I am a Vienna based software engineer, I build software mainly for the web and embedded devices. In my spare time I enjoy reviewing tech gear, ripping quads of all shapes and sizes, coding and generally making stuff.

You can find me on YouTube, Instagram, Thingiverse, Printables and GitHub. If you want to stay up to date with this blog, simply join the Brushlesswhoop facebook page.

I started with quadcopters over a decade ago when a friend of mine asked me to help him with their DIY quadcopter. This was long before FPV quadcopters were popular and parts for quads were readily available. Soon after my friends copter was finished I started to build my own. Back then we used Aluminimu profiles and gyros and accelorometers from the Wii remotes. I even built my own transmitter from an old PC joystick, simply because I could not get used to those box styled radios. My goal back then was always to have something small that I could fly indoors (I live in a densely populated city, so just hopping outside and rip a couple packs with a 5” is simply not an option) - jump a couple of years ahead and here we are - all my wishes came true.

I always try to find a good value to price ratio with the gear I am using. There are certain brands I like to support because I think it is worth supporting them, but generally I don’t have too high brand loyalty and would refrain from buying something just because it is of a certain brand.

Especially in the quadcopter hobby you are breaking so much stuff that you have to think twice if it is really worth for you to pay a premium for something or if the cheaper version is “good enough”.

That being said, I also try to stay away from clones as much as possible. Sometimes this distinction is hard to make, but with frames for example it is pretty obvious and I would prefer to pay the markup in order to support the original creator. Developing new things takes time and often times even money.

Gear I use

I sometimes get asked what gear I recommend, thus I thought I’d compile a list of stuff that I use on a regular. The quads you fly will probably change quite a bit, but there is some stuff that you do not exchange too often:

  • RC Transmitter: For a long time the Taranis X-Lite Pro was my goto radio - I really enjoy this form factor of transmitter. Gamepad shaped and running OpenTX. The pro version also has integrated charging via USB port. But be aware - this model does no longer support D8 receivers. I do not really like the politics that FrSky is currently following, but this controller is for me one of the few ones that I like for it’s form.

    Since ELRS came out and FrSky kind of turned their back on FPV I am running the Jumper T-Lite V2 with integrated ELRS module. This radio comes with a nano module bay so you can attach a Multi-Protocol module or even a CRSF module.

    The form factor is great, it could be slightly bigger for my hands, but if you are into gamepad-shaped controllers, the T-Lite is definitely worth a try.

  • Goggles: Skyzone Sky03O - I bought them a couple of weeks before the FatShark HDO2 came out and for me they are still the better option since they come with integrated diversity receivers and I can use custom diopters. If I would just start out with the hobby, and the size of the googles would not matter I would recommend going with the DJI HD FPV system and an external, analog receiver, preferably RapidFire.

  • Battery Charger: ISDT Q6 Pro BattGo - in my opinion ISDT is producing some of the greatest chargers on the market. Reliable, powerful and great design. For my 1S needs I really like the UP-S6AC 1S battery charger: you can charge six 1S batteries at once and you can power it either from mains or in the field via a regular 3-4S battery with XT60 connector.

  • Parallel Charging board: XT30 parallel charging board - I like to parallel charge, why waste time if you can charge six batteries at once? If you keep some basic safety precautions, parallel charging is no more dangerous than charging single batteries.

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Affiliation and Ethics

As mentioned above, I am not affiliated with a certain brand, but I am part of some affiliate programs, namely Banggood, BetaFPV, Makerfire and Vifly. So if you follow one of my links to one of their product listings, I will get a small cut of whatever you buy. This does not cost you anything extra. The companies basically pay me to drive some traffic to their sites.

Sometimes companies also send me stuff for free to take a look at. In those cases I mention that in my article. I am not taking money to write an article, but free product can be seen as a form of payment nonetheless.

I only review stuff that I have actually tried out myself for a reasonable amount of time. I want people to value and trust my opinion - this is more important to me than getting a commission from a person one time and this person never coming back because they are under the impression I am shilling stuff just for the $$$.

There is a couple of companies who no longer send me stuff, since I was too critical about their product(s). It is not my style to shame in public: I first attempt to sort it out with the company in question, tell them about the issues I have found with their product. Everyone makes mistakes, the important thing is how you handle those mistakes and that you learn something from them and not repeat them again.

As I mentioned above, my main source of income is software development, I write this blog simply because I like writing, improving my english language skills and hope to help some other people out with the information I can provide. Maybe even get some new people into this great hobby. As long as the income from ads and affiliate commissions pays the bills for running this site, I am happy - and this does not take much.