TelloFPV

v1.5

For troubleshooting see last pages!

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Inhalt
Main screen....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction and special features ..................................................................................................................................... 4
VPS – Relative Positioning without a GPS ......................................................................................................................... 7
vGPS – Absolute positioning without a GPS (paid In-App purchase) ................................................................................ 7
Autopilots: Overview ...................................................................................................................................................... 10
Autopilot: Return To Home / RTH ................................................................................................................................... 10
Autopilot: POIs and using autopilot dialogs.................................................................................................................... 10
Autopilot and Flight mode menu .................................................................................................................................... 11
Autopilot Circle POI ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Autopilot: Lock POI ......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Autopilot: Dronie ............................................................................................................................................................ 13
Autopilot: Boomerang..................................................................................................................................................... 14
Autopilot: Video 360 ....................................................................................................................................................... 15
Menu ............................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Main settings – Main ...................................................................................................................................................... 17
Main settings - Return to Home...................................................................................................................................... 18
Main settings- Misc ......................................................................................................................................................... 18
Video & Photo settings - Video ....................................................................................................................................... 19
Video & Photo settings – Photo 1 ................................................................................................................................... 20
Video & Photo settings – Photo 2 ................................................................................................................................... 20
Controller Settings – Controller ...................................................................................................................................... 21
Controller Settings – Mapping ........................................................................................................................................ 23
Tune Control settings ...................................................................................................................................................... 24
Camera settings .............................................................................................................................................................. 25
Flight log .......................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Flight details .................................................................................................................................................................... 26
VR Mode.......................................................................................................................................................................... 27
VR Settings ...................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Copilot ............................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Video quality tips ............................................................................................................................................................ 30
Video settings.................................................................................................................................................................. 31
Notifications displayed.................................................................................................................................................... 32
Trouble shooting ............................................................................................................................................................. 33

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Main screen

1- Open Menu for accessing settings

2- Return to home Autopilot – see separate description below
3- Set Point of Interest (POI) – see separate description below
4- Open autopilot and flight mode menu
5- REC shown if screenrecording is active
6- PANIC button – Tello stops immediately and hovers in place until button is released
7- Stream corruption indicator shows broken video frames, bitrate shows received Mbps
8- Start VR mode for immersive VR FPV
9- Camera Exposure setting
10- Toggle Camera between photo and video, long press to toggle continuous mode on /off (blinks while on)
11- Photo shutter and start/stop recording, long press to start Self Timer
12- Shows Tello’s true direction, satellites and accuracy of the phone’s GPS fix. Click to open vGPS sync screen
13- Home indicator, points towards direction of the takeoff point. Other symbols indicate an active POI.
14- Photo mode: Pano 360 - Takes a number of photos that can be stitched together into a 360° panorama
Video mode: Video 360 – Executes a smooth 360 turn to create a panoramic video
15- Joystick – Small red dot shows commands sent to drone (also for external controller and autopilots)
16- Bird - Shows Tello’s orientation for pitch & roll
17- Speed mode: Green „V“ for slow video mode, Red „S“ for fast sport mode. Click to toggle modes.
18- Speed in m/s or ft/s
19- Distance in m / ft
20- Altitude in m / ft
21- Shows flight time since Tello was powered on. Short press for Takeoff / Landing. Also cancels a landing!
Long press for hand launch (Throw & Go) and hand landing.
22- Wifi signal strength. Will turn red if low, or no connection. Tap to open Android network selection dialog.
23- Tello battery in Percent, turns red if below threshold defined in settings.
24- Phone battery, will turn red if below 10%.
25- Controller battery if known, will turn red if below 10%. Touch to open the controller screen
26- Controller indicator – Red “S” if student is in control (green “M” otherwise). Tap to open controller settings

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Special features
Photos / Videos
All files are located under the DCIM directory where the phone’s camera stores its photos in subdirectories
“TelloFPV Video” and “TelloFPV Photo”.

Videos are plain 1280x720 mpg files. You can manually start the video recording, or TelloFpv will automatically start
if you are using an Autopilot while in video mode. There is an option to activate automatic start of recording on
takeoff.
You can switch on recording of the phone’s microphone sound. Please note this may introduce some stutter and
sound quality may not be the best. That’s a conceptual problem caused by unreliable video transmission: How to
map 60s of recorded sound to 58s of received video?

Please note: If you switch from sport mode to video mode (or press PANIC while in video mode) the video will
change its field of view according to the video stream that Tello sends to the phone. This is done by Tello due to
Firmware settings.

Special Photo functions

TelloFpv has a self timer with configurable delay. To activate long press the shutter button.

TelloFpv has a function to create a set of photos that can be stitched together to form a 360° panorama photo. This
is invoked from the Panorama button (under the shutter) while the camera is in photo mode. It will take a series of
photos while rotating 360°. These photos are stored in subdirectories for easy collection by external stitching apps
like “Bimostitch”.
Photos may optionally be rotated to correct an angled horizon, see photo options.

In continuous mode Tello takes photos at a set interval, but please note two drawbacks: First Tello can only handle
one photo after the other, and a new photo can only be taken after the previous has finished downloading. Second
while processing a photo Tello (not the app!) may be slow to react to commands, and will show stutter in the live
video feed.
The lower the wifi reception quality the slower the photo download.

