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Freefly WAVE Camera GPIO Trigger — Custom Cable Wiring

CONFIRMED ALL RIGS

Summary

The Freefly WAVE camera has a GPIO port that accepts camera start/stop trigger signals, but the connector is a small non-standard white plug that is not directly compatible with a standard BNC trigger cable. A custom adapter cable is needed. The confirmed wiring uses pins 1, 2, and 6 of the 6-pin GPIO plug connected to the BNC trigger output from Flair (the Epic/Phantom-style sync cable). The GPIO port also requires a 3–9V power supply to function — three AA batteries (4.5V) work reliably. This cable was documented and tested by community operator Peter Constan-Tatos in October 2022.

Symptoms / Background

  • Freefly WAVE camera has a GPIO port (small 6-pin white Molex-style plug)
  • Standard BNC trigger cables from Flair cannot plug directly into the WAVE GPIO port
  • No commercially available adapter exists for this connector combination
  • Need to start/stop the WAVE from Flair trigger output (e.g. Trigger 2–5 or the bloop line)

Fix / Build

[CONFIRMED] Custom GPIO trigger cable — Peter Constan-Tatos, October 2022

Connector:

  • One end: tiny white plug (matching the WAVE GPIO port)
  • Other end: BNC socket or connector to match the Flair trigger output cable

Pin assignment (WAVE GPIO 6-pin plug):

Pin Function
1 Signal (trigger)
2 Signal (trigger)
6 Ground

Pin correction

Peter originally noted pins 1, 5, 6 but corrected this to pins 1, 2, 6 in the same conversation. Always verify against the Freefly GPIO pinout documentation before building.

Power supply:

The GPIO trigger circuit requires 3–9V to operate. Peter used 3 × AA batteries (≈4.5V) inside a small project enclosure. An alternative is a step-down regulator from the UltiBox supply.

Connector sourcing (the tiny white plug):

Assembly:

  1. Order the matching white plug housing and crimp pins from RS or SparkFun
  2. Crimp signal wires to pins 1 and 2; crimp ground to pin 6
  3. Run the signal wires to a BNC plug wired to the Flair trigger output
  4. Include the 3V–9V supply (battery pack or step-down) in the cable or a small enclosure
  5. Connect the BNC end to the Epic/Phantom sync cable from the Flair trigger box

Freefly cable

If you have access to the official Freefly GPIO cable (the black R/C cable that ships with the WAVE), you can cut the Molex end and solder/crimp to the BNC trigger directly, saving sourcing time.

Peter Constan-Tatos (2022): "It works though. You need to download the freefly gpio guide as I recall it's pins 1 5 6 [corrected: 1 2 6]. These connect to the epic/phantom sync cable start/stop bnc then you can start stop the wave that way. You need to supply 3-9V hence the 3 batteries."

confidence_score: 0.82

WhatsApp Excerpts

[5/10/2022, 12:56:23 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: Ok so it has a tiny white plug one end that goes into the wave GPIO port and a black molex type plug on the other end.

[5/10/2022, 12:59:01 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: I didn't use them because we have the freefly cable.

[5/10/2022, 1:06:31 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: It works though. You need to download the freefly gpio guide as I recall it's pins 1 5 6. These connect to the epic/phantom sync cable start/stop bnc then you can start stop the wave that way. You need to supply 3-9V hence the 3 batteries.

[5/10/2022, 1:11:40 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: https://freefly.gitbook.io/freefly-public/products/wave-camera/connector-pinouts

[5/10/2022, 1:13:11 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: Sorry pins 1 2 6

[5/10/2022, 1:37:57 am] ~ Peter Constan-Tatos: If any of you want one of these let me know. I'm making one for ourselves but we can make a few more….it will be boxed in this with battery holder inside and the bnc and molex socket on the outside.