NEJELaser Master Driver and Software

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!

Download NEJE 4.7 and NEJE windows driver here

Dalprop Nepal N1 5" propellers

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!

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INAV and DJI HD FPV system - there is a light at the end of the tunnel

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.

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Drone and RC airplane motors - everything you wanted to know but you were afraid to ask!

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:

• motor size
• motor KV and rotation speed
• KV versus KT as motor constants
• stator and rotor
• number of coils and poles
• winding
• phases
• airflow and cooling
• does a motor care about rotation direction
• how to change the rotation direction of a motor
• shaft and hub
• mounting holes spacing
• how not to fry your motor right away

DJI FPV System & INAV - current situation

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.

• Support for Betaflight is built-in into DJI Air Unit, not another way around.
• DJI FPV seems to be actively checking if the flight controller it talks to is Betaflight or not
  INAV and Betaflight support the same serial protocol: MSP. This means DJI FPV is capable of talking to INAV, it just refuses to do so
• INAV and Betaflight use the same OSD positioning protocol using the same MSP frames. Still, DJI FPV refuses to talk to INAV
• We have no idea what DJI Air Unit expects from a flight controller since it is the closed source!

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.

Pirx Seven - The ultimate custom 7-inch FPV frame, part 1

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:

• props in the view
• limited space to install split-like hybrid cameras
• no very convinient place to install VTX
• it's not that big inside as one might imagine...

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Your first 7-inch FPV drone

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. Read more...

Matek VTX-1G3, VRX-1G3 and ANT-Y1200 ready for testing

The upcoming 1.2GHz FPV system from Matek called 1G3, where VTX-1G3 is the transmitter and VRX-1G3 is the transmitter and ANT-Y1200 is the antenna, are ready for some flights!

So far I have a couple of remarks:

1. VRX-1G3 fits nicely inside a standard Far Shark receiver bay and you can use the standard bay cover too. SMA connector is in the correct place! The standard cover blocks access to the button that is used to change channels. You can not change channels from the goggles menu.2. ANT-Y1200 has a nice stiff coax cable and you can position it however you want
2. ANT-Y1200 is much bigger than antennas used for 5.8GHz FPV and it's much harder to find a good place to position it on a model.4. VTX-1G3 is luckily small enough to fit in many places and does not overheat. Even when powered from 4S it stays relative cold (50C) at 28dBm of output power. I got the word it's because of much more efficient energy conversion that is possible with 1.2GHz band

The best flight controllers for INAV - 2019 Q4 edition

Believe it or not, but choosing the right flight controller for your next airplane or a drone build is quite important. Yes, I know that some of you might say that hardware does not matter and your kwad will fly as good with the latest F7 flight controller as it would fly with Naze32. It is, not true. It would fly with Naze32, but do not even try to compare modern flight controllers with more advanced filtering, inputs, outputs, and peripherals.

Best flight controllers for airplanes

Matek F722-WING

Matek F722-WING is the second generation of a big WING flight controllers started by a famous F405-WING. Comparing to the original, F722-WING offers more input/output options, including dedicated airspeed port, switchable camera inputs and switchable power supply for FPV installation. Read more...

Matek F765-WING specification and images

Matek makes probably the most advanced hobby level flight controllers that run Open Source like Ardupilot or INAV. The Matek F765-WING is currently best-of-the-best. Here are some images and full specification:

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