Onscreen Joysticks
The onscreen joysticks re-center where you place your thumb. Their size can be configured to your needs, and they
may also be configured to automatically hide.
Even if configured to auto-hide they will still show up if if you touch their area on the screen (useful in case of
controller trouble).
The red dot marks the command sent to Tello for this stick. Due to settings like expo and rate the value sent to Tello
may be different from the stick position. The red dot also moves on external controller, and autopilot commands.

Take off & Landing

You can use automatic takeoff or throw-takeoff procedure and also use manual motor start and takeoff. To start the
motors bring the left stick into the bottom-right position and the right stick into bottom-left position. Tello’s motors
will start but Tello will not take off. Use throttle up to control the take off and altitude.

For hand-launch long press the Takeoff button and throw after start of motors but before end of countdown.

There is a setting to control if a confirmation is requested when starting the motors.

To land short press the central button, for hand landing long press the central button. You can also land Tello using
throttle down.

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Home indicator
The home indicator always points into the direction to the point of takeoff. If “home” is outside the field of view it
will rotate to become an arrow showing the direction in which to turn to bring it into the center. If you bring the
home indicator into the center of the screen and fly forward Tello will return home (just like the Return to home
autopilot).
You may set a new home position by long pressing the RTH button while inflight.

Speedmodes Video & Sport

Tello stock app (and firmware) have a fast mode and a slow mode. Fast mode gives more direct control over the
drone, has a video stream with a wider field of view and no electronic image stabilization. This is suitable for FPV and
zipping around, but videos are very shaky.
Slow mode features electronic image stabilization and a narrower field of view, and is very sedate slowing down
movement (and reaction) of Tello. Even if you release the stick Tello continues to move into it’s direction of travel
and only slowly loses momentum, and only after it has almost stopped the VPS controlled hover is activated. This is a
Tello firmware setting and not configurable.

These modes and their behavior are part of the Tello’s firmware and not configurable.

These two modes have very different use cases and TelloFPV names these modes “Sport” and “Video” mode. You
can tune the controller for both modes separately and switch between the modes using either the speedmode
indicator in the lower left of the screen, or by pressing a button on the controller.

PANIC button / Stop button

Have you ever had the problem that Tello was drifting into an obstacle and you were either too slow to react, too
close to react, or some wind pushed Tello into a tree, etc?

This particularly happens in video mode, as Tello is very slow to react then and even when the sticks are released
Tello does not immediately loose momentum or hover in place.

That’s what the PANIC button is good for. It will momentarily set Tello into Sport mode and bring Tello to a halt. All
controller input is ignored while this button is pressed, and Tello just hovers in place. Since Tello may switch from
video mode into sport mode this can change the video output.

This button is a key feature for the FPV trainer function (see below) or when an autopilot is about the crash into an
obstacle. Remember: Tello has not sensors for obstacle avoidance and will crash into anything that is in it’s path.

Controllers
See Controller settings for how to connect.
Beside the onscreen joysticks TelloFpv natively supports the Gamesir T1D and the Parrot Flypad. For these TelloFpv
can show the battery levels. TelloFpv also supports any USB or Bluetooth gamepad that is recognized by Android as a
generic InputDevice.

TelloFPV allows complete freedom of mapping your sticks and buttons the way you want it. You can map any stick
axis to any drone axis, and you can reverse any axis if required.

Functions can be mapped to any button, and even to a stick (some controllers have buttons that are reported as
“sticks”). You can map different functions for short press, and long press of a button.

There is even the option to map movements like “Yaw left” or “Pitch forward” to button, to allow use of tiny keyfob
sized mini gamepads that have only buttons but no sticks.

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TelloFPV allows separate tuning of typical RC parameters (Expo, Rate, Dead zone) for each stick axis (yaw, throttle,
pitch, roll).
Each of these RC tune settings is configured separately for sport mode and video mode. As switching from sport
mode to video mode is just a quick button press this allows you to travel to your destination with a fast and
responsive drone giving a strong response to stick movements, and do slow smooth moves when you are recording a
video. This is usually referred to as "dual rate".

FPV Trainer or Master/Student controllers

TelloFPV can connect two controllers at the same time. The "master" controller overrules the "student" controller:
You can hand over the student controls to your kids, while you keep the master controller. Whenever you move a
stick on the master controller all stick commands of the student controller are ignored. About 2 seconds after the
sticks of the master controller are released the student controller takes over again.

This also allows perfectly legal FPV flights in many countries: the FPV pilot uses the "student" controller and the
spotter has the "master" controller. The spotter can overrule the pilot whenever there is some danger the FPV pilot
isn't aware of.
Or just use this function to switch between two controllers anytime. This works with all combinations of controllers:

 Onscreen joystick for master and external controller for student

 External controller for student and onscreen for master
 One external controller for student and another external controller for master
This can be two Flypads, or two Gamesirs controllers, or a mix.

The "Panic" button is an important feature for the FPV trainer: This button quickly stops tello and suppresses all stick
input. This is very handy in case your kid is about to crash Tello into an obstacle.

