BetaFlight 4.4 Setup Guide
This page is just a text dump of my setup process for new quad builds with flight controllers running Betaflight 4.4 with Betaflight Configurator 10.7 If following this guide with Configurator 10.10 or later please keep in mind that some functions may have been moved to different tabs.
1. Before You Start
This guide takes you through the process of setting up a new drone with Betaflight 4.4
When following this guide, I will assume that you have already done the following.
1. Set up a model profile on your transmitter and done all mixing settings for Aux channels.
2. Bind your receiver to your transmitter / module and set your desired transmit rate on the transmitter and receiver. This can be done with the LUA script on the transmitter for most common links.
3. Complete any Tx Rx firmware updates and confirmed that the link is working.
4. Video Setup:
Analog: Power up the VTX on the bench before mounting it in the drone possible and check that you are seeing a video feed in the goggles. Set the VTX power to the lowest level with button press on the VTX unit if possible.
Digital: Bind the VTX to the goggles and check you are seeing a video feed in the goggles. Set the VTX power to the lowest level.
5. Things to make a note of before starting Betaflight Settings
* Motor Poles – Count how many magnets your motors have around the bell.
* Transmit Rate – What rate have you set on your receiver for the TX RX link
* UARTs Used – What UART is the Receiver, VTX (MSP or Smart Audio / Tramp), GPS soldered to.
6. ESC Firmware – What firmware and the PWM Frequency in Hz.
If your ESC is using BLS (BLHeli S) firmware, I suggest that you upgrade it to a 32Bit bi-directional firmware like Bluejay before starting Betaflight setings. In fact, throughout this guide I will assume that you are working with an ESC which has 32Bit bi-directional firmware.
NOTE: EdgeTX / OpenTX – In this guide, I will assume your transmitter is using one of these operating systems. These are the most popular operating systems for transmitters today. If your transmitter is running another operating system, you will have to do your best to follow along. EdgeTX is a fork of the OpenTX project and has now become the most widely used software. In this guide I will refer to EdgeTX instead of saying “EdgeTX or OpenTX”.
2. ADC Filter and Extended Limits
ADC Filter – Check that the ADC Filter is disabled on your transmitter. Navigate to the HARDWARE menu in EdgeTX, scroll down the page and make sure that ADC Filter is unchecked. The ADC Filter is a radio based setting, so it only has to be done once – not every time you set up a new model profile. However, if you update your transmitter firmware, you should check again that it is disabled.
Extended Limits – In the MODEL MENU in EdgeTX go to the SETUP page and check that Extended Limits is enabled for this model. Extended limits will allow us to setup and calibrate the sticks and their endpoint values later in the setup process.
3. Check for Wiring Problems and Short Circuits
Preferred Method – Use a smoke stopper and connect the battery to it to power the drone. Connect and disconnect a few times to check. If you don’t have a smoke stopper, then buy one. We will continue to use the smoke stopper during the setup process up to the stage where we set up the motors.
Non-Preferred Method – The alternative method is to use a multimeter, and this is not as safe as using a smoke stopper. Check for continuity between pos and neg on the battery connector connected to your flight controller. If you have soldered a capacitor to the battery pads on the flight controller, there may be a short beep when you connect the multimeter as this capacitor discharges. Swap the multimeter probes over and check neg and pos again. If the multimeter shows no continuity, then you are okay to proceed with the setup process.
If either of these methods indicates a short – DO NOT PROCEED. You need to go back and check your wiring, find out why, and fix it. Even if it means disassembling the drone. Go part by part till you find and fix the problem.
4. Electronics and Peripherals Checks
Connect the battery still using the smoke stopper and check that the RX, flight controller, VTX and / or GPS’s lights are all blinking or on. Use your goggles to check the VTX is transmitting. At this stage all electronic components should be getting power, so If any of the components are not lighting up, go back to your wiring and find the problem.
If you have a beeper connected, it may be going off constantly. This is very distracting when working on a drone on the bench. If so, connect to Betaflight and go to the Configuration Tab. On the right hand side find the Beeper Configuration section and disable all options. The ones you really want can be re-enabled at the end of the setup process.
For DJI and Walksnail VTX setups, bind the air unit to the goggles if not already done and set the unit power to 25mw and also turn on over-temp protection. Leave the digital air unit set like this until after the setup process is complete.
