Nikon J5 mirrorless camera on 3Dr Solo - ch7 shutter

[jxo]

@jxo I would use the power from the gimbal power lead, I get my 5 volts (yellow wire) and ground (black wire) for my servos from here and have spliced into the cable with no problems. @makatanav has done the same.

Kepe us posted on your modifications, sounds very interesting

Certainly sounds like the easiest route to take. Any advice on splicing into the gimbal cable wire? Is it possible to do it in a way that would permit you to continue using the gimbal without re-splicing?

 

[Robpower]

Certainly sounds like the easiest route to take. Any advice on splicing into the gimbal cable wire? Is it possible to do it in a way that would permit you to continue using the gimbal without re-splicing?

I split the black woven cover of the cables and spliced into each wire, soldered the splices and taped up, then I put the black woven cover back around the cables and taped up. I still have the plug so I can run the gimbal at any time

 

[jxo]

Thanks again. Posting the specs below on the gimbal cable. To confirm, you are simply splicing into the yellow VCC 5V and the black GND cables?

Stupid question: what end of the gimbal cable is best to splice into for this purpose?

Could you fashion an extension cable with a mating Molex connector (0890) to plug into the existing gimbal cable at the gimbal end of the cable?

Solo Gimbal Cable
The Solo Gimbal cable terminates in a Molex 5031490800 (alt link) connector. A gimbal board is connected using the corresponding Molex 5031540890 (alt link) connector.

Pin	Name	Color	Description
1	VCC Battery	Red	12V to 16.8V. Max recommended current/power is ~3A/50W. Drawing additional current may damage the battery and increases the risk of accident.
2	VCC 5V	Yellow	4.75V to 5.4V voltage pin for Camera (only). Current should be less than 1A.
3	GND (Gimbal)	Black
4	GND (USB)	Brown
5	Gimbal Rx	White
6	Gimbal Tx	Green
7	USB D+	Blue	Positive differential data signal to iMX6 OTG USB port.
8	USB D-	Violet	Negative differential data signal to iMX6 OTG USB port.

Power Supply
The Gimbal Cable supplies two different voltage sources to the Gimbal Bay:

• VCC 5V (4.75V to 5.4V).
• VCC Battery (12V to 16.8 V).

VCC 5V should be used to power the camera (only). The camera must not draw more than 1A.

 

[jxo]

curious if this extension cable would do the trick. You wouldn't need the Molex connector on the right and instead use the yellow and black cables off the extension to power the device.

Gimbal data cable extension

I'm just starting a dedicated thread, for those interested and those who might not have seen the discussion in Rich West's thread. So most of us have experienced jitters and vibrations in our footage. Addressing these fall into two categories - reducing the vibrations at the source by...

3drpilots.com

 

[jimloss]

curious if this extension cable would do the trick. You wouldn't need the Molex connector on the right and instead use the yellow and black cables off the extension to power the device.

Gimbal data cable extension

I'm just starting a dedicated thread, for those interested and those who might not have seen the discussion in Rich West's thread. So most of us have experienced jitters and vibrations in our footage. Addressing these fall into two categories - reducing the vibrations at the source by...

3drpilots.com

Those cables were made by @User Name. He hasn't been on-line since November. Maybe you can PM him and see if he can make you what you want?

 

[jxo]

Sent and will revert if I hear anything.

Another stupid question. I only realized in the last few days that there is an accessory bay panel located under the rubber seal on the belly of the drone. What the heck is it for and is there a way to plug into it for our purposes?

 

[jimloss]

The main use for the bus as it is wired from the factory was to supply power to accessories.

PMW6, 7, and 8 are the free channels to use to control accessories and unfortunately they are not available on the bus because they are not wired to the main board. There's a good write-up about it here: Extend 3DR Solo Accessory Bay

For me, since I needed to solder wires to the main board anyway, it was just as easy to run silicone wires out of the gimbal bay instead connecting to and using the 3DR bus. By not using the 3DR Bus, I was also able to use that space to mount my DSLR gimbal further back to center the weight front-and-back on the Solo.

If you do want to use the bus, there are multiple vendors that have made breakout boards. One of the most compact and simplest to use is here: Mini Breakout Board for 3DR SOLO (W/ **PWM Access)

 

[jxo]

Ah, it's making some sense now. So how do these mini breakout boards integrate with the accessory bay panel with channels that are not wired to the mainboard? Splicing into the gimbal cable is sounding better and better.