Headless mode
Headless mode is a special mode which allows you to control the drone regardless of the drone’s heading.
When headless mode is activated it is initialized with the current heading of Tello and TelloFpv always aligns the
drone movements to be relative to this heading. Pitch forward means Tello flies forward, roll left means fly left,
regardless of the drones current heading.
So it does not matter which way the drone forward direction is pointing. When you push forward, the drone moves
forward relative to the heading it had when headless mode was activated, even if it has rotated in the meantime.
The same happens for roll: You can yaw the drone fly right at the same time. It will fly a straight line to the right
(relative to the heading when headless was switched on) and continuously yaw.
To help you identify the direction into which Tello travels for roll & pitch TelloFpv shows the current drone
orientation in the right onscreen joystick:

In the scenario shown left the headless mode was activated, and Tello was rotated 60
degrees to the right.
Pushing pitch forward will always move forward relative to the direction it had when
headless mode was activated. Due to the 60 degrees rotation this is “forward-left” relative
to Tello’s current heading.

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VPS – Relative Positioning without a GPS
Tello does not have GPS or compass but it carries a VPS – Visual Positioning System to provide position data. The
position data provided is always relative to the takeoff position. Without GPS and compass Tello has no information
about it’s true position nor true direction. But even with this limitation the information provided can be very useful
for autopilots to drive Tello back to the takeoff point, circle a user-defined position, etc.

VPS is a vision based system which depends on the input of a downfacing camera at Tello’s bottom. It is very
accurate if Tello flies relatively slow in moderate altitude in no wind with good light. Basically the down-facing sensor
needs a good view of a ground with an identifiable pattern.
VPS becomes less accurate –and more likely to fail completely- on higher altitudes, higher speeds, or stronger winds,
or uniform grounds. There is nothing an app like TelloFPV can do to improve the accuracy of the data coming from
Tello. If Tello does for example not return to the exact takeoff point its because VPS is confused and not because
TelloFpv fails to execute the RTH command.

The VPS sensor requires a clear surface pattern to identify position, speed, direction, and even altitude. If the surface
itself is in move (grass in some wind, bodies of water, waves washing up a beach) the VPS is deactivated until Tello
flies above solid ground again. In very low light conditions VPS may also be deactivated. If the surface itself is
reflecting (polished granite tiles), uniform (single color carpet or pavement) VPS gets confused and either reports
wrong positions or is deactivated. Another reason is exceeding the maximum altitude limit by taking off at some
height or flying over cliffs, flying alongside tall buildings, and flying low over trees. VPS will get confused if Tello can’t
make sense of the view it has from above because limbs and ground move differently.

These are inherent limitations of a VPS and cannot be solved by any app. If you need GPS like accuracy Tello is
inadequate choice - you have to buy a GPS drone.

Please note:
If the VPS is deactivated Tello won’t be able to hold its position and will drift in the wind. After about 3 seconds Tello
will try to auto-land! See the option to auto-cancel landings which eases control in these conditions.
If VPS is confused the home-position as well as positions concerning Point of Interest (POIs) become inaccurate or
just plain wrong. To reset fly back home manually and long press the home button to set a new home position.

vGPS – Absolute positioning without a GPS (paid In-App purchase)

As mentioned before Tello does not have GPS or compass but only a VPS – Visual Positioning System that does not
provide true position or heading.
But it is possible to synchronize the sensors of your phone with the VPS so TelloFpv knows true position and heading.
TelloFpv can then log the flight path, and export it as KML or display it in Google Earth for interactive review. It is
also possible to plot Tello’s last known position in Google Maps.
The errors of GPS, compass and VPS can all add up or compensate each other. Sometimes results are excellent,
sometimes not so much. Consequently this vGPS solution should be considered a help, but not a reliable tool to
recover a lost Tello or draw flight paths with the accuracy of a GPS drone. If you want GPS accuracy please consider
upgrading to a GPS drone.

The vGPS module is a paid In-App purchase, with a free testing period so you can try if it works for you before
purchasing. In fact you have to test to be able to purchase. If it does not work well enough for you then please don’t

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purchase it! There is nothing I can do to further improve position accuracy. To unlock the vGPS module open the
menu, tap on “Unlock vGPS” and follow directions on the screen.

Synchronize vGPS
You have to follow a few steps to synchronize GPS and VPS for every flight:
Ideally start TelloFpv App a few minutes before the flight so it can get a really good GPS position fix. As soon as the
number of Satellites next to the compass icon is displayed in white your phone has acquired a reasonably good GPS
position. The lower the accuracy number the better the fix.
Calibrate the compass at the place where you will takeoff (see below). Do this for every flight or your results won’t
be satisfactory!!

Now to synch vGPS do the following:

1. Turn on Tello and connect

2. Takeoff and note the exact place where Tello hovers.
3. Fly Tello at medium speed about 10m/ 30ft away. Not less than 5m/15ft and not more than 15m/45ft. If you
fly more than 20m / 60ft you will be required to land & takeoff again to ensure accuracy of the VPS position.
4. While standing exactly at the hover point press the new compass icon on the left side to open the vGPS sync
screen:

5. Aim the camera at Tello so its in the center of the screen and press OK. If the “OK” button is shown in red
something is wrong with compass or GPS, see messages shown.

After the vGPS sync screen closes the new compass icon shows Tello’s true heading, and the flight path is recorded
with true position reference.

This procedure takes a few tries to get it right, but with some practice its actually pretty fast and accurate if (and
only if) the phone’s GPS has a good fix, the compass is calibrated, and you precisely followed the steps outlined.

Compass calibration (important!)

It is of utmost importance that the compass is accurate. This is far more important than GPS accuracy, because
compass alignment errors increase with distance, where GPS inaccuracies remain constant.
So you have to get the compass calibration right!

You should rotate the phone 3 times on each of the three axis.

