If you are looking to upgrade your footage capability then this quick guide will show you how to connect up your gimbal. If you have the information about the wires and pins then it is easy. Today I am wiring a gimbal into the CX-20.
Step One : Check Compatibility.
Can your quad handle a gimbal? Gimbals are heavy, the main restriction is the power of the quad, if your multicopter is small under 250 it is unlikely. Just because you have a non gimbal camera or mount screws does not mean you will necessarily have the power to lift a gimbal and a camera. A gimbal is usually heavier then a camera.. To make it simple we recommend you have a Google around for your specific frame to check any recommendations.
Cant find any info online? Do a weight test and load the quad with objects to tests its lifting capacity. Test for the max lifting weight at 70% throttle or below, this means you have power to keep it stable and responsive to any winds or other movements. Ideally 50% would mean you are not overloading the quad and keep a lot of the performance. Anything over 70% and you wont have much control over the movements and might find you cant easily gain altitude.
Step Two: Define the connection pins.
On the Quad
Don’t be overwhelmed by the pins all underneath the quad or on your control board, there are only really 4 different ones. Consult you manual if you cant easily find the pins or if the pins are poorly labeled.
Using the Cheerson CX-20 as an example you can see there are the following labelled pins.
- G – The ground connection and uses a BLACK wire.
- +5V – The 5V source and is a RED wire.
- +12V – The 12V source and is also a RED wire.
- S1 – The Aux control line (Tilt for the gimbal).
- S2 – The aux 2 control line (Roll for the gimbal).
The “S” wires can be YELLOW, WHITE and other colors depending on the gimbal kit. The color does not matter as long as they are wired into the right signal pin. If you see in our example the wires are purple.
On the Gimbal
The gimbal boards are usually nicely labeled on the PCB and easy to follow in the instruction manual.
Already have a red and black wire coming out of the gimbal? Some already have the red and black 12V power wires pre-soldered to the gimbal.
Wiring up the Quad.
The main 2 parts of the gimbal wiring are the Power and the signal for controlling the camera.
You need one signal wire per axis you want to control and this is also limited by the functions on your controller and number of “S” pins on your control board.
Connecting the power.
This is the easy part and requires the connection of the 12V + and – wires, these are normally red and black, be sure the black connects to the black into the “G” and red into the “+”. Always double check this before you turn on the power.
If your quad has no 12V+ Pins then you can use an inline battery adapter to connect the gimbals power.
Connecting the signal wires.
Connecting the signal wires up is also easy and focuses on the “S” pins.
What do the S pins actually control?
The standard setup has 2 controls and they correspond to these gimbal movements.
S1 Connects the Pitch Control
S2 Connects the Roll Control
S3, S4 and beyond
The more advanced gimbals have more adjustment channels, the new CX-22 has 4 S pins, S3 and S4 are used as the mode and record buttons for the camera.
Troubleshooting
Here a few things I have experienced, if there is something you are having trouble leave a comment and me or one of our community members will have a crack at helping figure it out.
If your gimbal controls are the wrong way around.
You likely have the Signal (s) wires mixed up, S1 will always be controlled by the same dial on the transmitter so by switching the S wires around you can change what each control on the transmitter will do.
Can’t find the S pins?
- For the Gimbal : Consult your control board manual our use a light and look up close, on some boards it is written in small print.
- For the Quad: Verify that the quad and transmitter have controllable auxillary channels. If they don’t then you cannot control the gimbal from the air, you can only set and forget as you fly. If you check and are sure you don’t have S pins then you can still use the gimbal to actively stabilize the camera but you will have no function to move the angle during flight. Most gimbals should assume a horizontal and vertical center if no signal input is present.
My gimbal has so many extra wires and pins I have not connected.
Often there are extra wires for different setups, you don’t need to connect all the wires that are included in your gimbal pack. Some of them maybe special connectors for certain types of quads and others are just not necessary to connect.
Hopefully this has simplified how to wire the gimbal into your quad and if you have any questions or think I missed something let me know. If you’re ready to install one in your quad have a look through our gimbal range and discover the joys of active gimbal stabilization.
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