​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.

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.

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 -

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:

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.

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

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.

Instead of just writing about it, please see the steps below with captions. Click on the picture to embiggen

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.