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Afterwards wave the device at 3 times in a twisted figure eight motion. This looks funny but it allows the magnetic
sensors to read the vector components of the earth’s magnetic field at your position to calibrate itself.

Its best if you can check compass accuracy in the vGPS sync screen by focusing the camera on a point with a known
bearing. If the bearing is not correct wave the phone again!

Test Period / Purchase / Refund / Restore previous purchase

Some phones just can’t get a GPS fix of the required accuracy (6m), or their compass is simply not accurate enough
to achieve acceptable results. That is why there is a free test phase of several days for you to try vGPS without
purchasing it first. Don’t purchase the vGPS module if you are not satisfied with the test. In-App purchases are not
automatically refundable through Google Play Store so it would be a time consuming hassle to refund.
After you have purchased the vGPS module it may take 24h for the purchase to be synchronized to your other
devices. This is a limitation of Play Store and there is nothing the app can do about it.
You can speed this up manually: Open Android App settings, Force Stop the app “Google Play Store”, clear data and
cache for the app “Google Play Store” (not TelloFpv!) and restart the phone.

Problems?
If GPS fix is invalid, inaccurate or not yet settled you have to wait a few seconds. If this problem does not fix itself
you may have to move your position to get a better view of more GPS satellites. Of course vGPS does not work
indoors as GPS may be unavailable and the compass may be inaccurate!
The app will only detect significant compass deviations but its best practice to calibrate on _every_ synchronization
even if the app does not tell you to do it.
You should make sure that your phone does not carry a magnetic case (most flip covers are magnetic) as this would
undermine any attempts to achieve compass reliability. The same applies to electronic devices like controllers, so
remove the phone from controller brackets for vGPS synch.

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Autopilots: Overview
All autopilot functions rely on the data provided by the onboard Visual Positioning System (VPS). If VPS fails or is
confused the autopilots may disengage, or go into the wrong direction. There is nothing TelloFpv can do about this,
as it has to completely rely on the data provided by Tello’s sensors. VPS is not a GPS and can fail in many situations.
All autopilot features are controlled by the app based on data received from Tello’s onboard sensors. If you lose
connection to Tello the drone just stop and hover! There is no magic “return to home” upon connection loss!

Some autopilots also accept user input while active, like throttle to control altitude. The section for each autopilot
lists the controls that the AP takes care of and those that the user may control.
Whenever you use any stick that is not for user input during execution the autopilot this will be disengage
immediately. You may also press any Autopilot button or the PANIC button to disengage any active AP.

You can watch the autopilots do their job: the red dots in the onscreen controls show the commands sent to Tello.

Autopilot: Return To Home / RTH

Activated by short press on the home button. This autopilot will bring Tello back to the home position in a straight
line. The “home” position refers to the point of takeoff, or you can manually set a new “home” position by long
pressing the RTH button.

Once RTH is activated Tello will check the minimum RTH altitude defined in the settings (see separate section on
settings), climb as required, at the same time turn into the direction of the home position and travel towards the
destination using a speed defined in the settings. Once arrived Tello descends to 1.5m, and may automatically land
(option in the RTH settings).

RTH will bring Tello back within ~20cm of where Tello thinks (!) the home point is. Again, this can only work within
the limitations of the VPS so please don’t expect magic wonders. Accuracy after a minute of slow flying over an easily
recognizable surface should be within 20-30cm, but after ten minutes of zipping around in high altitude or low light
the calculated point of takeoff may be 15m away from the real point, or even worse.
If the VPS was deactivated or confused Tello may be pretty much clueless where to go so check direction first.

As mentioned all APs require a working wifi connection between phone and Tello. However the video link is typically
far more delicate than the more robust control link. Often (but not always!) video will stutter, get pixelated or stop
before you lose control. As long as VPS data is consistent and there is some data connection the RTH autopilot
should bring Tello back home even if you can’t see the video stream anymore.

Autopilot: POIs and using autopilot dialogs

Points of Interest are used to mark a spot that you are interested in. You set a POI marker at some place you are
interested in, then fly to a distance and use the Circle POI autopilot to circle around this point. It is of utmost
importance to get the position of the POI correct, or your video shots won’t look good because the POI is not in the
center of the screen.

You can short press the “flag” button (next to RTH button) to drop a POI marker at the current position of Tello. That
is the easiest way to get the distance right for POI Circle or POI lock: Just fly there, drop the POI marker when you are
hovering on top of the POI, and then fly back to some distance to activate the autopilot you want to use.
If you short press a second time (without moving much) the POI will be cleared.

Setting POIs you can’t fly over, like towers or large buildings:
Fly as close as you can to the POI, with the drone facing the center of the point you are interested in. Estimate the

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distance between drone and the POI center.
Long pressing the “flag” button (next to the “home” button) opens this dialog.

It is used to set a new Point of Interest (POI). The POI is set straight ahead of Tello in the distance you enter.
You can click and hold the + / - signs to increase / decrease the distance of the POI. Then press OK to set the new
POI, or cancel.

You may also use the pitch stick to move the selection up and down, and use the roll stick to increase / decrease the
value. Move the selection down to OK/cancel and move the roll stick right to seleect OK, or left to select cancel. The
same concept is used in following dialogs for the autopilots. This allows the same dialogs to be used with a
controller, or in VR mode where you can’t touch the screen and have to use controls.

Again: For good results it is crucial to get the distance to the POI right, or the POI won’t be in the center of the
screen.

