it past the one main board mount/standoff, and slide my cable into place. There's just enough length for a small loop right before the connector goes into the gimbal.

I'll test it out in flight ASAP, but we have some bad weather on the way this weekend. Video on the ground was clear as a bell, so the cable works.
Thanks for following up. I actually ordered one in the meantime and I plan on installing it tonight and flying on Sunday when the weather (hopefully) clears a bit). I too will post with my impressions.
 
Thanks for following up. I actually ordered one in the meantime and I plan on installing it tonight and flying on Sunday when the weather (hopefully) clears a bit). I too will post with my impressions.

I would have ordered one of the ribbon ones from Relish... if I didn't like making stuff myself! :D
 
I would have ordered one of the ribbon ones from Relish... if I didn't like making stuff myself! :D
It looks like you can use cat5e for hdmi I'm having trouble finding the ends on amazon do you have a link or a specific title for the ends you used?
 
Here's the link to the ends on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UJ97C4Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I looked at placed like Digikey and Mouser, but couldn't find any that are mounted on the little PC board with solder pads... and that's a little too small for my capabilities to make. I'll warn you, shipping on these is free... but SLOW!!!!! They'll probably take a month to be delivered. Maybe there's places where you can get them quicker, but I wasn't in a rush.

And this is the wire I used: McMaster-Carr The cable only needs to be 3 to 3.5 inches long, so 10 feet of this wire would leave you with plenty of extra. It's not cheap, but since you need so little, the overall cable ends up only costing $15 or so... plus your time in making it. I've used cat 5 wire for other things, and it's way too large and stiff to use in an HDMI cable. It's ok for a data cable extension, but even that I used softer silicon wire on.

Between the HDMI and the data cable extension, I've eliminated almost all but the smallest vibrations in the gimbal. I'll still stabilize slightly, but I can show the raw video without vibrations being distracting or even noticeable to most people.
 
I found some interesting micro hdmi connectors on a china supply website last night. One had a PC board assembled, similar to your connector but slight longer it appears. Another that I assume could be soldered straight off the connector.

My big concern is the connection at the gimbal, having the PixHawk cube so close, a straight connector can only be so long and not be bumping the cube. Yours stated 15mm in length.
 
Here's the link to the ends on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UJ97C4Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I looked at placed like Digikey and Mouser, but couldn't find any that are mounted on the little PC board with solder pads... and that's a little too small for my capabilities to make. I'll warn you, shipping on these is free... but SLOW!!!!! They'll probably take a month to be delivered. Maybe there's places where you can get them quicker, but I wasn't in a rush.

And this is the wire I used: McMaster-Carr The cable only needs to be 3 to 3.5 inches long, so 10 feet of this wire would leave you with plenty of extra. It's not cheap, but since you need so little, the overall cable ends up only costing $15 or so... plus your time in making it. I've used cat 5 wire for other things, and it's way too large and stiff to use in an HDMI cable. It's ok for a data cable extension, but even that I used softer silicon wire on.

Between the HDMI and the data cable extension, I've eliminated almost all but the smallest vibrations in the gimbal. I'll still stabilize slightly, but I can show the raw video without vibrations being distracting or even noticeable to most people.
I've got no vibrations in the gimbal setup with the factory parts, I didn't have to do any balancing to achieve it either. I'm still interested in making the cable just because, I'm thinking of hard mounting a Garmin action cam to the solo and as such will need to deal with all the issues related to solo vibrations on the core body.
 
I've got no vibrations in the gimbal setup with the factory parts, I didn't have to do any balancing to achieve it either. I'm still interested in making the cable just because, I'm thinking of hard mounting a Garmin action cam to the solo and as such will need to deal with all the issues related to solo vibrations on the core body.

Can you post some raw video straight out of your Solo? I'm amazed that you have no vibrations. Stock, mine shook like crazy until I replaced the cables. I'm assuming you've balanced the bajeebuz out of your motors and props?
 
Can you post some raw video straight out of your Solo? I'm amazed that you have no vibrations. Stock, mine shook like crazy until I replaced the cables. I'm assuming you've balanced the bajeebuz out of your motors and props?
I'll see what I can do, destroyed a tablet the other day so I'll have to wait to get something new, it's perceivable that the camera is ona drone, there is some slight motion,but not jello inducing vibration that would be impossible to stabilize...on a 1080p mobile device it's not noticable, I blew it up on my main monitor and stared real closely at the frame edges and I could see some movement, not shake but light movement related to the craft. So it's not quite as still as I would get from a crane shot, or on a dolly with a steady cam, however from the point of view of the interest of the shot, it's not distracting. I've had a little experience editing 4k from a Ph4 and that I know has onboard image stabilization. I could still see drone motion and drone physics in the shot, even if there was no specific camera shake.

I did not balance anything, I did take extreme care to route the heavy wire around the gimbal assembly so there would be no interplay between the gimbal housing and the gimbal frame, be sure to look closely that the circle around the gimbal is clear on all sides and not pressed to one side or another, if it is all body shake will translate into the gimbal arm via the contact between the mounting plate and the gimbal horizontal pan.
 

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