FrSky Taranis QX7 appeared on the market a few years ago and got quite a lot of popularity in its time. There were reasons for that:
Thanks to all of that, not only Q X7 became a very popular entry-level radio transmitter for new people in the hobby, a substantial amount of pilots migrated from X9D to Q X7 as it’s lighter, cheaper, and work as well full-size Taranis.
The situation was even better when FrSky showed Q X7S with incorporated great Hall-effect gimbals and some extra features like wireless trainer port, etc.
Now, the question is: is Q X7 still worth buying in 2020 or should new and existing users be rather interested in other radios like X9 Lite, Jumper T16 or similar?
The answer is as follows: the Q X7 is still one of the most interesting radio transmitters on the market. You might say, that it’s aging well. Not only it works as great as when it was introduced, but it also is not as much “castrated” product as X9 Lite for example. This is why, my verdict is: if you like how it looks (not everybody does) and look for a higher entry-level device, Taranis Q X7 is for you. It’s not so obvious with Q X7S as it’s much more expensive and then Jumper T16 Pro becomes a valid competition, but the cheaper version is probably the cheapest FrSky radio worth getting!
NEJE Master aka NEJELaser Master aka KKmoon Laser Engraver is a family of cheap laser engravers/cutters. They come in a variety of laser powers, from 3500mW, by 7000mW up to 20W. Bear in mind, this is the electrical input power, not real optical output power. The 20W module has a real power of around 5.5W optical. Still, it's enough to cut through 3mm plywood in 2 or 3 passes.
Anyhow… NEJE made it extremely hard to download their software. The web server where they store (http://wiki.nejetool.com/doku.php?id=nejelaser_master) it is extremely slow! The transfer is well below 3kB/s and breaks very often. This is why I've prepared a small package. It contains Windows driver for NEJE Laser Master and version 4.7 of NEJE software. You are welcome!
This weekend, thanks to Foxeer, I had an opportunity to test flight new Dalprop freestyle props: Nepal N1. Although the name is a puzzle for me, I’m pretty sure Dalprop Nepal N1 might make some stirr!
Anyhow, Nepal series is intended for freestyle although I’m pretty sure you can do some relaxed, non-competitive FPV racing with them as well.
The most visible feature of Nepal N1 is that they have heavily swept-back blades. The resemblance to Azure Power propellers is obvious, but they are far from being identical. Blade shape and curvature are different.
After flying a few LiPo packs with those propellers, all I can say is that I like for they perform and for sure will use them a lot.
When DJI did not decide to add INAV and Ardupilot to the list of the supported flight controller for the HD FPV system, some people were, at least, disappointed. Long story short: DJI OSD works only with Betaflight. Period.
Until today, DJI avoids the answer to the question if INAV and Ardupilot will be supported. I know there are some talks and there is a chance for native support for INAV and Ardupilot, but the timeline is not revealed.
In the meantime, there is a solution. It's based on, dadam, Arduino! Yeap, Arduino to the rescue! Thanks to Mavlink to MSP bridge DJI AirUnit thinks it's talking to the Betaflight flight controller, while indeed it is talking to any flight controller software that supports Mavlink! Since INAV supports Mavlink, you are golden! Enable Mavlink on one of the ports, connect DJI AirUnit via the Arduino and that's all!
It might not be the perfect solution to the problem, but it is a solution that seems to be working!
Today, let's have a nice talk about brushless electic motors we use in the RC hobby. Both on airplanes, as well as on drones. In this video we will discuss:
When DJI released updated firmware for their DJI FPV system with improved OSD, Betaflight users started cheering. The move to add OSD with elements like GPS position, the artificial horizon, etc is kind of puzzling. It works only with Betaflight flight controllers and a typical user of Betaflight does not really need it. After all, Betaflight concentrates on racing and freestyle on 5-inch mini-quads, not long-range.
On the other hand, users INAV, that concentrate on airplanes and long-range flights, can not use new DJI FPV OSD. Pilots immediately started to ask INAV developers to implement DJI FPV support. The problem is, that it's not working like that.
All of that means that INAV developers can not fix something that is not within the code of INAV. For INAV support, DJI has to implement it. Not the other way around.
Do you know this old saying “If you want something done right, do it yourself”? I do and sometimes I just live according to it. Not always, I’m not crazy, but at least from time to time!
I fly 7-inch FPV drones a lot. To be honest, they are my favorite flying devices. There are a few good 7-inch frames, like TBS Source One for example. There is a difference between good and great tho. I do think that Source One is a good frame, there are a lot of things on it that do not make me very happy tho! The list might not be very long, but it is relevant:
Because of that, and because I think I know how to do it (I’m an engineer) I’ve devided to design and manufacture my of 7-inch FPV drone frame that would fix what I do not like in Source One.
This is how Pirx Seven was born!
So far, I was able to mill a prototype unit to test it in flight. So far so good, I really have to say that I like what I designed.
Fully assembled frame weight 205g with steel screws and aluminium standoffs.
What next? Test flight and some changes. The full list consists of 12 points in total and basically means that I will have to redesign almost everything…
If you want to know why the name and what does Pirx stands for, here is the answer. It’s a tribute to Polish writer Stanisław Lem and his book Tales of Pirx the Pilot.
I love 7-inch FPV drones and during the last year, they were my most used FPV gear. For freestyle, cinematic, cruising and long-range. I currently own 3 7-inch FPV drones and 4th one in the assembly process.
I think of myself as a 7-inch expert. I’ve wasted enough money and equipment to know what works and what does not work well with 7-inch propellers.
If you are thinking about building your own 7-inch FPV drone, here are some tips that might save you a lot of time and a lot of money on wrongly chosen equipment.
Of course, the frame is the most important part of a build. No matter if you will be building a freestyle or long-range rig, there is one thing that you have to know: Horizontally scaling 5-inch frame by making arms longer is a no-go. Longer arms require more stiffness and they also have to be thicker! The sweet spot is 6mm thick good quality carbon fiber. 5mm thick might work too but forget about 4mm or thinner arms. They will be too flexible and the whole quad will be in a state of a constant wobble!
If you are looking for 7-inch frame recommendations, here are my choices: Team BlackSheep Source One with 7-inch arms, Alfa Monster and AlfaRC Fighter.
Kind of obvious, right? The choice of good 7-inch propellers is not that big as one might imagine. Sure, you can buy some “inventions from 4 years ago for cheap” but believe me, they are not worth it. There are 3 types of modern 7-inch propellers that I find worth looking at in late 2019:
Probably the most often made mistake by the “7-inch virgins” are too small motors. Beginners think that putting the same motors that work great with 5-inch propellers on a 7-inch frame is a good idea. OK, maybe sometimes they lower the KV. This will not work. I know. I tried that by myself and only wasted some money and a lot of time and nerves.
What you need are big motors. In a size of 2506-2507. 2208 might work as well and 2508 is rather the max size that makes sense.
On the KV size, the rule of thumb is that on 4S you should aim at 1500-1500KV and on 6S at 1200KV. Those values give a nice compromise between efficiency and raw power. Of course, this is only a rule of thumb and when needed you might choose higher KV. For example, my 7-inch freestyle drone uses 1700KV on 4S motors.
My recommendation is rather simple: for now, there is only one motor that comes is wide enough KV range and it’s called BrotherHobby Avenger v2 2507.
For the rest of the equipment, you can choose whatever you want. Any equipment will work and you do not have to match it to the propeller size. My choices are:
How about a custom, Italian design, crabon kick-stand for FrSky X10 Horus? You know, FrSky somehow forgot about making this accessory and it’s a super useful thing.
Niccolo designed it and now he is offering this great Horus accessory for others.