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» » Drone School 2: Know your transmitter

Drone School 2: Know your transmitter

In Drone School 1 we looked at how to choose a good beginner quadcopter. Now it's time to take a look at your quadcopter controller. In Drone School 2 we look at transmitter modes 1 and 2, different flight modes you might encounter, trim controls and what the two main sticks do.

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Most transmitters, even for small, cheap drones, offer at least two control modes, mode 1 and mode 2. These map the control sticks in different ways - see the diagrams below.




The vast majority of quadcopter pilots stick with mode 2, which makes the left stick control throttle and yaw, and the right stick control tilt and movement. We'll assume from this point on that you're using mode 2.
Some transmitters also enable different flight modes. Here's some you might come across and what they mean:
Standard: self stabilizes to sit horizontally when the sticks are released. Maximum tilt is limited. Also known as low rate, or Attitude, or atti, or just A mode.
Advanced: as above, but the maximum tilt is increased, allowing significantly faster flight. A quick way for beginners to see how the drone interfaces with walls, windows and pot plants at speed. Also known as high rate or expert mode.
Manual: turns off all stabilization, and does not limit the maximum tilt. This is also known as acroagility or stunt mode, and allows full inversion. This is the mode you should quietly put your friend's quadcopter in if you don't want him to have a quadcopter anymore. Otherwise, steer clear until you're very confident.
3D mode: completely unstabilized, plus the throttle is mapped such that leaving the throttle at 50 percent stops the motors, pushing it forward develops positive thrust, and pulling it back towards you develops negative thrust. This lets expert pilots fly the drone upside down, and helps beginners to crash into the ground at higher speeds than gravity can accommodate.
GPS mode (also known as P mode): similar to Attitude mode, but only available on GPS-enabled drones. This mode self-stabilizes to sit horizontally when sticks are released, but also uses GPS to hover in place and correct for wind gusts. Some quads like the DJI Phantom 3 include additional downward facing cameras for even more precise hover stability.
Intelligent Orientation Control modes: only available on certain GPS or compass-enabled drones, IOC modes like course lock take the guesswork out of orientation by controlling the quad such that forward and backward are mapped to certain compass directions instead of whichever way the drone is pointing. There's also home lock, a similar mode that maps the backward direction to always fly back towards the takeoff point. Headless mode appears on some cheaper drones, and uses compass readings in the aircraft and the transmitter so the drone responds relative to the direction the controller is pointed in.
While you're getting started, you should set your drone to Standard mode, or GPS mode if you've got it.
Some transmitters give you the ability to trim the inputs from your control sticks. Trimming basically means adding or subtracting a little input from one stick or the other to correct an imbalance.

For example, your quad might not sit perfectly level when it self-stabilizes due to a problem with the internal gyroscope. In this situation you might use trim to correct it by adding a little trim to the right stick in the opposite direction to the tilt you're experiencing.

Any trim adjustments should be made indoors where wind will not interfere, and you should make sure you're taking off from a level surface.

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