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RCTimer Brushless Gimbal and Controller

Posted by Andreas on May 9, 2013 at 10:00am

It's amazing how quickly BLGs went from a novelty and costing thousands (zenmuse) to something you can get for $172 shipped!

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I received my RCTimer Brushless Gimbal (BLG) and controller (Martinez v1) yesterday and of course had to try it immediately. Mark came over and helped with the build and documentation. The kit does not come with any instructions, so the RCGroups thread is the best source for build info.

Overall the quality of the RCTimer kit is not bad. There was one missing screw and a few things we had to alter to make it fit (see the build log link below for details). But the material is easy to work with. The default firmware and settings on the board seem to be pretty decent for a start. We initially had the IMU orientation and motor connections different, the result of that was shaking in the pitch axis. Once positioned and connected as shown above, it started to work fine without any parameter changes.

Build log with many detailed pictures:

http://eastbay-rc.blogspot.com/2013/05/rc-timer-brushless-gimbal-build-log.html

Video showing connections, start-up sequence and motion test:

Time lapse build video:

Next up: Connect to the GUI (no luck so far), connect the RC, fly...

Tags: blg, brushless, gimbal, gopro, martinez
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Comments

  • Chuck Derer August 20, 2013 at 9:11am

    Do I visit Radio Shack or the local RC hobby shop for this sort of thing?

  • Ronald Verdier August 20, 2013 at 8:48am

    Me too, lots of things i don't know. :)

  • Chuck Derer August 20, 2013 at 8:47am

    Thanks, I'm learning...

  • Ronald Verdier August 20, 2013 at 8:43am

    This is how i've done it. With a 2 cell lipo saver indicator. Just solder it on the pins :)
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  • Chuck Derer August 20, 2013 at 6:42am

    There is mention of adding a battery connector to the board to avoid polarity problems. Is this where it is done? Does anyone have a photo of the finished connector? Thanks for all of your help. I'm feeling like a preschooler here! lol3692807585?profile=original

  • Chuck Derer August 19, 2013 at 7:20pm

    I yanked them through with needle nose pliers.

  • Sean Tierney August 19, 2013 at 6:20pm

    I have found that if you loop a bit of wire through the hole, and around the first lip of the vibration mount you can pull it through the hole easier.

  • Chuck Derer August 18, 2013 at 6:36pm

    Thanks! That makes a lot more sense.

  • Stone1295 August 18, 2013 at 5:23pm

    Don't use crazy glue.  Feed the edges of each of the anti vibration mounts into the top plate one by one.

     

    -Mike

  • Chuck Derer August 18, 2013 at 3:19pm

    3692805372?profile=originalAm I to understand that crazy glue is going to hold these 8 rubber shock absorbers to my gimbal?

This reply was deleted.