4
MARS
QUADCOPTER OPERATOR’S MANUAL
TiPS AND SUGGESTiONS
This section includes a number of important tips and suggestions that we recommend you familiarize yourself with
before flying your new quadcopter.
Please read these tips and suggestions before flying. They’re important! All of these tips and suggestions are
explained in greater detail throughout this Operator’s Manual.
• A 3S LiPo battery up to 6400mAh can be used to power the quadcopter. The battery dimensions should not
exceed 5-1/4 (L) x 1-5/8 (W) x 1-1/2 (H) (133 x 41 x 38mm). The battery should feature a female XT60 plug.
• When you plug your LiPo battery into the quadcopter, it’s important that the quadcopter be sitting on a flat, level
surface and that you wait to move the quadcopter for 10 seconds after plugging your LiPo battery in to allow the
gyros and the flight controller to initialize.
• The quadcopter’s propellers are thin and very sharp. Although they are somewhat flexible to prevent damage
during minor mishaps, they can still be very dangerous. Be careful! Do not allow your fingers, hands or other body
parts to come into contact with the spinning propeller blades or serious injury will result!
• The compass must be calibrated prior to the first flight of your new quadcopter. After this initial calibration
process, the calibration process must be repeated under any of the conditions listed in the Calibrating the
Compass section on pages 12 through 14.
• The quadcopter features three Flight Modes - Manual Mode, GPS Mode and Return to Home. We strongly suggest
learning to setup and fly the quadcopter in the Manual Flight Mode first, then learn about using the GPS Flight
Mode and the Return to Home function.
• The SHAKE-COMPENS value in the Autopilot Configuration program should be adjusted before the first flight of
each day to fine-tune the quadcopter to the current flight conditions. This will improve flight performance. In
addition, you are able to verify the Autopilot Configuration settings and transmitter control stick calibration. For
more information, see the Autopilot Configuration Programming section on pages 23 through 26.
• In the default configuration, the quadcopter has a maximum altitude range of 328 feet (100 meters) and 985 feet
(300 meters) radius distance from the transmitter. If the quadcopter exceeds these maximum distances for any
reason during flight, the quadcopter’s Failsafe function will activate. For more information, see the Failsafe section
on pages 26 and 27.
• If you don’t push the throttle control stick forward within 5 seconds of arming the motors, or if you’re flying and pull
the throttle control stick all the way back to turn the motors OFF after landing, you will need to re-arm the motors
if you don’t push the throttle forward again within 5 seconds. This is a safety feature to help prevent accidentally
turning the motors ON, which could result in injury.
• While in the GPS Flight Mode, you should never pull the throttle control stick below the 10% throttle position or
the quadcopter can flip over and crash.
• If the quadcopter loses its GPS lock while flying in the GPS Flight Mode, it may start to drift, it may or it may even
begin to lose power and altitude. In extreme cases, the motors may shut off. Pay attention to the quadcopter at
all times! If at any time the quadcopter seems to be flying unusually or you feel there is a problem, switch to the
Manual Flight Mode and take over the flight controls.
• Once you switch to the Return to Home function, you cannot switch to the GPS Flight Mode. You can only switch
to the Manual Mode. If you switch to the Manual Mode during the Return to Home maneuver, you cannot switch
back to the Return to Home function. You must continue the landing manually.
• There are some instances that the Failsafe function may not work all the time and the quadcopter could crash.
For example, if the quadcopter does not have a GPS lock when the failsafe activates, if there is a problem with the
on-board electronics or if your LiPo battery fails. The Failsafe function is not guaranteed to save your quadcopter,
so it should not be relied upon as such.
• Prior to updating the flight controller firmware or calibrating the control sticks, you must remove the propellers
from the quadcopter! Updating the firmware and calibrating the control sticks can cause the motors to turn on
unexpectedly, causing extreme damage.
• If the camera gimbal is not level in the roll axis when the quadcopter is sitting on a flat level surface, use the
Camera Gimbal Configuration program to calibrate the camera gimbal. For more information, see the Calibrating
the Brushless Camera Gimbal section on page 35.
• Prior to flying using the GPS Flight Mode and using the Return to Home function, please read and understand
the warnings associated with each. For more information, see the GPS Flight Mode Warnings section on page 20
and the Return to Home Function Warnings section on page 22.
NEVER EXCEED THE ALTITUDE AND FLIGHT DISTANCE LIMITS AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON!