BeSteady FOUR Thread

[Zeb B]

You are a stand up guy Carey. What's it been . . . like a year of your time into this project?

 

[PC Greene]

Great Ty Carey! Fingers crossed as b4 could and hopefully will ultimately be a win for GB members if same or better unit & capacity weight / performance / ease if use as M15 but slicker hardware (internal cables, chatty brain, integrated power distro etc).

I'm particularly curious about the "sharp / slightly jittery" pan motions I saw in last test video.

If you have time, I'd love to know B4 actual unit weight for drone use compared to m10 / m15 (with & w/o handles), and confirmation it behaves well w/ cam position straight up/down (no gimbal lock) and recovery ability when camera is bumped accidentally.

Many thanks...have a great day testing!

Vincent - I'll be here until every last Reduser gets their unit, and beyond. I'm married to BeSteady and this GB, for better or worse.

PC - Yes, the M15 is what I meant. I'll be testing all day today and will have more info regarding the BS4 and it's abilities. I plan to share my discoveries as I make them. So far, ease of use seems to be equal, but I'm not ready to say for sure just yet.

 

[Dario Stegmayer]

Hello Carey
Congrats for your new BS4 !!! Thanks for your feedback and for your time and effort to this GB.
PS: your inbox is FULL

 

[R. Gonzales]

This is important! Does anyone else agree?

This is important! Does anyone else agree?

Maks,.

Have read through the manual a few times -nice job overall. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a living and breathing document with user tips as experienced operators provide feedback.

I do have a first set of questions - starting with power:

Quoting from Page 8 of the manual:
Before you start: Remember about the thresholds of the power output on both auxiliary Power Plug and the BeSteady Four camera tray and the DC Out Socket. Both power exits are part of the same circuit and the summarized power output cannot exceed
3A when using the small BeSteady batteries
5A when using the large BeSteady battery

Question 1:

This paragraph makes reference to an "Auxiliary Power Plug" yet I see no other reference to this plug in the documentation. The reference to the Besteady Four camera tray would suggest this is the location but I don't see anything in the photos… Perhaps I missed it somewhere.


Question 2:

Peter had mentioned once upon a time that the small batteries would not work with our RED cameras but the large batteries would be able to carry the load.
Made perfect sense - but if the total power available is limited to 5A via the large battery, it would appear we would need a second power source to run outfitted EPIC rigs. True?

RED EPIC-M 5K 24fps = about 60W (I think Jarred mentioned the Dragon was more effective)
60 Watts at 12 Volts = 5 Amps - which is the listed capacity of the summarized circuit. I hope I am making a math error (not my strong suit) or perhaps outdated info on the camera power requirements - please correct me!

Now add to the load:
Wireless video transmit (Teradek or Paralink) + about 4-7W
LCD monitor + about 4-5W
Wireless FF motor + ?

My concern is that anything we add would exceed the capacity of the circuit.

Associated Suggestion / Question: If my concern is valid, is there is any way that a power tap could be retrofitted to the "Small Batteries" so they could be used as a secondary power source for aks while the 5A feeds the camera?


Question 3:

Will the addition of the remote control receiver tap into the same circuitry and current availability?


Question 4:

Are both the "Power In" and "Power Out" making use of the same connectors?
If so, I would suspect that a number of units will be accidentally burned due to inexperienced rental users - voiding the warranty.
Hope there is a failsafe - just like most every power connector is keyed M & F to prevent disasters.



Thanks in advance for your reply.

Brian,

You have brought up some very important questions, I for one would like to read Max's response.

 

[Carey Lee Coffey]

Maks,.

Have read through the manual a few times -nice job overall. I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a living and breathing document with user tips as experienced operators provide feedback.

I do have a first set of questions - starting with power:

Quoting from Page 8 of the manual:
Before you start: Remember about the thresholds of the power output on both auxiliary Power Plug and the BeSteady Four camera tray and the DC Out Socket. Both power exits are part of the same circuit and the summarized power output cannot exceed
3A when using the small BeSteady batteries
5A when using the large BeSteady battery

Question 1:

This paragraph makes reference to an "Auxiliary Power Plug" yet I see no other reference to this plug in the documentation. The reference to the Besteady Four camera tray would suggest this is the location but I don't see anything in the photos… Perhaps I missed it somewhere.


Question 2:

Peter had mentioned once upon a time that the small batteries would not work with our RED cameras but the large batteries would be able to carry the load.
Made perfect sense - but if the total power available is limited to 5A via the large battery, it would appear we would need a second power source to run outfitted EPIC rigs. True?

RED EPIC-M 5K 24fps = about 60W (I think Jarred mentioned the Dragon was more effective)
60 Watts at 12 Volts = 5 Amps - which is the listed capacity of the summarized circuit. I hope I am making a math error (not my strong suit) or perhaps outdated info on the camera power requirements - please correct me!

Now add to the load:
Wireless video transmit (Teradek or Paralink) + about 4-7W
LCD monitor + about 4-5W
Wireless FF motor + ?

My concern is that anything we add would exceed the capacity of the circuit.

