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TIPS and TRICKS

Mobula 6 upgrade: Ultralight lowrider

14/1/2020

6 Comments

 
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​The Happymodel Mobula 6 is proving to be one of the most popular drones of early 2020 just like the mobula 7 in 2019. What makes it so successful? It is small, light and agile and fast enough given the power source. And, with the introduction of esc firmware capable of running at 48khz, it seems to offer the flight time.

Even though it’s a great quad as is, I always like to tinker to see what can be squeezed out. In my opinion it is the super light weight of the Mobula6 that makes it so good in all the parameters above, so how to make it better? Make it EVEN lighter.
For this particular mod I've chosen to remove the canopy and replace it with a lowrider camera mount which I must credit Chaotix from the micro motor community forum with. This was a mod to mount split aio cameras to before canopies were commercially available and offered the following advantages:
  • Cheap!
  • Light
  • No ducts in view
  • Very low profile (more on the advantages of this later)
I wanted to see if these benefits were still applicable today and so far as I can tell – yes they are.
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First time I did this mod was on a silverised E011C with bolclash split cam about 2 years ago. This was well used and abused and still holding up
So how is it done?
Get a pack of zip ties (like these) that are at least 80mm long and 4mm wide. The smaller the zip mechanism the better. Use a new blade on a hobby knife to cut a slit along the length as below. The lens of the camera will be wedged in this slit and tightened at an angle that suits your flying.

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6 Comments

Simple, Effective MOds for the Sailfly-x and Red Devil

12/10/2019

4 Comments

 
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The good and bad of the Sailfly-X and Red Devil
Happymodel have launched two of the better value toothpicks recently of which I have reviewed both - the Happymodel Sailfly and the Eachine Red Devil. Unfortunately both have minor niggles on the FPV side of things -
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  • The Happymodel Sailfly-x is low on vtx power (25mw only) and the although good for an AIO camera/vtx it it has comparatively poor dynamic range. Also, you need to change canopy if you want to change camera angle
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  • The Eachine Red Devil (made by Happymodel) has a better VTX which goes up to 200mW, a better camera in the Caddx EOS2 but the canopy is plagued by Jello and the camera is terrible at handling the image in low light conditions with peculiar red hues showing up at odd times.
The objective of the mods:
Since the underlying powertrain of these quads is light and effective I set out to improve the above issues while trying to stay as light as possible. Also, in order to keep things simple I wanted to avoid soldering where possible to provide an easy and cost effective upgrade path for those who wanted to emulate the build. The result? I'm super pleased:
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Modded version weighs just under 39g
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Sailfly-x minus 3d printed battery holder (plus rubber band) is just over 38g
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Eachine Red Devil is closer to 39g with battery holder
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LArva-x is quite a bit heavier due to slightly bigger motors, heavier frame and dvr on board

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4 Comments

Happymodel Larva-X: Testing battery and propeller combinations

19/9/2019

8 Comments

 
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PictureThe stock Larva X comes fitter with Emax Avan props and no battery
Introduction
That Happymodel Larva-x is a great value bind and fly ultralight toothpick-style quad which I reviewed and provided and improved tune for here. This is their first model to come without a battery which is due to the fact that many international shipping suppliers are banning lipo batteries from shipment. Stock propellers are the Emax Avan Rush 2.5 but due to supply issues HQ Prop 2.5x2.5x3 are also included as spares. My full review is here where I flew almost exclusively on the HQ 2.5x2.5x3, not because they were necessarily better but because they were less stiff and transmit less impact to what is a relatively weak motor (see my review for more details including a response from Happymodel).

If you're new here you'll find I'm never satisfied with status quo and like to tinker. Propellers and batteries are dispoable items so I've chosen to share the outcome of my tinkering with these. What I did find however is that this quad is very sensitive to these combinations and although some improvements can be had, there are also some very poor combinations that are inefficient and noisy with less than stellar performance.