For analog VTX units, if there is a button combination on the board that can be pressed to put the unit into low power mode, then it is best to do this at this stage.
(Refer to your user manual for the VTX to see how and if this can be done on your VTX)
Ensure your receiver is bound to your transmitter. This is usually indicated by a steady light instead of a flashing one. You can confirm the connection by running your protocol’s LUA script from the Tools section in the System Settings on your transmitter. You will see your receiver listed somewhere in these settings, and you can select it to see the details such as power and rate. This indicates that your receiver is bound to the transmitter.
Once you have checked and confirmed the above, disconnect the battery.
5. Backup Initial Firmware Settings
Do a “Dump All” and “Diff All” to save the flight controller’s initial firmware settings.
Doing a “dump all” allows you to save the default settings specific to your flight controller to your computer. “diff all” saves just the settings that are different to BetaFlight default firmware.
Connect the flight controller to a computer with a USB cable and connect to Betaflight.
Go to the CLI tab in BetaFlight, type “dump all” and hit enter. It may take a while for the process to finish. When it’s done, click the “Save to File” button and save a copy to your computer. Do the same with the “diff all” command.
6. Receiver Setup
Connect to BetaFlight and go to the Ports Tab. You will need to know which UART (Rx Tx) pads on the flight controller you soldered the receiver to when you installed all the electronics. On the Ports Tab, enable Serial Rx on whichever UART the receiver is connected to. Then Save and Reboot.
Connect to BetaFlight and go to the Receiver Tab
Receiver Mode – Set to Serial (via UART) if using ELRS, Crossfire or Ghost
Serial Receiver Provider – Set the Receiver type for your receiver (Example CRSF if using ELRS, Crossfire or Ghost)
Does your flight controller power the receiver from USB power. If not, you will also need to connect the battery when doing the below proceedure.
First, disconnect the USB cable and Battery if connected, and then turn on your transmitter before connecting the USB cable to power on the receiver (and plug in the battery also if needed). This will allow the transmitter to link with the receiver. Check that the light on the receiver is on steady, indicating that a link is established.
Receiver Tab
Check that all the top 4 (AERT) bars move when you move the transmitter sticks. Don’t worry about them being in the correct order for now.
Then check that the Aux channel bars move when you flip the Aux switches on your transmitter. If you’re not getting movement on some channels or Aux channels or nothing at all go back and check your settings and confirm that the receiver is bound to the transmitter.
The next step is to adjust the channel order for the first 4 channels (Example – AERT) if needed. If the channel indicator bars are not aligning with your stick movements, check the channel map on the top right of the screen is correct and adjust as needed. There are 2 ways to do this.
The Automatic Way – In the “Channel Map” section click on the dropdown (where it says something like AERT1234) and choose either FRSky/Futaba/Hitec or Spektrum/Graupner/JR and see if any of these options works.
The Manual Way – On your transmitter, go to the model menu in EdgeTX, tab across to the Mixes page and see what order the channels are in. Type the letters in the same order in the Receivers Tab in Betaflight and save.
The Really Manual Way – On the Receivers Tab Where it says something like “TAER1234”, you can type directly over the letters to re-order them and click save at the bottom of the screen. You can change the order of these letters until your sticks are working correctly.
Check that no channel is reversed. Move the sticks and make sure the bars move in the correct direction. If they don’t, on your radio in Edge TX go to the “Inputs” screen. make sure all the input values say 100 not -100. If so then check if that is the channel that is reversed (the one you are trying to fix). If so then go into that channel and select the “Weight” setting and change it to positive 100 instead. Also check the “Mixes” screen and once again check for any values that are -100 instead of 100. Also check the “outputs” screen and make sure that no channels are inverted. If so they will be indicated with “INV”. Change as needed.
In Betaflight Receivers tab, in the “RSSI Signal Strength” section, disable RSSI_ADC. Just above this also disable “Telemetry” unless you know for sure that your receiver protocol needs these. Most modern receiver protocols don’t need these because the receiver sends this information automatically to the flight controller. If you disabled telemetry, save and reboot.
RC Smoothing
The RC Smoothing section is at the bottom of the right-hand side of the screen. You can adjust these settings directly from this screen. However, it is better to go to the Presets Tab and under the Categories drop down choose RC_LINK.