Associated Suggestion / Question: If my concern is valid, is there is any way that a power tap could be retrofitted to the "Small Batteries" so they could be used as a secondary power source for aks while the 5A feeds the camera?


Question 3:

Will the addition of the remote control receiver tap into the same circuitry and current availability?


Question 4:

Are both the "Power In" and "Power Out" making use of the same connectors?
If so, I would suspect that a number of units will be accidentally burned due to inexperienced rental users - voiding the warranty.
Hope there is a failsafe - just like most every power connector is keyed M & F to prevent disasters.



Thanks in advance for your reply.

I don't want this to get overlooked. I have all of the same questions.

I also want to know when all of the rest of our accessories will ship. Please give us an approximate ETA.

• Custom cables
• RedUser cable pack
• BeSteady to RED Lemo - it will be connected using multi connector that will be on Camera Shelf
• BeSteady Multi-connector (1 to 2, 1 to 4) - with multi DTAP connectors
• Flexible Red Touch LCD cable
• Accessors Type C
• In-and-Out - it's multi connector it will have DC connectors and DTAP connectors.

 

[Maks Salamonowicz]

Answer 1:
Auxiliary Power Plug - DC connection on right side of vertical arm, "DC OUT".
Camera tray connector - Traxxas connector type, prepared for upcoming special cable set. This one is located on right side of camera shelf with ~50 mm long cable.
Both are running on same circuit.


Answer 2:
We have done couple of tests - standby, recording, different modes, with EPIC. It takes usually around 3.5A, up to 4A. Our regulated power output is prepared for contiunous 5A, with peak around 7A. All tests with regulated 12V. There's an option to switch power regulator onboard to 14.8V as well, but in this case of course we will get lower possible amperes output. Watts will be almost the same.


Answer about full rig - yes, you may use RED EPIC with Paralinx Crossbow, Arrow Plus and for example Hokus Products AXIS1, all powered from gimbal camera shelf connector. This will be close to maximum possible power output from regulator, but safe.


About monitor - if it will be SmallHD DP4 - there will be no problem. We didn't test AC7 LCD/OLED or other monitors. Anyway, from my point of view it is still better to use LP-E6 with monitors.


Wiring for both batteries is again the same. Depending on battery type gimbal will react with proper settings, as BeSteady Large is 14.8V (4S, up to 16.8V fully charged) and BeSteady Small is 11.1V (3S, up to 12.6V fully charged). Gimbal won't check load on all connectors, so user must know possible limit in case of BeSteady Small batts.


Answer 3:
If I understand correctly answer is:
LEFT (RCU / Remote Control Unit comb) has got 6 pins, starting from bottom to top:
Ground, +5V, Signal 1, Signal 2, Signal 3, Signal 4.
Each signal is PWM. On Signal 1 there may be SumPPM (in this case you may use standard 3-pin cable). With Graupner MZ12 you will find special cable prepared for PWM operation - 6-pin to 2x3-pin.
RIGHT (Thumbstick comb) has also 6 pins, starting from bottom to top:
Ground, +3.3V, Signal 1, Signal 2, Special purpose 1, Special Purpose 2.
Each signal is analog, prepared for joystick solution. Special purpose pins are for remote CONTROL button, function is exactly the same like on vertical arm. Refer to manual for more information.


About power on REMOTE comb: maximum 0.5A@5V, only for PWM radio receivers.
THUMBSTICK comb: even less power, only for our Thumbstick solution.


Answer 4:
Connector is exactly the same, indeed.
It may be used with same cabling with IN'N'OUT accessory, in this case it will have different connectors available.
Units shipped to you have small sticker on DC OUT port. Probably we should prepare some kind of dummy connector that will act as a cap for it.


I wouldn't give any gimbal to anybody that haven't read manual ;-)

----------------

Carey, any news from battlefield? Mike didn't got any questions waiting on Skype, just wandering...

 

[vincent kardasik]

Vincent - I'll be here until every last Reduser gets their unit, and beyond. I'm married to BeSteady and this GB, for better or worse.

Thanks Carey, glad to read that.

Maybe you can update the google spreadsheet with Initials of the buyers in a new row and update the document.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15hiY55R50-GmhxAK6EUSdnILm87GtAJsnSJV2Mi_bLY/edit#gid=0

A email to the GB Members with there up to date position would hurt as well.

Please Maks or Peter, do both of these things.
This thread is a new beginning, don't blew it.

 

[Carey Lee Coffey]

My posts went from over 1, 200 to 883... apparently, the BS4 group buy, all of my posts, all of my hard work... never existed.

The only reason I kept the discount private was to protect the company's future sales by not devaluing the product. I'm in no way affiliated with any of the companies I do group buys for whatsoever. I have ran every other GB exactly the same way - keeping the discount private. It's never been a problem before. I suspect there's more to this that meets the eye.

 

[Loic Parent]

My posts went from over 1, 200 to 883... apparently, the BS4 group buy, all of my posts, all of my hard work... never existed.

The only reason I kept the discount private was to protect the company's future sales by not devaluing the product. I'm in no way affiliated with any of the companies I do group buys for whatsoever. I have ran every other GB exactly the same way - keeping the discount private. It's never been a problem before. I suspect there's more to this that meets the eye.

i agree, this is not fair to the work you put into this GB. maybe lock it if needed but not delete it, there was too much valuable information in this thread.