Autopilot and Flight mode menu

1- Circle oder spiral around a POI
2- Lock heading onto a POI
3- Flies away from you, ascending at different
speeds, and does an optional 360 at the end
4- Like Dronie but will also return back to you
5- Does a 360 video in video mode, or a set of
photos you can stitch together (using an app like
Bimostitch)
6- Activates / deactivates Headless
7- Shows / hides onscreen buttons to execute flips

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Autopilot Circle POI

1- Target to Circle: Distance / POI / Home

You can chose an imaginary point in a distance that is greater than 1m / 3ft.
If 1m / 3ft is displayed and you press “-“ (or use the left roll) to decrease further, this will change “POI
(2.6m)” which indicates that you will circle the POI that was defined (which is currently 2.6m away). If no POI
was defined it will say “POI (not set)”, and if Tello is too close to the POI it will say “POI (too close)”
If it displays “POI (10ft)” and you press “-“ (or use left roll) again, this will change to “Home (5.2m)” which
indicates you will circle around the home position, which is currently 5.2m away. If Tello is too close to the
Home point it will say “Home (too close)”
2- Speed and Direction of travel (in percent of roll applied)
3- You can do a circle or a spiral with growing diameter, this option allows to select spiral width
4- Number of circles around the POI
5- Countdown timer

This autopilot circles a point of interest (POI), a point ahead of Tello, or the home position. Tello needs to be at a
minimum distance of 1m from the POI to activate the autopilot. When invoked it first allows you to chose between
Home, POI, and an imaginary point ahead of Tello, asks for direction and speed of travel, as well as a timer
countdown.

Negative direction values mean that Tello moves left (and does a clockwise circle), positive direction values result in
a move to the right (counter clockwise circle). The given speed percentage equals the roll stick position that is sent
to move Tello sideways. If you start the autopilot for a POI that is very close your maximum speed will be reduced to
ensure Tello can adjust its heading fast enough.

The countdown timer allows you enough time to put down the phone. Just be sure you have enough room!

After the timer countdown Tello will rotate towards the POI, smoothly accelerate sideways and constantly adjust its
heading to keep facing the POI, doing a 360 degree circle around the POI while keeping the POI in the center of the
image. If the distance to the POI changes due to wind or inaccuracies of movement Tello will adjust its distance while
continuing its circle around the POI. After completing the full circle Tello will stop and hover.
This AP works best for large objects like statues or building and with larger distances. If you circle some nearby POI
please use one of the slower speeds, like 30-40% max.

The Circle POI Autopilot will take care of yaw, pitch and roll. You may use throttle to adjust Tello’s altitude, and you
can also use roll to increase / decrease the speed while the AP is being executed. If you use yaw or pitch the
autopilot is cancelled.

Please note:
The distance is crucial for a good circle. If distance is wrong the POI won’t be in the center of the video. The easiest
way is to fly over the POI and drop the POI marker there (short press the flag button)

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Autopilot: Lock POI

1- Target to lock on: Distance / POI / Home

You can chose an imaginary point in a distance that is greater than 1m / 3ft.
If 1m / 3ft is displayed and you press “-“ (or use the left roll) to decrease further, this will change “POI
(2.6m)” which indicates that you will circle the POI that was defined (which is currently 2.6m away). If no POI
was defined it will say “POI (not set)”, and if Tello is too close to the POI it will say “POI (too close)”
If it displays “POI (10ft)” and you press “-“ (or use left roll) again, this will change to “Home (5.2m)” which
indicates you will circle around the home position, which is currently 5.2m away. If Tello is too close to the
Home point it will say “Home (too close)”

This autopilot is similar to the “Circle POI” autopilot but produces a very different video footage. Instead of doing a
simple circle you can fly around the object at varying distances, move back and forth and Tello will always keep the
POI in the image.

This autopilot allows you to select the target, and Tello needs to be at a minimum distance of 1m from the target to
activate the autopilot. Once activated it will rotate towards the POI and keep Tello’s heading directed to the POI.
Tello will just hover in place and you are in control to move Tello around. Tello will constantly adjust its heading to
keep facing the POI, allowing you to do more interesting shots like an elliptical move towards the POI, then pass it in
a few meters distance and fly away from it, while constantly facing the POI. Similar to a cable cam passing a POI.

Please note: If you fly too fast & too close Tello will have trouble to adjust it’s heading quickly enough to keep up
with the POIs relative position. If you fly straight over the POI Tello will turn around after passing the POI.

The Lock POI Autopilot will take care of yaw. You may use throttle to adjust Tello’s altitude, and move Tello around
using roll & pitch. If you use yaw the autopilot is cancelled.

Please note:
The distance is crucial for a good result. If distance is wrong the POI won’t be in the center of the video. The easiest
way is to fly over the POI and drop the POI marker there (short press the flag button)

Autopilot: Dronie

1- Distance to travel backwards away from you

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 2- Speed of travel (in percent of pitch applied)
3- Default trajectory keeps you centered in the video screen, but you can choose different angles
4- You can choose to execute a 360 at the end of the dronie
5- Countdown timer

This autopilot is similar to the “Up & Away” flightmode of the original Tello app but allows more flexibility.

After the timer countdown Tello will smoothly start to move backwards and climb at the selected rate – the
trajectory default ensures the point that was in the center of the screen remains in the center. Once it has travelled
the defined distance Tello will do an optional 360, or stop and hover in place.

