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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

BeSteady FOUR Thread

Sounds like either auto tune (likely) or hardware (less likely) isn't working properly.

I'd forgo auto tune and start playing with the manual settings in the software...hope this helps.

Thank you,



Dario Stegmayer said:
Hey guys !

Well, in the meantime the "thread" issue is solved:

I want to share my opinion (as we have a BS4 in our hands) about the Step by Step process. I think we can complete a proper and more complete user manual if we put here (or elsewhere) the info everybody have. Me English is not good, I know. Really doing my best, lot of work in the rental house every day force me to do this at night.

1. Battery (s) & Charger.
Charging Small (2) batts will take from 2:45 to 3:30 hours. (first and second)
Charging Big (2) batts. Fist : 2:15 hours. Second : 6 hours !!

Seems like balancing batts it not a easy procedure for the charger. I don't know if first charge will take more than other ones.

Other comments; (If links are not allowed, please remove it or tell me and I will)

A) I know there is some special envelope to keep Lipo batts safer. Good ida for transport also.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._Silicone_Fiberglass_Bag_120_x_65_x_55mm.html

B) Maybe is a good idea to buy a Lipo battery voltage tester (in order to never let the voltage decrease to minimum advised)
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking...2_8S_Cell_Checker_with_Low_Voltage_Alarm.html
Maybe BS4 can tell us this info, not in my experience, short by the way.

C) Maybe a Lipo safety charge box (regarding the possible fire when charging without supervision)
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24647__Turnigy_Lipo_Bunker_Lipoly_Safety_Charge_Box.html

D) Seriously we need to have another charger, a better one if possible. Surely we can find in a special store a spare one, PLAN B needed here. All the gimbal depends on that charger.

2. Updating firmware.
Once you receive the e-mail from BS support, the job is easy and quick.
You can do the upgrade in a few minutes, no problems at all IMO.


3. Stand
In our opinion problem is: once you load the gimbal with an Epic + battery Vmount Plate + Vmount batt + Lens, the weight is heavy.
Stand seems to hold the weight with no problem but when you try to pull the gimbal out, it's impossible to do it as the carbon sticks from the stand will want to follow the gimbal (the stress on the connection between the parts make very difficult to disconnect them).

One extra assistant needed to hold on with both hands the 2 sticks to prevent that. Y guess the Michael proposal from Oxide is better, the hooks are more practical. Also I agree with Carey: buying extras is not the idea. Maybe BS team can make a hooks to attach or explain to us what we are doing wrong.

Attaching Stand to tripod plate: protuberances will not allow that without an extra special plate.
Attaching Stand to lighting tripod is more easy, is what we use, no problem.

4. Connecting camera to BS4 camera plate
1. Provides screws (1/4 and 3/8) will feet but if they where thinner (head thickness) that will be best.
2. camera plate is very hard to connect to BS4 frame once is attached to camera and the weight is heavy... really difficult to insert. I thing we will attach another camera plate, with quick release system... Was hopping better system. We pass really hard time (1.5 hours to achieve that). A pain in the XXXX

5. Balancing camera
1. Ours configurations are heavy. Epic + accs + bats + pro Lenses = HEAVY. On the user manual provided is hard to find the proper place and tool less adjustments are good but difficult to use properly when full camera kit is on the frame.

2. We really need a series of videos (PLEASE with Epic camera as model) to know the proper place the camera needs to be. Reading on the manual it says :NOTE: Extremely heavy setups may not be fully balancable on pan axis & roll axis Makes really hard (for us) to know if we are doing things right. We can't achieve the target for sure, we are guessing all time. That's why we need videos. Please.

Once camera "seems" to be balanced (we can't know for sure) is time to:

6. Powering the gimbal with the ON-OFF dedicated button
When you power it a female voice will talk to you telling what's happening. First time gimbal start to jitter and you have to hold the stand because it seems like he gonna walk all over the table. Star with pan calibration (I guess) and is stops... No more calibration. 4 minutes and nothing.
Navigating the MENU you arrive to AUTOTUNE, press it. Female voice starts talking: Pan axis calibration, Tilt axis... Roll axis... calibration. 2 minutes.
In our case: Gimbal start to JITTER lilke crazy.

We couldn't go further. We have to turn OFF the gimbal as we was afraid something is really wrong.