 

[Andy White]

i agree, this is not fair to the work you put into this GB. maybe lock it if needed but not delete it, there was too much valuable information in this thread.

100% agree.

The kicker for me is simple - the GB was a year ago... so, even if new policies exits, it wasn't/isn't logical to delete a thread like this (without warning).

We've all been using the thread to communicate with each other and pass info (etc) - all of that is now gone.

I have to say, I normally view stuff RED does as pretty fair, and can see the point... but this time, it's put us all in a bit of an odd situation.

 

[Maik Müller]

I agree, it's sad to see this thread is gone and it's not really understandable why it has just been deleted, after more than one year. Not cool. Close it, move it, give warnings...Timing is odd. First BS4's get delivered and *bam*. :-? hehe.

But, lets don't get lost in some conspiracy-theories. If the BS4's are really that good as it sounds then BeSteady might have earned a second chance and we can finally move on.

And Carey, everyone here knows how much work you have invested into this GB. It doesn't need that thread to keep that in mind. Thank you very much for your efforts, you did a great job and way more to keep this going than anyone expected.

 

[Piotr Chmielewski]

Hello,

second batch is on it's way, I will provide tracking numbers when I will receive confirmation from DHL that all procedures concerning shipment are complete - I would like to avoid any unnecessary nervous situations with not working tracking numbers.

We will send 8 units on 20th of October, it will be 3rd batch and some from 4th - please look at updated shipment list (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15hiY55R50-GmhxAK6EUSdnILm87GtAJsnSJV2Mi_bLY/edit?usp=sharing).
Quality control is taking more time than we were expecting. But we should be able to speed up production from now on. We are implementing some new workflow solutions that we came up with while building first two batches. As Max said before, the product is very complex and we have to pay attention to details all the time, also the assembly team is constantly learning.

Right now, as the first units are in your hands after this long road, we will appreciate more than ever any footage, stills, reviews, thoughts, feedback on BeSteady FOUR so we can evolve together and support each other. Post, share!

And please remember about BeSteady FOUR section of our forum at www.forum.besteady.eu


Best Regards

Peter

ps.
Manual for download
http://www.besteady.eu/download/BS_Four_Manual_draft1_1.pdf

 

[Ryan Sauve]

Hate to be delayed that extra week but appreciate the update and progress.

 

[Manuel Wenger]

Peter, can you please confirm that i´m still number 19 in the list, and therefore in the next batch on 20th.
Would be great if you could put names or at least first letters of names in the document to confirm position.

thanks
Manuel

 

[R. Gonzales]

Peter, can you please confirm that i´m still number 19 in the list, and therefore in the next batch on 20th.
Would be great if you could put names or at least first letters of names in the document to confirm position.

thanks
Manuel

Yes peter is this something that can be done?

Also Peter, Where are our invoices / Receipts? Must I be a dog with a bone with this request that started almost a year ago? Is there a problem? If so, then say so.

Thanks

 

[Prokopi Constantinou]

Hi Everyone!

Wow. It's been a long while since I've posted on here. As many of you know I was working on long production project this summer, meaning I took a step back from my responsibilities at BeSteady. It wasn't an easy decision for me to abandon the group buy to pursue my own company's project. It was downright turmoil to make a choice between the two. At the time the end didn't seem quite so distant. I know everyone involved - you guys included - have been through hell and back. I'm delighted that units have started to ship and after what I've seen of the Four I hope you think it was worth the wait.

Now I'm back we're talking through the best way to get back involved and help address some crucial issues as best as I can. While I know the fundamental details of the project I've been out of the loop for a while so when it comes to the nitty gritty details I think it's best to continue direct questions to Peter in regards to the GB. He works in BeSteady HQ and has been very close to the project. We had a discussion a while back and I think he's doing a much better job of keeping you all up to date.

Thanks again for being so insanely patient.

 

[R. Gonzales]

Hi Everyone!

Now I'm back we're talking through the best way to get back involved and help address some crucial issues as best as I can.

Ok, you're back! Great, wonderful, stupendous! Here is a fundamental issue that comes to mind:

1. Invoices / receipts
2. Names attached to the delivery list.

I apologies if I sound harsh.

 

[Prokopi Constantinou]

Ok, you're back! Great, wonderful, stupendous! Here is a fundamental issue that comes to mind:

1. Invoices / receipts
2. Names attached to the delivery list.

I apologies if I sound harsh.

Hey Rion,

1. Invoices should be shipping out with units. Is this not preferable?
2. Let me see what I can do to have this updated list provided. I think it would make sense to include it in the shipping doc.

Bear with me. As I mentioned I'm not currently involved with the intimate details of this project but I'll do my best.

 

[Dario Stegmayer]

Please Red, reload the deleted thread with a private login or something... We need the info. Pleaaaaase.

 

[Bérenger Brillante]

About Invoices, what about VAT registered customers within Europe (who shouldn't had to pay it). I had to, as there were no option to clic. Will it be refunded or do we have to ask something like an international VAT transfer ?