Then from the list below choose the RC Link and Transmit Rate that your receiver is operating on, and in the pop-up window choose your options for flying style, RX connection method and so on. Close the dropdown and click on Pick. Then click on Save and Reboot.
Reconnect to Betaflight and go to the Receiver Tab. Your RC Smoothing settings have now been set correctly.
7. Transmitter End and Mid Points Calibration
Set the end points on your transmitter to suit this particular flight controller.
On the Receiver Tab when fully deflecting the sticks, the bars should go from 1000 to 2000 and be at exactly 1500 when centered.
You will almost always need to make adjustments here when setting up a new quad.
First, in Betaflight on the Receivers Tab it will say something like “TAER1234”. This is channel order. make a note of this on a piece of paper. In the next step when working on the transmitter the channels will just be numbered. So if you refer to your piece of paper as in the example you will see that Ch1 is the first letter “T” throttle. This is how you know what channel you are adjusting on the transmitter in the step below.
In EdgeTX in the go into the Model Menu and tab across to the “Outputs” screen for the model, select each channel individually. Tab to move over to the second and third columns and adjust end point values. Or on a game style transmitter, enter each channel’s sub-screen to change the settings.
Refer to the values shown in the Betaflight Receiver tab as you change the values in EdgeTX till the values in Betaflight go from 1000 to 2000. If you are not familiar with this procedure it’s best to watch the video below to see how it’s done. Before moving on to the next channel look at the stick neutral value. it should be 1500. If not, then on your transmitter, adjust the Subtrim setting to bring the value to 1500. This setting is in the 1st column for larger transmitters and in the submenu for each channel for gamepad type transmitters.
Set RC Deadband and Yaw Deadband
With the sticks centred, if you are seeing the 1500 value fluctuate, add in some RC and / or Yaw Deadband. RC is the Aileron Elevator stick, and Yaw is Yaw and Throttle stick. I start with a value of 2 and increase more if necessary till the fluctuations stop.
Stick Low and High Threshold Values
Move the throttle stick to the high and low positions (without holding it there with pressure) and make a note of the values that are shown in Betaflight at each of these positions. Then set the “stick low threshold” to 10 more than the lowest value, and the stick high threshold to 10 less than the highest value.
Save (and Reboot if needed)
8. Modes Tab Settings
In the Betaflight Modes Tab – Set all the flight modes you wish to use such as Arming, Angle, Horizon, Beeper, Flipover etc. If you are not familiar with this procedure then watch the video explanation.
Note: If some Aux switches you wish to use are not showing in the modes tab when you flick them, check that you have set your Aux channels correctly in EdgeTX. Go into the model setup screen and cycle across to the Mixes tab to check that you have a mix for each Aux channel.
If using ELRS make sure that your arm switch is set to Channel 5 (which in most cases is Aux1). Also make sure that Arm is high and disarm is low.
9. GPS Settings
Obviously only needed if you actually soldered a GPS unit to your flight controller during setup.
In Betaflight go to the Ports Tab
For whatever UART you connected your GPS unit to enable GPS in the Sensor Input column and leave the Baud rate set to Auto.
Save and Reboot
Betaflight Configuration Tab – GPS Section at bottom
For Protocol, select UBLOX. This is the most common setting used. However, you should refer to your GPS manual and set either NMEA or UBLOX as advised.
Enable Auto Baud, Auto Config, Use Galileo and Set Home Point Once
Leave Ground Assistance Type set to None
Save and Reboot
Reconnect to Betaflight and check the yellow GPS Icon at the top of the screen to see that it is lit up. This indicates that the flight controller is communicating with the GPS.
Just to the right of that set the toggle to Enable Expert Mode. This will show the GPS tab in the column on the left of the screen.
You can check this tab to see that your GPS is supplying some data. In the GPS Signal Strength section you will see some data coming through. However you usually won’t get much data or a GPS fix unless you are outside. Nothing on this tab is configurable. It simply shows readouts.
10. VTX Settings for Analog VTX
Refer to your VTX documentation to see which protocol your VTX uses – IRC Tramp or TBS SmartAudio and also what version.
Betaflight – Ports Tab
For whichever UART the VTX is connected to, select VTX IRC Tramp or VTX TBS SmartAudio in the peripherals column
Save and Reboot.
