ZerotoQuad

Free reference

Betaflight bench reference

Every Configurator tab and what it is actually for, the seven CLI lines worth memorising, the failsafe chain, and the OSD elements that belong on every flight. Pin it next to the bench.

Pinned to Betaflight 4.6.x. Configurator 10.11.x desktop or 2025.12.x web. If your firmware says something else, check before you act on any of this — tab names, defaults and CLI parameters all move between versions, and the mismatch will not announce itself.

The tabs, in the order the book uses them

Setup
Calibrate the accelerometer. Check the 3D model orientation matches the quad. Read arming-disable flags here, not in the OSD.
Ports
UART assignments. ELRS RX on the UART you wired; MSP on UART1 by default. Disable functions you are not using.
Configuration
Top-level flags: ESC and motor protocol, accelerometer, mag, airmode, telemetry, OSD, GPS, LED strip.
Power & Battery
Cell-count thresholds (vbat min and warning), current sensor source and scale, OSD battery voltage source.
Failsafe
Signal-validation timing, stage 1 length, stage 2 procedure. Test with the radio off, props off, on the bench.
PID Tuning
P, I, D and feedforward per axis, plus rates. Chapter 12 owns this tab.
Filters
Gyro and D-term filters, dynamic notch, RPM filter. Also chapter 12.
Receiver
Serial RX provider (CRSF for ELRS). Channel map, channel order, stick range. Confirm stick movement before binding switches.
Modes
AUX channel assignments: ARM, PREARM, ANGLE, BEEPER, BLACKBOX, FAILSAFE, GPS RESCUE. Deliberate switches only.
Adjustments
Optional in-flight knob tweaks. Default empty.
Motors
Props off, always. Test motor number and direction. On a verified RPM-capable ESC path, also require live RPM and under 1% error on all four motors. Stock BLHeli_S J-H-40 stays bidirectional-DShot and RPM off. Change direction only with tooling for the firmware actually installed.
OSD
Element layout for the on-screen display. Six elements always on; HD VTX MSP DisplayPort if applicable.
LED Strip
Optional. Off by default; the book leaves it off.
GPS
Module type (UBLOX), baud, satellite-count requirement for GPS Rescue. 5-inch only — toothpicks skip this tab.
Sensors
Read-only. Verify the gyro and accelerometer produce reasonable values with the quad still.
Logging / Blackbox
Storage device (onboard flash or microSD), sample rate as an integer divisor (2 means half rate), I and D term logging on for chapter 12.
Presets
Curated firmware-side configs. Read the warning text. Apply one, run `diff all`, see what changed.
CLI
The last word. `diff all` is the rollback artifact. `save` commits to flash and reboots. `exit` discards and reboots.

The seven CLI lines that matter

feature

Top-level flags. Toggle one with `feature NAME` or `feature -NAME`.

feature TELEMETRY

serial

UART assignment as a bitmask. 1 = MSP, 64 = Serial RX, 2048 = VTX (SmartAudio/Tramp).

serial 1 64 115200 57600 0 115200

UART2, Serial RX enabled, 115200 baud.

aux

Mode and AUX assignments — aux N MODE AUX_CHANNEL RANGE_MIN RANGE_MAX PIDPROFILE LINKEDTOPIDPROFILE.

aux 0 0 0 1700 2100 0 0

ARM mode on AUX1, range 1700–2100.

set serialrx_provider

Receiver protocol. CRSF for ELRS; SBUS, IBUS and others for the rest.

set serialrx_provider = CRSF

set motor_pwm_protocol + set dshot_bidir

Motor output. The book's baseline is DSHOT300. Bidirectional DShot is allowed ONLY after exact ESC-firmware support and live RPM with under 1% error on all four motors are proved. The stock toothpick BLHeli_S J-H-40 path keeps it off.

set motor_pwm_protocol = DSHOT300
set dshot_bidir = OFF

Verified RPM path only — set dshot_bidir = ON

set failsafe_procedure

Stage 2 action. DROP for whoops and toothpicks; GPS_RESCUE for a 5-inch with GPS; LAND for special cases.

set failsafe_procedure = DROP

set blackbox_device

Logging destination and rate. SDCARD or SPIFLASH. blackbox_sample_rate is an integer divisor (2 means half rate).

set blackbox_device = SDCARD
set blackbox_sample_rate = 2
  • diff all → text editor → save as a baseline before you change anything.
  • save writes to flash and reboots. exit discards and reboots.
  • resource MOTOR re-maps motors in firmware — never re-solder for this.

What failsafe actually does

  1. Signal validation

    The FC detects loss in 100 ms or more (the ELRS minimum).

  2. Stage 1

    Default 1.5 s on 4.6. The FC applies fallback channel values.

  3. Stage 2

    One of three procedures, set with `set failsafe_procedure`.

    • DROPWhoops and toothpicks
    • LANDSpecial cases
    • GPS_RESCUE5-inch with GPS

Test it with the radio's RF off, props off, on the bench — every first flight of every session.

The OSD elements to keep on

Every flight

  • Battery voltageWarning threshold is set in Power & Battery
  • Flight timerResets at arm
  • Link qualityWith the rate prefix on ELRS
  • RSSI dBmRaw RF signal; thresholds vary
  • Warnings bannerFailsafe, voltage, GPS and the rest
  • Flight modeThe current AUX-selected mode

5-inch with GPS, also

  • Home arrowDirection back to home
  • Distance to homeIn metres
  • Satellite countAt or above the minimum for GPS Rescue to arm

If the OSD does not read at a glance, it is too busy. Remove secondary elements before you add new ones.