Tron Wings Without The Crash

So, you want your drone to look like it flew straight out of Tron. A noble goal. The obvious choice is EL wire: it's light, low-drain, and won't melt your foam. It seems like the perfect solution for some slick, futuristic night flying without sacrificing precious minutes of flight time. As you've probably guessed, there's a catch.

The tiny inverter that powers the wire has a dark side. It emits a high-pitched whine that’s annoying, sure, but the real concern is the electromagnetic interference. That little box has the potential to throw your GPS and flight controller into a state of utter confusion, which is generally considered a bad thing when your aircraft is several hundred feet in the air.

The solution, thankfully, is less dramatic than the problem. Before you even think about carving up a wing, do a bench test. Power up the inverter, stick it right next to your electronics, and see if anything throws a wobbly. It's the boring but essential step that prevents a cool project from becoming a retrieval mission. You can see Painless360 start the process right here:

Bottom line: EL wire is a fantastic option, provided you do your homework. Test for interference, and you'll be fine. If you want to dive into the full technical breakdown and see all the data, we've laid it all out in our original, much longer post. Read it before you buy anything.