 

[Robpower]

"Could you fashion an extension cable with a mating Molex connector (0890) to plug into the existing gimbal cable at the gimbal end of the cable? "

You could, I choose to splice as I couldn't get the connectors in Australia, the connector might be nice and neat, the spliced solution I used works for me , I have done this on all 4 of my birds. I can run either my mirorless camera or put the gimbal on run the GoPro, works for me

Good luck with this, you will be fine

 

[jxo]

"Could you fashion an extension cable with a mating Molex connector (0890) to plug into the existing gimbal cable at the gimbal end of the cable? "

You could, I choose to splice as I couldn't get the connectors in Australia, the connector might be nice and neat, the spliced solution I used works for me , I have done this on all 4 of my birds. I can run either my mirorless camera or put the gimbal on run the GoPro, works for me

Good luck with this, you will be fine

thanks Rob. The new camera remote equipment will arrive in a few weeks, so I have time to find courage and splicing skills. Where on the gimbal cable is it best to do the surgery? on the gimbal end or on mainboard end?

 

[Robpower]

thanks Rob. The new camera remote equipment will arrive in a few weeks, so I have time to find courage and splicing skills. Where on the gimbal cable is it best to do the surgery? on the gimbal end or on mainboard end?

I spliced mine in the middle of the cable, a lot easier and neater when you tape it all back together

 

[makatanav]

I`m on vacation.
The thing I have d0ne, and everyone 3DR Solo owner should do - dissamble your solo till zero (it will be also easier to solder)


Had a little time with gimball, but then there were different problems with it - reverse stabilize, analog servo jitter ( already had forgot about this).
So will be making Frankenstain gimball - taking good parts from old one working and add to new one.
Thought, the overal weight will be less or equal, but looks lik it will be a little heavier than previous - will see at the end
Hopefully in the weekend will make it happen - I`m hopping

 

[jxo]

thanks. These images are very helpful.

 

[makatanav]

today went out for newly made DIY gimball cailbration
adjusted Roll stabilize, adjusted Tilt stabilize, tested on ground, everything worked well.
OK, will add propelers and lift up into the air
Battery: OK, Sats: OK, HDOP: OK
An then, first time with Solo when I was scared - it picked up nicely, and then suddenly it started to drift like no GPS lock, I tried hardly to push it in free location of treas to land, "EKF Variance" error kicked, i tried to land smoothly, then hold stick down, bet the drone managed to flip upside down.
The good thing is, nothing has been broken ( at first thought atleast 2 AirScrew propellers are dead, but all are OK).
Removed the propellers, wanted to power on on the ground to see if it got GPS Lock, but Compass Erro kicked in. Tried some 5-6 times to calibrate the compass, but no luck, green line stops almosut at the end, but not the end
>LINK TO VIDEO<

p.s now need to find out what to check, what to do (already found on www):
- loose Compas cable,
- loose/ unpulged battery monitor cable,
- parameter reset (SYSID_SW_MREV ),
- "SPANK THE SOLO" a good 3 slaps on the Equp. bay (thats where my gimbal is mounted),
- change out the Pixhawk
- (other)

 

[jimloss]

A few things:
1) When landing, only the stick used for height adjustment should be pulled down. The other stick should be used for position adjustment only and not pulled down for landing
2) Anytime anything with metal or electronics is added or removed, a compass calibration should be performed before flight
3) Compass calibration may be impossible or poor depending on proximity of metal or electronics to the bottom side of the flight controller. The gimbal design or location may end up needing adjustment.

The GPS looked good the entire time. I have had a few times where I've had magnetic intereference immediately following take off or just before landing. Almost lost one Solo to water because of it. They are difficult to fly when you experience this. You did a good job wrestling it to the ground.

 

[makatanav]

A few things:
1) When landing, only the stick used for height adjustment should be pulled down. The other stick should be used for position adjustment only and not pulled down for landing

I was holding one stick down - typing mistake

 

[Robpower]

@makatanav sorry to hear about your crash, glad not too much damage. i had this happen close to land once, flicked to manual and managed to land. Never worked out why it happened and it never happened again with that bird

 

[jxo]

I had the flip over while landing occur as well. Not sure why. Now, I am careful to bring the drone to a foot or so off the ground, let hover for a few seconds with fingers off the sticks before hitting the Fly button to land. Also installed Open Solo- which may or may not help in these low to the ground GPS mishaps. Following one, I had a magnetic interference error that would not clear. Spanking the belly of the drone did not work. I disconnected the leg compass, did a compass calibration with NO leg compass, then plugged the compass cable back in and it was fine. I ultimately replaced the leg compass with a new one. I was told to do the compass calibration with my camera near the compass as the calibration "sets a baseline" with a higher normal amount of signal that won't fire off the error, not sure this is really the case. One of my camera mid-drone mounts has my Sony camera near the leg compass and the Mag Interference error fires all the time. I am going to try an old HERE GPS unit with an integrated compass and disconnect the leg compass to hopefully eliminate this irritation.

 

[makatanav]

yesterday shortened/soldered/glued cables so it's finished
weight wize, it's some 10-20 grams heavier
will weight the whole combo in the evening (prevoius build with dronre ready to fly was 1871 grams)

 

[jxo]

Nice work. Have you all experimented with different propeller types given all the extra weight we are carrying with these cameras and gimbals?