I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the stock gimbals on the Jumper T20S radio. They do get the job done but they also deserve an upgrade. The T20S has room for full-size gimbals, and the AG01s seemed like they could fit.
To learn more about radio check out my buyer’s guide: https://oscarliang.com/radio-transmitter/
This DIY hack is inspired by becky9’s guide on Thingiverse.
Table of Contents
Benefits of the AG01 Gimbals
Whether or not the AG01 gimbal is worth its $130 price tag, is up for debate, but in my personal experience there’s no denying that they do feel superior than the stock gimbals that come with the TX16S, Boxer as well as the T20S. Here’s why I’m excited to bring them to my radio:
- Smoothness in movement
- Enhanced precision
- Having M4 stick ends, offering a more solid grip compared to the T20S’s smaller M3 stick ends
What Do You Need?
Get the T20S Radio from:
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-enpo
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DC2s3bZ
- NewBeeDrone: https://oscarliang.com/product-obg7
Get the AG01 Gimbals from:
- AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DEs8KhP
- Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-idz1
- GetFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-1znh
- RDQ: https://oscarliang.com/product-pmbh
- Amazon: https://amzn.to/31HP0kf
For this upgrade, there are a few specific items you’ll need to ensure a smooth installation process.
JST 1.25mm 4-pin and 6-pin connectors, get them from AliExpress in pairs so you don’t need to worry about male or female: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Ddd1txp
M2.3 Self-tapping screws, get them from AliExpress: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Dm5SVVz
While the original suggestion was for 16mm screws, I found them excessively long and difficult to drive in completely. I recommend 14mm screws for an easier fit. An assortment kit with various lengths would be ideal actually, giving you options to find the perfect fit.
3D printed spacers: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6202025
These are are crucial if you want to avoid permanent alterations to your T20S by removing the plastic pins inside the housing. These spacers not only maintain the integrity of the radio but also lower the gimbals by about 5mm. This allows you to make the stick longer, which consequently making the stick travel longer and giving you more precise control.
Additionally, you’ll need a rotary tool to cut the corners of the AG01 Gimbals. This is what I used, Greenworks 8V rotary tool. This tool is also handy for any necessary modification within the radio’s plastic housing: https://oscarliang.com/greenworks-8v/
Installation Steps
Gimbal Wiring
Before diving into the hardware, it’s important to address the wiring connections.
The T20S gimbals have 4 wires, signals for the two axes, plus power and ground. The AG01, however, comes with 6 wires due to the duplication of power and ground wires.
You can simply solder the duplicated power and ground wires together when connecting to the T20S. Personally I prefer to use an adapter—it simplifies the connection without modifying the AG01’s original harness, allowing you to use these gimbals in other radios in the future.
Note that the T20S gimbal wires color code doesn’t make sense, follow Becky9’s wiring diagram (or the one below) instead.
See the following diagram for the wiring of the adapter.
Cutting AG01 Corners
The most challenging part of this upgrade is perhpas cutting the AG01’s corners. See the yellow dashed lines in the following picture.
Crafted from sturdy 4mm thick aluminum alloy, it’s a formidable task. Because I only have a small rotary tool and a miniature disc blade, it took me over 20 minutes to trim each corner. And don’t worry, the modification doesn’t compromise the gimbals’ compatibility with other radios.
Swapping Gimbals
To remove the original T20 gimbals, you’ll unscrew four screws per gimbal.
I am using 14mm M2.3 self tapping screws with these spacers.
As you can see, you need to trim the AG01’s corner because the T20S’s PCB obstructs a direct fit (as circled below).
Connect the gimbals using the adapters we made earlier.
Potential Issues
Not sure if this will happen to eveyrone, but a couple of hurdles did come up for me during the gimbal upgrade.
Firstly, the left slider scraped against the throttle stick tension bars screws. Changing those screws to button head fixed that.
Second issue was the gimbal arms brushing against the back housing due to the 5mm drop from the spacers. I had to shave off some plastic from the inner side of the housing.
Pro tip: apply a little hand cream on the tips of the gimbal arms can reveal exactly where the removal of the plastic was needed (as circled below).
Here’s the end result, the gimbals finally can move smoothly without touching the back housing.
Reassembly
Once the gimbals are functioning smoothly, it’s time to reattach the back housing.
Calibration
Post-installation, calibration is key. You can access the calibration settings in the “Hardware” page, reached by long-pressing the Menu button and cycling through with the Page button.
Conclusion
And there you have it—the AG01 gimbals are now be part of your T20S!
If you encounter any questions feel free to reach out in the comments. For insights into how I’ve setup my T20S, check out my comprehensive guide: https://oscarliang.com/setup-jumper-t20s-radio/
3 comments
Wow, I am edging towards doing this, I will have to have a feel of my mate’s AG01’s again and really think about it.
Thank you for doing this!
This is absolutely an experience expert advice ^_^
At indonesia, aliexpress has been banned to to government regulation, shopee too, it means,
We as fpv hobbiest, cannot buy any_thing from chine or overseas, too bad… not everything available in indonesia, and now even worst after this premature policy….
Is it possible to make this conversion to an FrSky X18?? I’m aware that mounting holes doesn’t match, but I’m sure it might be possible to make an spacer with different holes able to fix the gimbals. I’m more worried if the hall sensors will work with the X18 main board.