Connect to Betaflight and Connect a battery to the drone. Go to the Video Transmitter Tab in Betaflight and look at the Current Values section on the right hand side. VTX Type should be showing the type you selected in the Ports Tab and Device Ready should be showing Yes. If it is not showing Yes, you need to troubleshoot and see what’s not working.
Load the Correct VTX Table
Go to the Presets Tab and in the Categories column dropdown select VTX
In the search bar, do a search for your particular VTX. Select it and choose the desired settings in the popup window. Then click on Pick and then Save and Reboot.
If your transmitter is not listed in the Presets Tab, you will need to set the VTX table manually as below.
To set VTX table manually, go to the Video Transmitter Tab
Without a battery plugged in, check the basic settings (top right of screen)
VTX Type: Smart Audio or Tramp
Device Ready: Should say “No” (because the battery is not plugged in)
You will now need to search on the internet to find the correct VTX table. This will either be given as text that you can copy and then use the Load from Clipboard option, or as a JSON file that you can save and load into Betaflight from the Video Transmitter Tab.
Once your VTX table has been loaded, it will show up in the Video Transmitter Tab.
Then adjust the settings as needed to customise the power levels and save and reboot. It’s a good idea to set the power level to the minimum setting while setting up the quad, and then change to the actual setting you want to use for flight at the end of the setup process. Don’t change the power values – only the labels if desired.
After saving, set a desired band and channel in the Selected Mode settings box.
Also select “On until first arm” in the Low Power Disarm section if desired
Plug in a battery and confirm it is working, and that Device Ready now shows “Yes”
OSD Tab
On the right-hand side under Video Format, check that the video format is correct according to what your actual camera is. If you don’t know what video format your camera is (PAL or NTSC) just put a display element at the bottom of OSD screen and then set the video format to NTSC. Then look in your goggles. If you see space below that element, the camera is PAL. But if the element is right at the bottom of the screen, your video format is NTSC.
Set the position of the rest of the elements on screen as desired. Set timers on the right-hand side. If using a GPS, enable GPS Sats in the OSD list.
Warnings Settings
Set the warnings to “On” then on the right-hand side select which warnings to display.
Important warnings to have enabled are listed below
Arming Disabled
Crash Flip Mode
Failsafe
GPS Rescue Disabled
GPS Rescue Unavailable
RC Smoothing Failure
Visual Beeper
Post Flight Statistics
Don’t forget to click “Save and Reboot” when done.
11. VTX Settings for Digital VTX (DJI, Walksnail or HD Zero)
Note: Use a cooling fan and connect the battery. I’m still using the smoke stopper at this stage but if your smoke stopper won’t supply the amps for your VTX then you will need to stop using it now.
Connect a LiPo battery to the quad and also power up the Goggles.
First go into the settings on the goggles and make sure the unit power is set to its lowest value so that the unit doesn’t overheat while we are doing the setup process on the bench. You might also consider using a fan to keep it cool.
BetaFlight Ports Tab – Set the toggle to active in the Configuration/MSP column for the UART that the VTX is connected to on the flight controller. Then on the same line, go across to the Peripherals column and set the dropdown to VTX (MSP + Displayport)
Save and Reboot
BetaFlight Configuration Tab – Scroll down to “Other Features” and check that OSD is enabled.
Save and Reboot if needed
If using DJI Goggles and with the air unit powered on, in the goggles go to Settings – Display – Custom OSD and set to “On”
Note: If using WTF OS with Betaflight OSD Enabled, you will need to set the Custom OSD to “Off”
To set up HD OSD, Go to the BetaFlight OSD Tab and If using Walksnail, HD Zero or DJI V1 or V2 running WTF OS, Set Video Format to HD (if not already set) and Save.
If using DJI V2 and not using DJI 03 Air Unit and also not running WTF OS
You can not currently set the canvas to HD. In the DJI Goggles go to Display menu and enable Custom OSD
If using the DJI 03 Air Unit and Goggles 2, the HD canvas may or may not work. This feature is planned to be implemented in the future.
In Betaflight, on the OSD Tab, First make sure the HD option is selected in the “Video Format” section. Then Select the elements to display on OSD and set their positions.
Check in the goggles that they are in the correct position and save.