The Autopilot will take care of pitch but you may use pitch to adjust Tello’s speed of travel. If you use yaw, throttle
or roll the autopilot is disengaged.

Autopilot: Boomerang

1- Distance to travel backwards away from you

2- Speed of travel (in percent of pitch applied)
3- Default trajectory keeps you centered in the video screen, but you can choose different angles
4- You can choose to execute a 360 at the end of the dronie
5- Countdown timer

This autopilot is similar to the Dronie autopilot, but does not only travel away from you but also comes back, and
may include a 360 video at the point of maximum distance.

After the timer countdown Tello will smoothly start to move backwards and climb at the defined rate. Once it has
travelled the defined distance Tello will stop and do a 360 video (optional). Then it will smoothly accelerate towards
you and descend at the same time.
Tello will not travel the full distance back to you but only about 90%. The remaining 10% is a safety distance as you
don’t want Tello to land in your face if VPS is not accurate enough.

The Autopilot will take care of pitch but you may use pitch to adjust Tello’s speed of travel. If you use yaw, throttle
or roll the autopilot is disengaged.

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Autopilot: Video 360

1- Speed (in percentage of yaw applied)

2- Countdown timer

This autopilot is similar to the “360” flightmode of the original app but allows more flexibility.

After the timer countdown Tello will hover in place and smoothly start to rotate, accelerating to the maximum
speed. Once it has completed a full 360 spin it will slowly stop the rotation stop and hover in place.

The Autopilot will take care of yaw. If you use throttle, pitch or roll the autopilot is disengaged.

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Menu
1- Main settings view with tabbed settings pages
(Main, Return to Home, Misc)
2- Video & Photo settings view with tabbed
settings pages (Video, Photo)
3- Controller settings with tabbed settings pages
(Controller, Mapping)
4- Controller Tuning - fine tuning the drone
response to stick input (both onscreen and
controller)
5- Flight log
6- Unlock vGPS – Opens a screen where you can
start the vGPS test period and purchase the
vGPS module
7- Gravity Calibration - only available in flight
8- Screen recording starts / stops a screen
recording of the flight, where not only the
video but also all controls of TelloFpv are
visible. This video is saved in addition to the
normal videos, and is only stopped if closing
the app.
9- Help - Open this manual
10- About TelloFpv
11- Exit the app

Gravity Calibration
Adjust the motor control parameters to changes in thrust (age & wear, propeller changes, prop guards, etc). This is
only available in flight, and you should hover in a place with good natural light, no turbulence and no wind. Ideally
this is executed in the middle of a large room in around 2m altitude. If you do it in a small room, a corner, too low,
near furniture or in any wind the results won’t be good.
During calibration the LED at the front of Tello will light solid purple. The process takes 10-15s, when finished the
LED will start to blink normally.
You may use controls to avoid crashing into something, but doing so will extend time required for the calibration
process.

Page 16
Main settings – Main

1- Altitude limit, up to 30m (Tello firmware setting)

2- Low battery threshold - Tello starts to blink when this is reached, and battery warning shows up. No setting
is available for Tello’s auto-land on low battery (Tello firmware setting)
3- Maximum attitude – The maximum tilt angle Tello can do. Only in effect when Tello is in fast sport mode –
maximum tilt for slow video mode is controlled by Tello firmware. The higher the value the quicker and
responsive Tello is (in sport mode only!)
4- Landings are always cancelled by throttle up. If this option is selected auto landings initiated by Tello (e.g.
VPS fail) are automatically cancelled without requiring user activity (not all landings are cancellable)
5- Confirm takeoff – If to ask the user for confirmation before starting motors when the takeoff or throw-
takeoff button is pressed. If this is switched off the motors start right away!
This setting does not affect the CSC arming procedure using both sticks: left stick to bottom right together
with right stick to bottom left will always start the motors right away without confirmation.
6- You can activate or deactivate audible notifications.
Currently implemented are button click, camera shutter, timer countdowns, recording start & stop, and a
battery warning. The battery warning sounds for 5 seconds when either the drone is under the selected
battery threshold, or the phone or controller are below 10% battery.

Page 17
Main settings - Return to Home

Settings that control the Return to Home autopilot (AP).

1- Minimum altitude for RTH – Tello will climb to this altitude before returning home. If “0m” is selected or
Tello is already at an altitude higher than the selected value then Tello will not change altitude.
2- Option to land upon arrival at the home point. If inactive Tello will descend down to 1.5m, if active Tello will
descend and land
3- Speed limit for RTH. Only in effect if Tello is at least 10m away from the home position, below that distance
Tello slows down automatically.
4- Defines if sportmode is used for RTH (off= use current mode, on= use sportmode).

Recommended settings for outdoor flights are 3m minimum altitude to avoid typical obstacles, a speed limit of 4-
5m/s to ensure good accuracy of the VPS, and sport mode to be able to fight stronger headwinds.

