HOBBYMATE COMET 5 INCH QUAD REVIEW PART 2: betaflight setup incl. PIDs

This is the second part of my coverage of the Hobbymate Comet 5" quadcopter. The first part (parts overview and build walkthrough) can be found here and the third part (review) can be found here. If you are here for the PIDs scroll directly to the bottom but would recommend you read through as tuning in betaflight 5 is more than just the PIDs.

Betaflight setup on this quadcopter is the same as any other but because of the telemetry, VTX OSD control, resource mapping for an ESC that is rotated it is fairly involved. For that reason I have created a betaflight 3.5.1 diff file which can be downloaded below. If you built the way that I did feel free to just load this CLI diff. If you want to read on to see what I changed specifically it's all documented in screenshots and text below.  I'll assume a moderate level of betaflight understanding from the audience but happy to point out more information if needed.

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My customised 3.5.1 CLI diff file is here:

comet_3.5.1_diff.txt
File Size:	3 kb
File Type:	txt

Download File

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Ports
Port are setup for ESC telemetry on the default UART (4), tramp telemetry on the default UART (2) and an SBUS recevier on the default UART (6)

Configuration 1
​I'm running reverse props here. I'm pleasantly suprised this has a barometer for altitude readings so have turned this on too. I've made an allowance for the FC to be mounted with the camera connections pads at the front of the quad (which again, I'd recommend as per build walkthrough)

Receiver settings
Based on an SBUS receiver (XM+ in this case) running RSSI of AUX 12

Beeper settings
Dshot beeper is turned on, external beeper is turned off. I think that an external beeper is a waste of space/weight now that we have d-shot beeper.

Power
Nothing changed here other than choosing the ESC to deliver current and voltage readings

PIDs
I've bumped up i-gain by 50% on pitch and roll and up to 100 on yaw as per the tuning guide. I'm really happy with how these perform - locked in, little propwash and no oscillations on 4s or 6s.
​Rates
Low racing rates on rate profile 1, same on profile 2 but with a scaled throttle limit to 85%. For more reading on throttle limits in betaflight see my blog here. Profile 3 is my freestyle rates. Please note these are set to a 3 way switch (AUX 2) in the modes tab.
Flight settings
These are the setting recommended in the Betaflight Tuning Guide. i-term relax is on, rc interpolation is on.

Filters
These are stock dynamic filters but given motor smoothness you could try

Receiver settings
Based on an SBUS receiver (XM+ in this case) running RSSI of AUX 12

Auxilliary switches
These are my personal preference on a x-lite controller. ​

Ajustments
This is how I control rates on Aux2 switch

OSD settings
These have my preferred view including some of the ESC telemetry features

OSD settings
These have my preferred view including some of the ESC telemetry features

Resource mapping
this diff will change the motor output to be correct assuming you have mounted your ESC with the connector at the back (which I recommend as per build walkthrough)

BLHeli32 settings
These are best described by the screengrab below. Changes from stock are PWM rate increase to 48kHz for smoothness, motor direction adjusted for reverse prop direction (you will need you own values here), Auto motor timing, quiet dshot start up tone, loud shot beeper, min and max throttle adjusted for max resolution and most importantly I've used +25% to calibrate the ESC current meters correctly and have validated this number on my setup. 

The Hobbymate comet is a 5" quadcopter that is sold in kit, or ready to fly forms and surpasses the Emax Hawk 5 and HGLRC Batman in specs and performance, especially running 6s natively. Better yet it is priced much more sharply. It is available exclusively from HobbyCool.com. My final review is now complete and can be found here