On this tutorial, I’ll show easy methods to scale back throttle sensitivity in Betaflight in addition to on radios operating EdgeTX. The following tips aren’t simply helpful for learners; skilled pilots and racers can even profit when flying in tight areas that require exact throttle management at slower speeds. If you happen to’re struggling to handle altitude in your FPV drone—maybe your quad feels too highly effective, jumpy, or twitchy on throttle—this information is for you! This can be a frequent situation amongst learners flying in Acro mode, the place there’s no automated altitude maintain. Luckily, there are efficient methods to make your throttle simpler to handle with out negatively impacting general drone efficiency.
How Throttle Scale Helps New Pilots
Throttle scaling will be particularly helpful for FPV learners. A typical FPV drone has an especially excessive thrust-to-weight ratio, hovering round 20% to 30% throttle. Novices typically discover this difficult, as they’re nonetheless growing exact management, leading to issue sustaining secure altitude because of the tiny throttle stick vary they’re comfy utilizing.
Advantages of decreasing your drone’s throttle output:
- Reduces twitchiness and overcorrection.
- Gives finer management and elevated decision on the throttle stick.
- Helps develop muscle reminiscence for easy throttle management.
Nevertheless, relying closely on throttle scaling may restrict your capacity to develop as a pilot. Ideally, it is best to embrace this problem by step by step growing your throttle restrict as your expertise enhance. Ultimately, mastering your drone at its full 100% throttle vary is the aim.
That stated, if extreme energy negatively impacts your enjoyment or creates frustration, throttle scaling generally is a precious software. Finally, prioritize your flying expertise and development as a pilot, however don’t shrink back from incrementally difficult your self.
Skilled pilots and racers additionally profit from throttle scaling. By decreasing most throttle, you possibly can enhance precision in difficult environments, similar to technical race programs or tight flying areas the place most throttle isn’t wanted, however positive management is crucial. Throttle scaling maximizes stick decision exactly the place it issues—making it a flexible addition to your FPV toolkit.
Utilizing Throttle Scale in Betaflight
The simplest option to scale back drone energy and velocity is thru Betaflight’s throttle scale setting:
- Go to the “PID Tuning” tab.
- On the prime, change to the “Rateprofile Settings” part.
- Discover “Throttle Restrict” and “Throttle Restrict %”.
- Within the dropdown, select “SCALE” – That is the setting you need. It scales your full throttle vary right down to a proportion.
- In Throttle Restrict (%), set it to one thing lower than 100%, like 80%. This implies full throttle in your stick will now solely command 80% motor output.
- Click on “Save”.
Betaflight provides another choice known as “CLIP”. Moderately than scaling the whole throttle vary, CLIP cuts off throttle above sure proportion. For instance, setting CLIP to 80% means your throttle stick works usually as much as 80%, after which no further throttle is offered. The profit is the hover level stays the identical as earlier than, however the downside is you lose throttle stick decision, probably leading to much less exact management. CLIP will be helpful in sure functions, however for many FPV pilots, SCALE is usually the really useful possibility for decreasing energy of your drone.
Totally different Throttle Scales per Charge Profile
Betaflight helps as much as 4 separate fee profiles, every with its personal throttle scale settings. You may change between these profiles through the Betaflight OSD menu or assign a change in your radio (configured in Betaflight’s Adjustment tab).
Take into account setting completely different throttle scales for numerous flying situations—indoor versus out of doors, freestyle versus racing, and so on.
Motor Output Restrict (Not Really useful)
It’s possible you’ll discover one other setting in Betaflight known as Motor Output Restrict beneath the PID Tuning tab.
I don’t advocate utilizing Motor Output Restrict to easily sluggish your drone down. This setting is meant primarily for limiting motor KV to scale back ESC present or utilizing higher-voltage batteries for high-KV motors.
Unnecessarily limiting Motor Output could make your drone sluggish as a result of motors received’t obtain full velocity when required, resulting in decreased responsiveness and even instability. For common throttle administration, Throttle Scale stays the superior and safer selection.
Throttle Expo in Betaflight
Aside from throttle scaling, one other frequent technique to handle throttle sensitivity is utilizing Throttle Expo in Betaflight. Throttle Expo flattens a portion of the throttle curve across the hover/cruising level, offering finer management decision in that space, whereas nonetheless preserving 100% throttle vary.
Though this technique will be helpful in sure conditions, I personally don’t advocate it for learners. Throttle Expo could make throttle response much less predictable, because the hover level could shift relying on battery voltage, propeller effectivity, and payload weight and so on. As a substitute, I strongly advocate utilizing Throttle Scale, as mentioned earlier, for extra predictable and constant throttle response.
Throttle Scaling on EdgeTX Radios
If you happen to’re unable or choose to not use Betaflight for throttle scaling, you are able to do the same factor in your EdgeTX radio. This technique is easy and is very helpful in case you fly a number of drones, as it could actually apply universally throughout fashions.