Main settings- Misc

1- In photo mode Tello sends a 4:3 video stream, in video modes Tello sends a 16:9 video stream. Most phones
are 16:9. You can choose to stretch the live videos to fit your screen, or to show black bars instead.
2- If your phone has a display notch you can chose to extend the screen into this display area
3- Some phones have rounded screens and the controls in the extreme corners are hard to read or use. Use
this setting to move al corners a bit inward to make the app more useable
4- Color for onscreen notifications and icons, choose between green and orange
5- Screen units to be used, choose between metric and imperial
6- Language selection

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Video & Photo settings - Video

1- Bitrate used for the video feed. Use lower bitrates to improve the video stream stability over long distances.
Use higher bitrates in areas with low interference to improve recorded video quality. Leftmost setting is
auto, which lets Tello control the bitrate (but this is not necessarily the best setting).
2- IFrame interval –If your video / stream often shows artifacts (discoloration, jitter, obscured sections) that
stay there for several seconds you can try to set a shorter IFrame interval.
Use shorter intervals to improve the video stream stability over long distances. Use longer intervals in areas
with low interference to improve recorded video quality. If not doing long distance flights you should chose
at least 4s or 7s interval
3- Bitrate used for screenrecording. Older / lower end phones should use 2Mbps or not use screenrecording at
all
4- Displays a small red lightning-bolt whenever a stream corruption is detected. You can use this to identify
reasons why your video isn’t as smooth as you hope it would be. Every time the bolt flashes the video
stream is broken and needs to be re-established. Note: Not every corruption is detected.
5- Records audio from the phone’s microphone into the drone video (disable if no permission to use
microphone)
6- Starts video recording on takeoff (only if Tello is in video mode!)

You can find more about video quality tips & suggested settings on the last pages of this manual

Page 19
Video & Photo settings – Photo 1

1- Tello generates JPG photos onboard, but these files have a defect in the header. Most apps do OK with this
problem, but some gallery apps (Samsung!) show distorted photos with gray bars. This option makes
TelloFpv re-encode the photos before saving into a correct file (but this also increases size and slightly
reduces quality)
2- Tello’s photos often show an angled horizon. If this option is active TelloFpv will create a copy of the original
photo that is rotated using telemetry data and cropped to create a level horizon.
3- Add Altitude: Stamps the current altitude to the photo
4- Adds GPS position and altitude to the EXIF tags of the JPG file (Requires permission to use location service)
5- Quality selection for photos. Low quality photos are half the size of high quality pictures, and download
faster.

Video & Photo settings – Photo 2

1- Sets the photo interval for continuous mode

A long press on the photo / video selector button start and stops the continuous mode. In this mode
TelloFpv takes photos at a set interval.
TelloFpv will do its best effort to take photos at the selected rate. However Tello can only handle one photo
after the other, and a new photo can only be taken after the previous has finished downloading. This limits
the useable interval to 5-10s in perfect conditions (nearby, no interference, no BT controller).
One significant caveat: While processing a photo Tello (not the app!) may be slow to react to commands so
control can be laggy. Also the live video feed will show stutter with every photo. These issues get worse with
ow quality wifi signals and interference (BT controllers!)

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 2- Repeats the shutter sound for every photo taken
3- Automatically starts & stops the continuous mode while an autopilot is executed in photo mode
4- This option sets the timer period for the self timer. To start the self timer long press on the shutter button.
5- TelloFpv can automatically take a set of 7-16 photos that can be stitched together to create a 360°
panorama.
Please note: TelloFPV only does the photos and groups them in separate directories for easier stitching. The
actual stitching is done using external apps like “Bimostitch” or PC programs.
Some apps require more overlap than others, so this option defines the number of photos taken on a full
360° circle.

Controller Settings – Controller

1- The onscreen joysticks may automatically be hidden if at least one external controller is configured and
connected. They will show up again if the controller gets disconnected or if you touch the joystcik’s areas on
the screen.
2- Size of the onscreen joysticks
3- Master controller –The controls of the master controller overrule those of the student controller
4- Student controller
5- Clears all controller definitions, including all mappings and tuning parameters
6- Scan for T1D & Flypad. This scans for the natively supported Gamesir T1D (only this model!) and Parrot
Flypad. The controller needs to be turned on but must _not_ be paired! These controllers will not work if
they are paired. If you have paired them before, go to Android’s Bluetooth settings and unpair the
controller!

How to connect:
For T1d and Flypad: Make sure the Ryze app is closed (taskmanager!). If the controller is paired in the Android
settings you need to unpair it. Afterwards turn controller on, open TelloFpv, open “Menu – Controller” and press the
“scan for T1D and Flypad” button. The controller is found, and can be selected in the student drop down box.
For all other controllers (including T1, T1s, PS3, Xbox, etc) you have to follow the controller manufacturer’s guides to
connect it to the phone using USB OTG or Bluetooth. Depending on the controller this may include pressing some

Page 21
buttons. Please google “Android connect gamepad XY” to find a guide how to connect your gamepad. Gamesir T1S is
explained here https://gamesir.hk/pages/t1s-tutorial#phone

After a controller is recognized you have to select it as either master or student controller to be able to use it.

Once configured you don’t have to do anything to use it for future flight sessions. Just open TelloFPV, turn on the
controller and it should automatically connect as master or student per the setting above.
Now move on to the Controller mapping to configure button and stick assignments.

This controller connection procedure is not specific for TelloFpv. It’s the same for any app or game that is controlled
by a gamepad. If in doubt check connection with a generic gamepad tester app like this:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.elron.gamepadtester&hl=en_US

Any controller that is not recognized in this Gamepad tester app will not work in TelloFpv and there is no point in
trying!

Hint:
Set you external controller as student controller and keep “Onscreen” as master. That way you can always overrule
the external controller using the onscreen joysticks in case of trouble.