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8 Comments

MOBULA7 UPGRADE: More power with better battery connector

5/2/2019

21 Comments

 
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Introduction
In order to run 2s, the Mobula 7 comes standard with 2 x PH2.0 connectors that allow you to run 2 x 1s batteries in series. When running in series the strength of the connection is determined by the weakest link in that circuit. The strength of connection determines the maximum current that can pass and the voltage drop that results. Although it works this system has a very low current overhead from a design perspective - 2 x budget PH2.0 connectors with the dreaded 'folded' pin and very lightweight 26AWG wire. All this adds up to a lot of voltage drop when even reasonable current is pulled - something all will be familiar with on the mobula where you see voltage drop to scary levels (6v and below) during punches even when you have a full battery. Although it recovers almost immediately it does mean you don't get access to the battery's full voltage potential.

New Update: Read here how to convert your 1s batteries to a 2s battery
This is the second article in my series of HappyModel Mobula7 upgrades, many of which can be used for the Trashcan too. Also to come are:
  • Swapping to a much more durable frame​
  • tuning betaflight filters more specifically for brushless whoops, 
  • converting to run 'props out' 
  • propeller upgrades. 
  • receiver range improvement
  • modding your 1s battery to be a proper 2s
All links will be updated here when completed. Many of these I've completed the work and am testing at present - it's starting to feel like a more complete little quad now. If you're looking for my review including setup it can be found here
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JST connectors are very cheap, light and perfect for this application
How to improve the situation
Now that we are through the dreaded theory we can get on to the solution. To cut to the chase I will be moving to a true 2s battery connection with a JST connector and this is why:
  • 1 x JST connector will allow much more current than 2 poor quality PH2.0 connectors
  • 20-22AWG (guage) wire has a lot less voltage drop that the 26AWGwire included
As a bonus this makes it more durable. Although I used a 20AWG in this walthrough, I'd recommend these 22AWG ones because they are much more easy to solder and manage. In order to keep you motivated I'm pleased to say this makes a significant improvement to power and reduction in battery sag, more in the conclusions at the end. 

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21 Comments

Mobula7 Walkthrough Upgrade: The best Frame for your Mobula 7

28/1/2019

11 Comments

 
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PictureThe Mobula7 v3 frame (same as the Eachine trashcan frame)
Introduction and why I like the Mobula7 better.
It's been a few months since I reviewed the HappyModel Mobula 7 (here) and have more recently reviewed the Eachine Trashcan here. Since reviewing the Trashcan I've been flying the Mobula 7 more and find I actually prefer it. Why? Even thought the image quality is better I can't get used to the narrow vertical field of view on the traschan's EOS2 16:9 camera and I find the 0803 motors on the trashcan draw too much power on without delivering a whole lot more speed. The Mobula7's major downside is the frame which breaks easily even though the v2 frame is an improvement and e6000 glue (as tested here) is great for repairs.

For this reason I've written an article for newcomers on how to upgrade to the V3 (trashcan) frame which completely addresses the strength issues.

This is the first article in my series of HappyModel Mobula7 upgrades, many of which can be used for the Trashcan too. Also to come are:
  • installing a better battery connector,
  • tuning betaflight filters more specifically for brushless whoops,
  • converting to run 'props out'
  • propeller upgrades.
  • receiver range improvement
  • modding your 1s battery to be a proper 2s
All links will be updated here when completed. Many of these I've completed the work and am testing at present - it's starting to feel like a more complete little quad now.
Instead of just writing about it, please see the steps below with captions. Click on the picture to embiggen
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1. Remove all of the motor plugs from main wires. You can just pull the wires but I'd recommed small needle-nosed pliers to pull on the plugs instead
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2. Shown here with all 4 motor wires removed.
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3. Use the included Phillips head screwdriver to remove the 3 screws that secure the canopy to the frame. Don't lose them!

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11 Comments

Eachine Trashcan: Improving the Beeper with software only

7/1/2019

4 Comments

 
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Introduction
​Recently I've reviewed the Eachine Trashcan and in many ways it is superior to the Mobula7 as I found in my review here. One omission from the trashcan though compared to the Mobula7 is the lack of a physical beeper. On the upside though is that the trashcan (like most other brushless quads) uses Dshot as the ESC protocol meaning you can use the motors as a beeper. This is in fact immediately available on the Trashcan with some simple software changes which I will outline below.


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4 Comments

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