Already six years old, this drone was much fun to repair and fly. So I've been stumbling around auction sites looking for old drones to practise my repair and flying skills. A problem with FPV is the cost; simulators are not a perfect way to avoid IRL crashes. So I've wanted to get cheap secondhand drones, so I don't need to worry so much about breaking something.
(Image source: Banggood, used without permission, cropped)
Auction Pro-tip
Seller having a clear-out? Collect in person and take cash.
I had purchased some other Eachine drones from an online auction, and looking at his other listing, he was probably having a clear-out. Perhaps his inner Marie Kondo suggested he spark some joy in his wallet. This is a great time to take a bit of extra cash! He had plenty of other stuff available, which he didn't think was worthwhile listing, so we negotiated a price. And that's how I came into possession of the Qachine QX95 micro-drone with a bunch of spare parts.
And here's the pile of junk. It includes one drone (probably working), about 8-10 batteries, two broken drones, chargers, spare propellers, propeller tools and many other spares.
And here's the drone in person. I added the propeller guards because I intend to fly this drone indoors. Adhesives barely attach the LED tail-light strip. The manual is surprisingly good - just enough technical detail without being too verbose.
Specifications
In this section, we're going to dive into the specifications of this fantastic piece of technology and get a better understanding of its design, performance, camera, battery life, and all the other cool features. I scoured the online arcana and read the manual to get the most accurate information. And guess what? I've put together a handy-dandy list of all the specs for you! So, whether you're looking to upgrade or repair a QX95 or want to reminisce its glory days, let's rediscover its specs together!
| Spec | Description |
|---|---|
| Brand & Model | Eachine QX95 (Flysky) |
| Size | 125 x 85mm (without prop guards) |
| Weight | 40g (without battery or prop guards) |
| Flight weight | ~60g with battery and prop guards |
| Battery type | 1S LiPo 600mah 25C |
| Camera | 520 TVL HD CMOS ¼ in AIO VTX and camera |
| Motors | Quad 8520 brushed. (8.5mm x 20mm) |
| Props | 55mm bi-bladed |
| VTX | Analog 5.8Ghz 25mW 32ch - DIP switches |
| Flight time | ~5 minutes |
| Flight controller | SP Racing F3 EVO Brushed |
| Software | CleanFlight 1.13 |
| Lights | Tail strip of 4 multi-coloured reactive LEDs |
VTX
The frequency is selected by setting tiny DIP switches on the back of the camera. DIP (Dual In-line Package) switches, now largely obsolete, are a bank of small switches used to adjust the settings of electronic devices by manually flipping them to on or off positions.
The most critical switch is 6, which selects between PAL (up) and NTSC (down). I left these alone and let my goggles auto-scan until they found the quad's video signal. There's a handy table in the manual if I wanted to set a specific video frequency, say to reduce interference or improve image quality in situations such as crowded events, urban areas, or areas with many other FPV pilots flying at the same time, as these tend to have congested radio frequencies.
Getting it running
The first job was to charge the batteries and verify that the drone worked. Thankfully there was an ample supply of chargers, and I soon had batteries ready. Next, I powered on the drone and used my goggles to search for a signal. The goggles automatically locked on, so that's progress - at least the video works. The downside? There's no OSD!
An OSD (On-Screen Display) shows real-time flight information superimposed over the video feed, such as flight time and battery voltage. This information can be handy for pilots as it allows us to monitor the performance of our drone during flight without having to look away from the screen. An OSD is typically built into the drone's flight controller and is connected to the video transmitter (VTX). Having an OSD is an essential feature for many FPV pilots, as it helps to increase flight safety and improve overall flight experience.
The next step was to try binding the controller. I own the excellent Radiomaster TX16S Mark II Max with the multi-protocol receiver module. A quick check online suggested that this should bind. The Flysky version of this drone has a bind button, so the binding process was relatively easy. The LEDs on the flight controller blinked their message that I had successfully bound the drone to the controller.
Unfortunately, it took an age to program the controller. I'm not used to this task, so it was a few hours of trial and error. The biggest problem was setting the correct channel order for Flysky protocol - AETR1234 (1 dis/arm, 2 flight modes). Beware because this drone's Frsky and DSM2 protocol versions use TAER1234 order.
AETR stands for "Aileron, Elevator, Throttle, Rudder" and is a commonly used channel order for controlling First Person View (FPV) drones. Unfortunately, the channel names come from model aeroplanes rather than quadcopters, so the terminology is awkward. The Aileron channel controls the drone's roll, the Elevator channel controls the pitch, and the Rudder channel controls the yaw. Finally, the throttle controls the speed at which the propellers move.
The "gotcha" for me was that the drone would not automatically spin up the motors when the drone was armed. I had to arm the quad and then bring up the throttle. The first time I did this, the drone launched off the table, hit the ceiling, bounced off the wall and landed near the dog—props off on the workbench - hmm.
Spare parts
A drone will need spare parts because of the inevitable crashes and breakages in FPV. Although this drone came with many spares, Murphy's law dictates that the thing that breaks will be something I don't have in reserve. The continued availability of spares (or substitutes) is an important and underrated factor in putting time and money into a drone. Thankfully, there's still a good supply of spares.
There's a good range of 3d printable parts available on Thingiverse.
https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=qx95&type=things&sort=relevant
And it turns out some spares are still available!
https://www.eachine.com/search.html?keywords=qx95e
And if I can add substitute/upgrade parts if necessary.
First flights
There is no OSD which is weird. There's also a lot of fisheye on the camera lens, so my depth perception is affected. As a result, the drone was quite uncontrollable. That is until I realised that air mode was off and it was in some auto-levelling mode. Air-mode is a quadcopter feature that changes how the controls react. It allows the user to maintain altitude even when pitching and rolling the craft, making it easier to perform acrobatic manoeuvres. Once I figured that out, I compensated and flew the rest of the battery quite well. Okay, I lied. I got the drone tangled in my hair.
The QX95 uses Cleanflight software, so I downloaded the configurator and looked around. I'm new to FPV, so I only know a little about the software's lineages. Cleanflight configurator looked to me just like Betaflight but with things missing. I turned on Air-mode and set Acro mode by default. Now the drone flies properly!
Now the drone flies quite well. It has more power than my EMax Tinyhawk 3 but has less turn authority. It's easiest to think of the drone as a T, with the propellers at the top and the weight at the bottom, so control felt like a pendulum. I also learned to velcro the battery further forward to shift the balance point in a more helpful direction. Nothing worse than flying a rear-heavy quad!
Impressions and Conclusions
As a fun cruiser and practice quad, this is pretty decent. It's weird flying without an OSD, so I could only tell the batteries were low by judging how much the Throttle was sagging. This drone is relatively fragile, so I avoided stunt flying and banished Miko from the room. But the drone survived the few crashes I had well enough. The quad handled breezes better than my Tinyhawk 3, too - perhaps due to the broader footprint. A car metaphor for the flight feel would be the difference between driving a zippy hatch-back (the Tinyhawk 3) and an old mid-range sedan without power steering and a mushy accelerator.
So, I enjoyed my time as a practice project getting a quad up and running, plus experiencing the trials of antique (six years old) drones. The Eachine QX95 won't be my daily flier, but I can see myself bringing it out now and then. It'll be quite a talking piece!
As a new FPV pilot, this project gave me an appreciation for how far the gear has come.