I suggest using Battery Average Cell Voltage instead of Battery Voltage.
On the right hand side of the screen you have the Warnings and Post Flight Statistics section. Set the values you need here.
12. Check ESC Firmware Version
Check if you have BLHeliS, BLHeli_32 or AM32 firmware on your ESC.
To do this, first disconnect from Betaflight.
Open a web browser and go to https://esc-configurator.com/
Plug a battery into your drone and connect the flight controller to your computer with a USB cable.
Click on Open Port Selection in the top right of the web page and select your COM port (it will have Betaflight in the name) and then click connect in the popup window.
Then click on the round Connect button on the top right of the web page.
Click on the Read Settings button on the bottom right.
Now look at ESC 1 on the right hands side of the screen. It will tell you what version of BLHeli or Bluejay the ESC is running.
Now if your ESCs are running BLHeli_32, AM32 or Bluejay, this is what you want. This means you have 32 bit bi-directional telemetry firmware.
If, however, you see BLHeli S, this does not support bi-directional telemetry. You should flash your ESCs with Bluejay firmware before continuing with this setup guide.
Disconnect from https://esc-configurator.com/ and unplug the battery.
IMPORTANT – In fact, I will assume that you have 32 bit firmware on your ESCs for the rest of the instructions in this guide.
13. Adjust PID Loop Frequency and Set Motor Protocol
Connect to Betaflight and go to the Configuration Tab. In the System Configuration section (left hand side) the Gyro update frequency will be automatically selected according to the type of Gyro your flight controller has.
Make a note of the PID Loop Frequency shown on this tab. Then go to the Motors Tab and set your ESC / Motor Protocol depending on what PID loop frequency you set up in the previous step.
If your PID Loop frequency is 8K – choose DSHOT600
If your PID Loop frequency is between 3.2K and 4K choose DSHOT300
If your PID Loop frequency is 2K or below – choose DSHOT150
Then on the Motors Tab in the section “ESC/Motor Features”, make sure that MOTOR_STOP is disabled.
Set the Bidirectional DShot toggle to “on” (and agree to the popup if there is one). This is vital to enable bidirectional DSHOT.
Set your Motor Poles value according to how many magnets you counted around the bell of your motors.
Save and Reboot
Now go back to the Configuration Tab. After you set Bidirectional DShot to “On” Betaflight may make a reassessment of the best PID Loop Frequency. So check to see if this value has changed. If it has then go to the motors tab and change the DSHOT setting according to the new PID Loop Value. Betaflight should do this automatically, but if not the use the below reference to set it.
If your PID Loop frequency is 8K – choose DSHOT600
If your PID Loop frequency is between 3.2K and 4K choose DSHOT300
If your PID Loop frequency is 2K or below – choose DSHOT150
Finally, check your CPU Load in the grey bar at the bottom of the Betaflight window. With modern flight controllers, you would like to be seeing a value below 50%. If the CPU Load is showing above 80% drop the PID Loop Frequency a bit lower and check again.
14. Set the ESC / Motor Settings
Betaflight Motors Tab
For the procedure below and from now on you can stop using the smoke stopper if you haven’t already.By this time you have powered on the drone multiple times with the smoke stopper connected, so if it hasn’t tripped by now you can consider it safe.
To check that DSHOT and telemetry are working correctly, with props removed, plug in a battery and on the right-hand side enable “I understand the risks” to allow you to spin up each motor with the sliders above. Spin up each motor in turn just a little and hold there for a few seconds. Errors (The E value in red below) should preferrably be zero or less than 1%. If errors are shown above 3% reduce your DSHOT setting and re-test.
When done, disconnect the battery.
Motor Order and Rotation Direction
In Betaflight go to the Motors Tab. (ensure your props are removed)
Connect your battery.
Place the drone on a flat surface facing away from you, as in the diagram on the Motors Tab.
Click the Reorder Motors button and in the popup window select “I understand the risks” and then click start. The motors will start spinning (pulsing) one at a time. Click on the motor on the diagram that is spinning (pulsing)
Click on Save and reconnect to Betaflight. Always do a second test to make sure the changes have been saved.
Place the drone on a flat surface facing away from you again.
Click the Motors Direction button In the popup window select “I understand the risks” and then click on either Wizard or Individually.
