Anybody has experience with the WHM-BG Artificial Horizon Modules

[axel ebermann]

I was just wondering if there is anybody out there who might want to share their experience with this.

 

Also interested in how you power / mount these modules without creating cable spaghetti.

Plus: How heavy is this thing ? Interesting the with camera gear nobody ever bothers to mention the weight….

 

Thanks

[Victor Lazaro]

I'm also looking into getting one of these to mount on my Zephyr. from the tiffen site, I learned that:

POWER: 5 to 18V DC: 0.1A TYP., 0.2A MAX 2.1mm DC Power Plug (Center Positive)

They sell cables to power from a 9v battery pack, a P-tap or a 0B Lemo.

PHYSICAL: LED Display: 1.81” (46mm) L x 2.94” (75mm) L x .59” (15mm) H Level Box: 2.5” (64mm) L x 2.5” (64mm) W x 1.16” (30mm) H

They give you a piece of velcro to attach the thing or there is a 1/4 20 thread at the bottom. The box needs to be place in a specific orientation to work properly.

 

No weight info.

[Alan Rencher]

Just a note, the Paralinx Crossbow power cables are also 2.1mm, and a lot less than the Tiffen cables.

[axel ebermann]

Thanks guys. But I am actually looking for people who have real world experience with that unit.

 

Anybody ?

 

Would be much appreciated.

[Chris Van Campen]

Hi Axel - I really like mine. I think it works great for the price point, and if you've ever tried using regular bubble levels while moving you'll appreciate this unit. You still need bubbles to balance your sled and zero the Wagner of course.

 

It weighs next to nothing, much less than a pound total. The stats are probably on the Tiffen page. Not a concern.

 

In terms of powering it, I'm using the P-tap off the AB. Found this seller on Amazon that uses genuine AB plugs and 2.1mm connectors. Length can be a little flaky so it's worth an email to him/her to ensure you get the right thing:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B3FLE4C/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Much cheaper than Tiffen, and last time I checked Paralinx wasn't carrying them anymore. They only had USB-2.1 connectors. May have changed in the meantime. Just check the polarity, even though the Wagner is protected.

 

Frederic Sturm gave me the great idea of using a spare monitor mount on my Zephyr, and I mount the box right behind the post on the top rod. Very solid connection. There's 8-9 parts that comprise the mount - if you have a Zephyr and are going that route I can probably find the invoice with the part numbers. I know Frederic had some issues getting all the pieces/parts through Tiffen UK, so I followed his advice and sent a nice clear picture to the folks in LA. Was under $50.

 

I think there's also a thread on here where Tom Willis mounted the box vertically off the post, so that could be another option with a fairly cheap bike tube or handlebar mount with a 1/4x20 bolt. Lots of options out there. I would personally not recommend just using Velcro - too much give and you want the box to be 100% solid.

 

I use Dual lock to mount the display on top of my monitor, with a little back up tape. It's also got a 1/4x20 tap, but I wanted it as close as possible to the screen.

 

Hope that helps...

 

Cheers,

Chris

[Victor Lazaro]

Thanks a bunch! Can I trouble you for some pics of the mount on your Zephyr?

Is there a drift after a few hours of operation? (Garret said it could pickup the earth's rotation after a little while)

[steve wagner]

That Garrett quote was from NAB this year, I was nervously awaiting any news on the level -- I was not at the show. When I heard Garrett say that I thought, what did I forget to do in the algorithm? Then I thought for a second: earth is 15 degrees/hr or 1/4 degree /min at the pole. I was punked! earth rate is negligible compared to the gyro drift which we compensate for using the accel's

Steve Wagner

[axel ebermann]

thanks guys.

 

well - as much as I love and respect garrett - he is selling that stuff so I do not exactly expect him to diss the gear that he is promoting ;-)

 

I have an Ultra2c, which means there is a pretty nifty level on there. But the acceleration compensation is not all that great….

[Jerry Holway]

Axel-

 

There is a lot of adjustability of the sensitivity and the damping in the U2 level system (rate and range), so you may adjust your settings to give either a quicker or slower response.

 

Acceleration compensation is an art - it's a combination of the sensors and the software. The U2's sensor is just an accelerometer, but the newer devices like the WHM-BG use gyros as well, and very sophisticated software, so they work a lot better. The key to performance in the new devices is in the quality of the sensors and the ingenuity of the software, which is where the performance really shines.

[RobinThwaites]

Hi Axel

 

Send me an e-mail at robin.thwaites@tiffen.com.

 

Best wishes

Robin

[axel ebermann]

… thanks Jerry.

 

And this is exactly why I am trying to gather some information if it is worth it for me to drop the $$$

on the new level or in other words if the improvement is worth the investment.

 

My biggest grief is that the U2 level basically tends to deviate most when you need it most. Meaning when

you accelerate or decelerate the sled.

 

 

Axel-

 

There is a lot of adjustability of the sensitivity and the damping in the U2 level system (rate and range), so you may adjust your settings to give either a quicker or slower response.

 

Acceleration compensation is an art - it's a combination of the sensors and the software. The U2's sensor is just an accelerometer, but the newer devices like the WHM-BG use gyros as well, and very sophisticated software, so they work a lot better. The key to performance in the new devices is in the quality of the sensors and the ingenuity of the software, which is where the performance really shines.

[William Demeritt]

I bought one a few weeks ago, and so far I've enjoyed my time using it. I need a better mounting system for it (right now it's secured to the back of the "Monitor" battery position on my PRO2 battery hanger, and the LED display is velcroed to my monitor).

 

I don't have an extremely strong opinion about it, but it was available and I have been satisfied with it so far. One thing I'd like to change is the Hirose connector that goes to the LED: would be nice if it was 90 degree instead of straight push. Just would be nice if the connectors took up a bit less "mandatory space".

 

The "zero" function works well, I usually put a physical bubble level on my PRO sled Lower Junction Box, get the sled to show as "level", then zero it. Takes like 3 seconds, after which it is zeroed.

 

The LED readout is bright, would be nice if it was twice as bright (or otherwise didn't require a sunshade). However, a tiny shade goes a long way with making it effective in daylight.

 

The acceleration dampening seems to work well enough. Again, haven't run into any situations that really made me sorry about the fidelity of the reading.

 

My next mounting iteration will be replacing my video recorder mount for my PRO 2 battery, and then just mounting it to that.

[steve wagner]

Some might ask why we don't have a 'damping' or 'smoothing' adjustment on the wagner horizon. We instead chose to rely very heavily on the gyros -95% or more weighting-because gyros are inherently immune from acceleration. Gyros are much harder to tame but benefit to you is that you see your true roll errors as they occur and you can correct them in real time before they become large enough to show up in frame.

Steve Wagner

[Marc R. Berger]

Hi Robin,

is there a dealer in Munich where it would be possible to test it? (Betz?)

Thank you and

Happy New Year!

Marc

[Alan Rencher]

Does anyone have any pictures of their Wagner setups?