Fatshark Battery Mod: 18650 Cells!!

Closed up and partially charged
Closed up and partially charged

Anyone else hate their Fatshark batteries? I have two of the newer style ones and they both are horrible. Really high internal resistance, IR, from the start. So I finally got around to creating an 18650 version of the fatshark battery mods. Why 18650? While they are Lithium Ion they are listed at a 4.2 max. They are readily available. They are cheap. What more could you ask for? In a slightly bigger package I am cramming 3400mah versus 1800mah… and a better IR.

So let’s get started, what do you need?

** When you buy from DigiKey I suggest ordering more. I also suggest ordering some 2S, 3S, 4S and higher plugs so that you save on shipping.

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2016 PNW Drone Nationals Qualifier

Whew what a weekend. Flew up to Bend, Oregon for the Pacific North West Drone Nationals Qualifier. Flew up after work Friday and was home by 9:00AM on Sunday morning. Sadly I didn’t get to spend too much time in Bend other than attending the race. The race was a mixed bag. While I tied for 3rd after Qualifying I ended up taking 5th due to a mid-air in the final race right at the start. I did finally qualify for Drone Nationals though!!! BUT I will not be attending it as I have conflicts and cannot make it. Thankfully we were able to pass the “golden ticket” onto the next person in line so at least he can now go!

The big thing was the race format was very interesting, at least I had never seen anything like that before. We were given one practice round and then three qualifying rounds. If you qualified well you continued on, if you didn’t you were done. Now the people that qualified 1-5 had a race. The person that won that race moved onto the “finals” and were given the “golden ticket”. The person that qualified #6 would then enter the race against the remainder of the people from 1-5 taking the place of the other person. So on and so forth until all the “tickets” were given out. Because FlyingBearFPV (Ken) was already qualified and the fact I gave up my ticket, they ended up having 7 of these races to find who got those last two spots. This “format” really favors the people that qualify well.

Favorite Props

I am often asked what props I am currently using! Well I want to express my love for my GemFan PC5050-3BN! These props produce a ton of power at the low end and they are extremely durable. The PC Props are made out of a special polycarbonate that GemFan produces and they have a ton of strength. I can often get through multiple crashes on a single prop. Of course I always recommend swapping out props that have been bent back in place multiple times… it’s just good practice. Often I see people flying and trying to tune a quad that has a prop that has been re-bent many times.

Best Props around!
Gemfan PC5050-3BN Best Props around! Very durable and tons of power!!!