Recently I had a first look at the Eachine Lal5 - a new 5 inch freestlye quadcopter from Eachine with built in 4k recording and massive 6s 2507 motors. At the time it flew well but I felt it was overpowered (and overweight) for a 5 inch quad. There were a few minor build issues that also affected the quality of video transmission. Shortly after release, Eachine announced that initial models should have had nylon screws rather than steel for the Caddx tarsier stack to fix the video issues and recommended this upgrade on the early models. They also released 6 and 7 inch arms based on popular demand. For this review I've chosen to show you how to complete these upgrades and what you can expect from performance when you do. Here's a teaser - it is much improved Correcting the video feed The video feed on the Lal5 suffers 2 issues: firstly the steel screws on the stack in the early models create electrical noise in the video feed and secondly the low profile antenna is easily obstrcted by the frame and battery.
With these two fixes in places I found the following - electrical noise (when quad was armed) was noticably reduced but more importantly signal quality regardless of quad orientation was greatly improved.
I chose the 40mm ones and soldered these inline after cutting the motor wires where I wanted them place. Not difficult but it is time consuming. I also took the opportunity to swap motor locations in order to run props out - solely for the purpose of keeping grass and mud off the HD portion of the tarsier camera. The end result of these changes is that the larger props are better suited to lift the weight of this heavy quad and efficiency has improved a lot as a result. This is definitely a change I'd recommend if you have the 1850kv variant of the motor and can run on 6s (I us an 80% throttle cut) on 5s or for more gentle cruising on 4s. This efficiency and the ability to now effectively carry larger batteries as well as a vastly improved video signal makes it an ideal candidate for longer range and I've since installed a $10 GPS to give me accurate speed measurement but moreso the ability to run rescue mode if I happen to get out of control range. If you want a tutorial on this install please comment here or on my facebook page and if there is interest I'll write it up. Conclusion In hindsight Eachine have now changed to nylon screws for the tarsier stack but it is a shame they haven't improved on the VTX antenna from stock. That said the fix is neither difficult nor expensive. Although it's probably a matter of taste or opinion I find the 6 inch props are significantly better suited to this quad with a similar level of control but vastly improved efficiency particularly away from full throttle. Upgrading to these or the 7 inch arms/props makes it much more suitable for long range by simple GPS addition. In my opinion these changes makes this otherwise nicely speccd quad better balanced and rounded - certainly with the Tarsier 4k hd cam it becomes suitable for recording freestyle, cruising and long range adventures. Thanks for reading, if you found this article useful please feel free to like or share, the facebook links below directly link/like this article. Links are affiliated and help me buy the bits I need to produce this type of content. If you are looking for quads or parts check out my coupons and discounts page which I keep updated with only the parts and quads I like at a proper discount Parts used
10 Comments
DRZ
27/1/2020 05:04:43 pm
Hi, thanks for this good upgrade. Can you write a post how install a GPS in this LAL 5?. Thanks DRZ
Reply
Quadify RC
28/1/2020 10:34:11 pm
Sure, I haven't installed yet so I'll make sure I document
Reply
drisky
20/2/2020 05:50:22 am
Yes, I'd like a tutorial on installing GPS as well.
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Arkady Zilberman
23/6/2021 07:21:41 am
Thanks!
Reply
QuadifyRC
23/6/2021 03:09:40 pm
Haha good spotting. No reason other than me needing a 32 bit ESC for another quad. Stock one worked well
Reply
Bruno Mateus
5/10/2022 02:23:03 am
I have model 4 with 2450kv engines, wouldn't it work to upgrade to 7" correct? Could it be if I used a beeper with a higher pitch, would I gain some more flight time?
Reply
QuadifyRC
15/10/2022 10:28:16 pm
Hi Bruno. 2450kV is a bit too high for a 7 inch prop, even on 4s in my opinion. You could limit max throttle as an option but it will pull quite a bit of current
Reply
Andrea
16/11/2022 12:45:04 pm
Hi! tnk soo much for the review. I have a question. I'm trying to upload the Fc and I read that I need to select MATEKF405. but at the moment on Betaflight I have these all variation and no one seem to be the same of Lal 5:
Reply
QuadifyRC
28/11/2022 10:59:40 am
Hi Andrea, I'm afraid I am a little out of practice on Betaflight at present. I would start with Matek405 STD since it should be a generic board layout
Reply
Andrea
25/12/2022 06:25:37 am
Yes, i discovered that std mean standard. Tnk!! Leave a Reply. |
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