CX-20 Cheerson Auto Pathfinder Quadcopter

[Tecnic]

Well though I'd post it here, mainly for visitors and onlookers as I'm sure this isn't for some here
As I reckon that a grand total of around £280 including brushless gimbal, mobius wide angle camera quadcopter with position hold, RTH and heading lock running on what's basically a cut down APM 2.5.2 is worth posting about

Get the downsides out of the way first
QC = crap, many seem to be leaving the factory without the FC stuck down = 4 minute fix
Brittle legs - oh come on that was sorted years ago for most
Compass on the FC not seperate and FC mounted on power dist board = "Toilet Bowl Effect" sometimes

Other than that it's flight characteristics are great, very smooth like it's on rails even in strong gusty winds, position hold in mild breezes without the weight of a gimbal on is also great as is RTH, that performs as accurately as my APM 2.6 Tricopta (tested side by side), it's auto landing is smooth too
IT IS NOT FOT NEWBIES WHO CAN'T FLY MANUALLY, maybe if it wasn't for the toilet bowl effect sometime then you'd get away with it mostly but if this goes into TBE and you don't know how to fly manually then wave it goodbye or at least get some broken legs, yes that's right the Chinese send men round to break your legs if you crash (course not, broken plastic quad legs I mean)

Anyway here's some vids to bore you into submission til you're a quivering heap of jelly on the floor

FC not stuck down FFS !

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova Quadcopter Flight Controller Issue

No biggy though fixed it after finding the issue and it flies great

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova RTH Test

Gimbal Mod Part 1

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova Quadcopter Gimbal Mod Pt1

Gimbal Mod Part 2

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova Quadcopter Gimbal Mod 2

Had my new Mobius settings all wrong, sorted later though still not too bad but a bit gusty out there as you can see by the barrier tape

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova Gimbal and Mobius Camera

Just to finish you off if you wasn't on the floor quivering yet

Cheerson CX-20 Hobbyking Quanum Nova Gimbal Bluebells Mobius Camera

This was actually funny it looked peacefull and serene in reality there was a wake of destructing behind the quad with Blubell tops getting sprayed everywhere like a madman with an over sized strimmer Jees that stuff ain't easy to get off

And the final nail

Mobius Camera Brushless Gimbal

[MrBen]

Cheap and works well!

[Dusty]

good videos T, i found it hilarious that they have that big "GPS" puck as part of the cover then they dont even have the GPS in there

do you reckon you'll move the GPS in there at some point?

[Tecnic]

good videos T, i found it hilarious that they have that big "GPS" puck as part of the cover then they dont even have the GPS in there

do you reckon you'll move the GPS in there at some point?

Maybe, but there's a more pressing issue...
The built in compass and the FC mounted directly onto the power dist board, not too bad when the quad is light weight but add a gimbal and the motors work harder drawing more current through the board and more interference on the compass = toilet bowl effect

This "TBE" is a common issue and as they don't have a compass calibration routine they must have auto dec enabled in the APM firmware
I'm about to see if I can get the unit to work with the APM Mission planner, also I think that using the tallest possible stand off's may help

[Tecnic]

Just a little heads up for techies like bigMouse
This unit definately runs on an APM 2.5.2 and is using 3.1.1 firmware

[ady.g.]

very impressive videos .

[Tecnic]

Stuck a GoPro 3+ Black on the brushless gimbal
Smooth as silk even when throttling up and also had the GoPro in medium field of view, I was expecting poor results due to the reduced field of view

Hobbyking Nova CX-20 Cheerson GoPro 3+ Black Brushless Gimbal

[bigMouse]

What control board are you using Tecnic?
Apologies if you have already said!

[Tecnic]

What control board are you using Tecnic?
Apologies if you have already said!

For the gimbal ? , it's the bog standard out of the box Goodluckbuy gimbal with controller, they work great I find, I beleive they can be upgraded to  the latest firmware etc but there is a special procedure to do it (Google it) otherwise you'll brick it

Personaly I see no need to upgrade it

[bigMouse]

I asked because there seems to be a disproportionate jump in price between different controllers!

Ignoring the expensive ones:

This one at $99

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/dji-phantom-2-vision-quadcopter-fc200-special-2-axis-brushless-gimbal-set-w-motors-and-gimbal-controller.html


Looks like its using 2 axis SimpleBGC

or this one at $174


http://www.goodluckbuy.com/skylark-2-axis-brushless-gimbal-set-for-gopro-3-3-camera-fpv-aerial-photography.html

think it uses the EVVGC controller


This is the one I have at $70

http://www.myrcmart.com/2axis-go-pro-gimbal-gimbal-controller-brushless-motor-unassembled-p-6993.html?osCsid=rjeivvn349uln1n0ne0g21pa24

Choice of EVVGC and the BGC v3.1

The BGC I think is also known as the simpleBGC

v3.0 here

http://www.banggood.com/BGC-3_0-MOS-2-Axis-Brushless-Gimbal-Controller-With-Sensor-p-908010.html?currency=GBP&utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_content=miko_ruby&utm_campaign=All-uk&gclid=CLXIsIP5jL4CFVPJtAodLxEA_g

Trying to find if anyone has done any comparisons with these (or other reasonably priced) controllers

[Tecnic]

This one

http://www.goodluckbuy.com/dji-phantom-brushless-gimbal-camera-mount-w-motor-and-controller-for-gopro3-fpv-aerial-photography.html