The motors will start spinning either all together if using the wizard, or one at a time as initiated by you if you selected Individually. I like to choose Individually and put a small piece of tape on each motor as I test it. I think it’s easier to feel which side of my finger the tape is hitting.
Make sure the motors are spinning in the same direction as in the image on the Betaflight Motors Tab. If not, then reverse the motor direction.
Click on Save and reconnect to Betaflight. Always do a second test to make sure the changes have been saved.
Note: The above functionality works almost all the time, but sometimes for some unknown reason with some flight controllers the motor order and direction wizzard might not work. In this case you will need to make changes the manual methods.
Manual Method for Motor Order
This is a bit of an involved process so watch the video below on how to change motor order.
Manual Method for Motor Direction
Another option for changing motor direction is to use either the https://esc-configurator.com/ website for Bluejay ESC firmware or BL_Heli32 Configurator for BLHeli32 firmware and reverse the direction of the ESCs using that website / software.
15. Setting the Dynamic Idle Value
Reconnect to Betaflight and go to the PID Tuning Tab.
On the right hand side toward the bottom you will see a section titled Throttle and Motor Settings.
In the is section, set the Dynamic Idle Value according to the table below. Remember that the number you enter is multiplied by 100. So 35 is 3500RPM. This overrides and disables the previously used Motor Idle value on the Motors tab, and is actually a better method of controlling minimum idle speeds.
1.6 Inch 94
2 Inch 75
3 Inch 50
3.5 Inch 43
4 Inch 38
5 Inch 30
6 Inch 25
7 Inch 22
8 Inch 19
Note: These are a good, safe place to start. After you have your quad all set up, and If you have enough flying experience to be able to distinguish prop wash at low throttle in manoeuvres, then you can start lowering this value until you start to get some prop wash, and then back it off a bit. On some builds, you may be able to get down to 20 to 25 on a 5 inch quad for example.
Save when done
16. System Checks
In the CLI Tab, type “Tasks” into the box and hit enter. In the generated list, check the rate/Hz column value for Gyro and PID. These should be the same or within 5% of the values of your Gyro Update Frequency and PID Loop Frequency on the Configuration tab. (Example – If your Gyro Update Frequency and PID Loop Frequency was set to 3.2K 3.2K in the Configuration Tab then the Gyro and PID values shown in the task list should be showing about 3100. You can’t change the Gyro Update frequency, but if the PID Loop Frequency is more than 5% less than the setting you chose in the Configuration Tab then go back to the Configuration Tab and lower the PID Loop Frequency setting and test again. Remember that lowering your PID Loop Frequency may also require you to change the Bidirectional DSHOT setting (8K is for DSHOT600, 2.3K to 4K is for DSHOT300 and so on)
As a final check, look across to the MaxLoad column of the tasks readout on the PID line. The value should be under 80%.
17. Flight Controller Board Alignment
Disconnect from Betaflight, unplug the battery and also disconnect the USB cable.
Place the drone facing away from you on a flat surface. If your drone doesn’t sit flat on a surface then use a glass to level the frame.
Then reconnect the USB cable and Connect to Betaflight.
In the Setup Tab, click on the Reset Z Axis button and then click Calibrate Accelerometer button.
Then check the board alignment by moving the quad and checking the image on screen rotates the same way. If it doesn’t, go to the Configuration Tab and then in the Board and Sensor Alignment section, change the settings for Roll, Pitch or Yaw Degrees 90 degrees at a time until you have the quad aligned correctly.
If you change any of these settings make sure you again calibrate the accelerometer.
18. Maximum Arm Angle
In BetaFlight – Configuration Tab, on the left-hand side – scroll down to the Arming section.
If you set the Maximum ARM Angle to 180 degrees, it will allow the quad to arm even if it is not level – or in fact on any angle. I suggest using this setting. Alternatively, for whatever angle you set here, the quad will arm as long as it isn’t at an angle greater than this.
Save and Reboot
19. Calibrate Battery Voltage Sensor
Manual Method for Voltage Calibration (Recommended)
In the Betaflight Power and Battery Tab – with the battery connected, check that the indicated battery voltage matches what is shown when testing the battery with a multi-meter or the readout on your battery charger screen.
If the voltages don’t match, then adjust the Scale value and click Save after each adjustment until it matches.