Go to Mixer in your radio. Discover the Throttle channel, maintain down the Enter button, and choose Edit.
The default Weight worth is 100 (representing 100% throttle). Cut back this to your required throttle proportion (e.g., 80 for 80% throttle).
Throttle channel worth begins from -100 to 100 (0% to 100%), so it’s important to alter the Offset worth to make sure the throttle vary begins accurately at -100. For instance, in case you set Weight to 80 (20% lower than default), your Offset must be set to -20.
That’s it! Your drone will now have a scaled throttle output.
You may even configure a knob or slider in your radio to dynamically alter throttle scaling throughout flight. This may be significantly helpful for pilots incessantly flying each indoors and outside or racers who want various throttle limits for various tracks.
Superior Setup: Dynamic Throttle Scaling with Potentiometer
Need to dynamically change throttle scaling on-the-fly utilizing a knob in your EdgeTX radio? Listed below are two highly effective methods to perform this: Mixer Multiplex and International Variables.
Methodology 1: Mixer Multiplex
On this instance, I’ll use a knob (potentiometer) to range throttle scaling from 50% to 100%.
Within the Mixer menu, discover the throttle channel.
Insert a brand new line under your present throttle channel by holding down Enter and deciding on Insert After.
Edit this line, select a knob or slider because the supply, I’ll use S2 on this instance. Set Weight to 25, Offset to 75.
Scroll down in the identical web page and set Multiplex to “Multiply”.
Now add one other line beneath the one we simply created. Once more, choose the identical knob/slider because the supply (S2 in our instance), and set Weight to 25 and Offset to -25.
However this time you need to choose “Add” within the Multiplex setting.
And it is best to find yourself with this:
This must be working now!
Lastly you possibly can setup a change to allow/disable this function. Merely add a change place in these two strains, so the max throttle stays at 100% and unaffected by the knob when the change will not be lively. Do that for each *= and += strains.
To set completely different most throttle vary, like 0% to 100% as an alternative of fifty% to 100%, you solely have to mess around with the Weight and Offset of the 2 strains beneath throttle. Listed below are two examples, 50% to 100% and 0% to 100%.
50% to 100% Max Throttle
- *= S2 Weight 25, Offset 75
- += S2 Weigh 25, Offset -25
0% to 100% Max Throttle
- *= S2 Weight 50, Offset 50
- += S2 Weight 50, Offset -50
Methodology 2: International Variables
This strategy is extra advanced however demonstrates the flexibility and energy of EdgeTX’s International Variables (GV) function. It achieves the identical outcome because the Mixer Multiplex technique however may encourage different inventive setups.
Go to Inputs.
Create two new inputs. Use the identical slider or knob of your selection because the Supply. We’ll use S2 in our instance.
We’ll use the values of those inputs because the Weight and Offset of the our throttle, due to this fact I title these inputs TWgt (Throttle Weight) and TOfs (Throttle Offset) respectively.
It’d sound a bit complicated now, no worries, simply hold following what I’m doing right here, it doesn’t matter what you name them so long as you realize which is which.
And set the Weight and Offsets values based on the diagrams under. These values will enable the throttle cap to vary from 50% to 100% as we flip the slider from 0% to 100%.
You must find yourself with 2 new inputs like this.
Now go to the Particular Operate web page.
Create two “ON” features to regulate GV1 and GV2 base on the inputs we beforehand created. What these principally do is to show the slider worth into “international variables” so we will entry it in this system freely;
TWgt = GV1, and TOfs = GV2.
Don’t neglect to allow these features by checking the packing containers on the proper.
Right here is the ultimate step. Go to the Mixer web page, and edit the Throttle channel.
Use GV1 because the Weight of the Throttle channel, and GV2 because the Offset. You may really do that within the Inputs Web page too, both method is ok.
That’s it! It must be working now.
If you want, you possibly can assign a change to allow/disable this function. Go to Particular Capabilities.
Assign two features to a spare change you need to allow/disable this function, and use “Alter GV1 100”, and “Alter GV2 0”. That is principally setting the throttle channel weight and offset within the mixer again to the default values.
To make use of completely different max throttle vary, merely mess around with Weight and Offsets within the two slider inputs. Listed below are some examples:
50% to 100% Max Throttle
- TWgt (Weight 25, Offset 75)
- TOfs (Weight 25, Offset -25)
0% to 100% Max Throttle
- TWgt (Weight 50, Offset 50)
- TOfs (Weight 50, Offset -50)
Closing Throughs
Throttle scaling can considerably enhance your management over FPV drones, benefiting learners and skilled pilots alike. Whereas scaling through Betaflight is easy, EdgeTX radios provide versatile, dynamic strategies to swimsuit completely different flying situations. Experiment with these settings to seek out your best stability of responsiveness and management, enhancing your FPV flying expertise.