Causes ?? :

1. Bad balance (we can't know)
2. Bad firmware
3. Bad electronics, faulty unit
4. Who knows...

Can u guys, who achieved to make the BEAST work, complete this post with your experience ?
That will be very useful for us all.

I already wrote to BS team to tell the same on this post. But we all know we can help each other too, maybe faster that any others.
Thanks !

PS: This info is ONLY my experience with the BEAST, no more, no less.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Carey,

Not sure if I missed it or not, but did you get to try out your BS4? How's the pan axis?

Thanks - Mike.
 
Gunleik Groven said:
Dario & Prokopi

It won't be deleted as long as things are kept constructive and polite.
We will probably shut it down in a week or so.

Sounds like a plan?

Gunleik
Click to expand...
This sounds like a reasonable approach Gunleik. In support of this thread, I'd just like to point out that this particular version of the BS4 is Red-specific. There is special wiring to power a Red Epic/Dragon directly on the camera platform. So it is very relevant to our Red cameras and is not by any means "advertising" for BeSteady. I'm not even sure the rig discussed here is available outside of this GB.

In fact the way this GB has gone (no disrespect Carey/David - you did stellar), it's about as far from an ad for BeSteady as you could get. What it really is is a bunch of Redusers trying to make the best of an unfortunate set of circumstances that is getting close to resolution. And while I understand the argument that this may seem like drab reading for other Redusers, there is no requirement to read it. There are a plethora of threads on Reduser I never read. To anyone that thinks this a drab thread, please exercise your right not to read it. This thread is just a continuation of our original group buy thread and highly relevant to us.

Anyway, that's just my 2c-worth in support of keeping this thread going for a bit longer in order to see us Red camera customers sorted out through this last gasp period of fulfillment and initial teething troubles. I accept your decision unreservedly. Thanks for your time.

Mike.
 
I understand that-

As I said, alternatives are simple

1. BeSteady becomes a sponsor, and this can go on here
2. This GB and the discussion migrates to Be Steady.

This thread closes, but does not get deleted (as things stand) next wednesday.
Subsequent re-openings on this issue will however probably be deleted.
 
Last edited:
Hey there!

Bad news here. We can't make our BS4 even start properly.
Autotune not working for us, all operations end in a constant jitter.
Already sent videos and pics to BS4 team... We also sent an e-mail yesterday, late.
No answers received yet.

We will wait for BS4 reply before sharing the videos with you.

We are waiting for some info and then, I guess, packing to send the gimbal back to Poland.
2 days with more frustration and disappointment.

Really don't know what to do.

PS: the ones in this GB who can actually make BS4 work, please, can u share some info here?
PS2: If BS will be a sponsor, please, hurry up. We don't have much time and I must agree with others: we all want to meet in reduser, if possible.

UPDATE:
Just received e-mail from BS team. Gimbal will return to Poland factory to be fixed.
 
Last edited:
We are packing the Gimbal, back to Poland, departing today.
Hope they can fix it quickly and send it back ASAP.
It will be great to continue sharing info here.

I think we have a couple of ideas to solve the stand problem.
Adding a cheaper list of screws and pieces from our (your) hardware store, ironworks dealer...
Will come back with some pics to share.

Cheers !
 
Ok guys,

Just waiting on a reply from RU about sponsorship. I'm sure we'll have it sorted out before Wednesday.

Regarding malfunctioning units - We have uncovered a serious issue with one of the manufactured components that is causing havoc with certain BS4 units. The original cable connected to the encoders is at risk of becoming loose during heavy vibrations found in transit. If one encoder isn't connected properly then it will affect all axes and renders the unit useless. Symptoms are:

- Moving between two positions ~20 degrees ~1Hz on one axis;
- Upredictable "shots" ~1-2 degrees on one axis;
- Unwanted continuous drift on one or more axis.

Essentially if your unit isn't working beautifully then it isn't working at all.

We have come up with a simple but very effective solution which involves replacing the original cable with our own connector type that will be mounted, secured and heavily tested (tarzan style). This will be implemented on all new units being shipped but has to be done in our workshop. Unfortunately it cannot be done remotely. We will be in contact with everyone who has received a unit so far within the next 24 hours to arrange collection. Once we receive the unit we will have it repaired within 7 working days and shipped back express at no expense to you guys.