Automatic Method for Voltage Calibration
There is a calibration button on the bottom right. However, to use this you need not only your battery voltage but also amps. Voltage is easy to measure, but amps is a difficult process. I recommended not using this option. A better option for amps is to check the ESC info on the Flight Controller / ESC manufacturer’s product page. If the manufacturer gives an Amp scale, use that value for the scale. Otherwise, leave this at zero.
20. Rates Settings
In Betaflight go to the PID Tuning Tab and then to the Rateprofile Settings tab (the middle tab)
If you have some personal preferred rates that you like to use, then set them here. You can choose Betaflight or Actual Rates. If you don’t have your own preferred rates, then just leave this at the Betaflight default rates.
Throttle Mid Point Setting. This setting is used to give a bit more resolution around the hover point. It enables you to find the correct stick position for a stable hover easier. I use the setting below as a start.
Throttle Mid Point: 0.4
Throttle Expo: 0.5
Click Save
21. Blackbox Logging Frequency and Mode Setting
In Betaflight go to the BlackBox Tab
Select the blackbox logging frequency that is as close to 1/2 of your Gyro Update Frequency that is set in the Configuration Tab.
Then set the Blackbox Debug Mode to Gyro_Scaled
These are the recommended settings if you intend to be looking at blackbox logs in the future for troubleshooting or tuning.
Save and Reboot
22. Other Miscellaneous BetaFlight Checks and Settings
Configuration Tab
System Configuration Section – Check the following settings
Accelerometer – Enabled
Barometer – Only enable this if your flight controller actually has one. Check the specs or look on the board to see if it has one.
Magnetometer – Disable
Scroll down to “Other Features” and check that Airmode is enabled (it should be enabled by default). This keeps the props spinning at zero throttle and therefore aids stability when free falling.
DSHOT Beacon and Beeper Configuration
Set the Dshot Beacon Configuration depending on whether you have a buzzer or not
Dshot Beacon Configuration uses the ESC units to make the motors beep if you don’t have a beeper (buzzer).
If you don’t have a beeper, I suggest enabling both RX_LOST and RX_SET in the Dshot Beacon Configuration section.
However, if you installed a buzzer when setting up the quad, I suggest leaving the above options disabled so the motors won’t beep – just your buzzer.
Then In the Beeper Configuration section, set the scenarios where you want the beeper or motors to sound.
I usually dosable most of these and just keep the following…
RX_LOST
RX_SET
ARMED
But remember, if you start having problems with your drone you should come back and enable all of these so you can get the warning tone for the problem the drone is having.
Save and Reboot
23. Do pre-flight checks
With the propellers off, connect the battery and arm the quad. Check that the motors spin-up, but don’t raise the throttle.
Then, turn the transmitter power button off and check that the motors stop spinning. This checks that the flight controller failsafe is working correctly.
Next, with props still removed, arm the quad and try raising the throttle just a little and check the motors spin up slowly. If the motors continue to spin up more and more just disarm. This is normal.
Then put your quad on top of something small like a matchbox to lift the arms up off the floor. Arm the quad and move the yaw stick about 10% to the left and then to the right. Check that the quad tends to turn a bit in the same direction. If not, then you need to go back and check your motor direction and order.
Next attach the props making sure the rotation direction of each is correct according to the image on the Motors Tab.
Stand well away from the quad in an outside location, and arm the quad.
Raise the throttle a little, just enough to clear the ground and do a short test hover.
move the sticks gently to test roll pitch and yaw. If the quad hovers okay and responds correctly to the small stick movements on each axis, then it is all set up correctly for flight.
Finally, adjust your VTX power setting and channel that you want to use.
24. Tuning Using Presets (Optional)
Fly the drone first to get a feel for the default tune. There is nothing wrong with default Betaflight tune. But if you want to go further, and you don’t have experience with tuning then I suggest using a Preset tune. Connect to Betaflight and go to the Presets Tab and under Categories, select Tune. You can then search the Keyword dropdown or enter your own below (for example “3 inch”). Select a tune which suits your drone size and purpose. I suggest only applying tunes marked as Official.
25. Backup Betaflight settings
Refer back to step 5 and use the CLI tab to do a dump-all and diff-all and save these setting for the final setup. You may want to revisit this step after flying the quad for a while and doing any final tweaks and setting changes.