Any units yet to be shipped will include this new solution.

This is a major bummer but the team are in a frenzy and working hard to resolve it as quickly as possible.
 
Than you Pro. Great news about the RU sponsorship!


Prokopi Constantinou said:
Ok guys,

Just waiting on a reply from RU about sponsorship. I'm sure we'll have it sorted out before Wednesday.

Regarding malfunctioning units - We have uncovered a serious issue with one of the manufactured components that is causing havoc with certain BS4 units. The original cable connected to the encoders is at risk of becoming loose during heavy vibrations found in transit. If one encoder isn't connected properly then it will affect all axes and renders the unit useless. Symptoms are:

- Moving between two positions ~20 degrees ~1Hz on one axis;
- Upredictable "shots" ~1-2 degrees on one axis;
- Unwanted continuous drift on one or more axis.

Essentially if your unit isn't working beautifully then it isn't working at all.

We have come up with a simple but very effective solution which involves replacing the original cable with our own connector type that will be mounted, secured and heavily tested (tarzan style). This will be implemented on all new units being shipped but has to be done in our workshop. Unfortunately it cannot be done remotely. We will be in contact with everyone who has received a unit so far within the next 24 hours to arrange collection. Once we receive the unit we will have it repaired within 7 working days and shipped back express at no expense to you guys.

Any units yet to be shipped will include this new solution.

This is a major bummer but the team are in a frenzy and working hard to resolve it as quickly as possible.
Click to expand...
 
Pro

Addressing issues straight on goes a long way towards confidence.

Thanks
 
Ryan Sauve said:
So how does this affect the shipping schedule?
Click to expand...

Probably a delay...

Marcos Montenegro said:
It better not or I'm pulling out.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I'd rather wait and get a fully functional unit... the rush to get the BS4 out (and subsequent recall/fix), just makes me think that another week or so delay is easier than getting a unit - fighting with it - then sending it back.

Just my thoughts. I'm 16 on the list - and I'd rather drop places than go through the hassle of getting a unit that needs to be ruturned.
 
Because we're implementing the fix during assembly of new units it shouldn't affect our current timeline (touch wood). It's a very simple process of replacing the existing cables on the encoders with a more robust solution. That said we also want to do some more 'vigorous' testing during QC and it's unknown how much extra time overall that will add to the process. I'm staying optimistic and assuming it will be negligible but we'll let you know if we experience any issues that will affect the current timeline.

Keep your fingers crossed, fellas!
 
Marcos Montenegro said:
It better not or I'm pulling out.
Click to expand...

Hey Marcos, I wish we had that option but it seems that we're stuck and along for the ride. If I could request a refund and get my money back tomorrow, I would then spend the extra for a M15. But if I'm not going to get a refund until 2015, I suppose its worth getting something for my cash in case they go bankrupt. With Pro back onboard, he does provide a lot more confidence but I'm still pissed about the missing accessories. If it weren't for BS saying they had all but one cable left to finish the accessory package in July, then I'd understand but what am I suppose to make of that statement from Maks?

Until my BS4 lands, I will remain pessimistically optimistic since that's really my only option.

Go team!
 
Dario - sucks to hear about the cable issue. So If I'm reading this correctly, BeSteady will collect all early gimbals (cable issue or not) and repair them and send them back with the new fix.

Mike Smith - Today I am firing up the gimbal with fully kitted out camera and doing extensive testing. We'll see if it even works. I'll be reporting back later this evening.
 
Carey Lee Coffey said:
Dario - sucks to hear about the cable issue. So If I'm reading this correctly, BeSteady will collect all early gimbals (cable issue or not) and repair them and send them back with the new fix.

Mike Smith - Today I am firing up the gimbal with fully kitted out camera and doing extensive testing. We'll see if it even works. I'll be reporting back later this evening.
Click to expand...

Absolutely - We'll upgrade all units to include the new fix, regardless if you're experiencing issues. Good luck with your testing. I'm looking forward to seeing what you make of it.
 
Hi Pro,

Would it also be possible to change the DC in/out to Lemo connectors, like Michael asked ? I´d love to have lemo instead of the now installed connectors when my #20 ships.

thanks
Manuel
 
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