Please note:
Any Bluetooth controller will cause interference with the video feed. That is a nature of the communication protocol
chosen by Ryze. A Wifi extender amplifies the video signal so its more easily recognized from the Bluetooth noise
and reduces the negative effects. For best video a wired controller (or no controller at all) is recommended.

Caution:
Parrot Flypad is for Bluetooth connection only. If you plug it into the USB OTG port it appears to work OK but it stops
after about a minute and you will lose control. That was design parameter by Parrot and nothing can change this.

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Controller Settings – Mapping

1- The controller you are configuring. If you are configuring an external controller you have to turn it on. If its
not listed here you have to scan for it first using the previous tab!
2- The drone axis to configure. If you press it you will be asked to move the stick axis to assign to this axis. Once
TelloFPV identifies a significant stick movement it will assign the new stick axis to the selected drone axis.
You can use the button to reverse the input for each axis: “Up” becomes “Down” and “Left” becomes
“Right”!
3- Functions that can be triggered by button press. Select to assign a new controller button to this function.
Scroll down for more functions!

The assignment of stick axis to drone axis works for the onscreen joysticks, too! Just select the axis and move the
stick in the desired axis to change the stick axis used. That way you can change between mode 1 and mode 2 or
create your own mode. The mapping button to function is fixed for onscreen controls and cannot be modified.

The app recognizes short and long button press separately. You can use the same button for two functions, like
“Shortpress X” for shutter and “longpress X” for self timer. Or “shortpress Y” for RTH, and “longpress Y” to set a new
home position.
To delete a button / stick assignment double tap the item.

The following functions require a button of their own because they operate on a push-button basis (the function is
on while the button is pressed, off when released):

 Panic / stop function - causes Tello to stop & hover in place

 Rate limit -temporarily reduces stick output, for smoother moves while staying in the same speedmode
 Rate Boost -temporarily doubles stick output, for sporty moves while staying in the same speedmode
 Roll / Yaw / Throttle / Pitch when mapped to a button. These are typically useful if you want to use a tiny
key-fob sized gamepad / selfie trigger that has only buttons and no sticks.

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Functions that may need explanation

 Arm Motors
Starts the motors but does not takeoff – use throttle to takeoff / stop motors
 Throw Takeoff + Land
Props start spinning for takeoff and you have 5s to throw Tello in the air. Place palm under Tello for landing
 Self timer
Takes Photo / starts video with a delay
 Continuous mode
Starts / Stops the photo mode and takes photos at predefined rate, see photo settings for details
 Rate Limit / Rate Boost
While pressed Limit will cut all stick output in half. For example 60% pitch becomes 30% pitch.
Boost will double the stick output: 60% pitch becomes 100% (not 120%)
Boost & Limit are applied after expo, deadzone & rate have been applied (see Controller Tuning)!
 Directions: Yaw left/right, pitch fwd/back, throttle up/dwn, roll left/right
Tiny keybfob controllers don’t have proportional sticks, map these function to their buttons instead
 Headcontrol
Takes the current heading of the phone in VR mode. Turn right and tello will turn right as well. Center head
and tello will stop turning.

Tune Control settings

This screen allows to change RC tuning configurations for each axis and each controller separately because every
controller behaves differently. The deadzone for a flypad does not match the deadzone required for the onscreen
joysticks.

1- The controller to configure

2- The axis to configure
3- Graphic view of the input/output curve for the selected controller & axis.
You may try the settings by moving the stick for the selected axis and you will see a dot that shows the
current stick position and resulting drone command. This can help understand the characteristics of your
controller (i.e. stick position in relation to values reported by the controller).
4- Rate changes the maximum speed on that axis. Reduce to limit the maximum speed of the drone in that axis.
5- Expo allows soft reactions around the stick center and more powerful reactions near the maximum stick
position. A 10% move of the stick may translate into a 2% command sent the drone with the sticks near their
Page 24
 center but to 30% near the sticks maximum position.
100% expo gives very minimal reactions around the stick center but very strong response at the maximum
position. 0% expo gives a linear reaction (10% stick movement results in 10% increase of output, regardless if
near the center or near the maximum stick position)
6- Deadzone defines an unused, dead zone around the center of the stick. If the stick is within this area the
output to the drone is always 0.
Deadzone can reduce unwanted input as a byproduct of inaccurate touch or stick movement. You are less
likely to accidentally increase throttle when all you want is to yaw left.
Deadzone also fixes issues with creeping controller center (controllers which don't consistently center the
sticks in neutral, or are just a bit off-center by default).

Each of these settings is configured per controller because each controller behaves differently.
Default setting is for each axis & controller: 100% rate, 50% expo, and a 10% deadzone

Camera settings

1- EV / Exposure Value – Center is “Automatic EV”

It is also possible to assign controller buttons to the increase & decrease exposure functions to allow inflight
adjustment.

Flight log

The flight log shows totals of all flights, records achieved, as well as information and flight path for each individual
flight.

Page 25
 1- Select a flight here to see the flight details (see below), scrollable
2- This deletes all flights, all totals, and all records (after confirmation)
3- Leave the flight log

Whenever no individual flight is selected the totals and records are shown.

Flight details

The flight details screen shows all relevant information about the flight, including a plot of the flight path. The
direction Tello faced at takeoff is “up” in the plot.
The blue dot is the takeoff point, the green dot is the landing point. The dot will be red if the flight ended abnormally
(inflight disconnect).

1- Leave the flight log

2- Select a flight here to see the flight details (see below), scrollable
3- Deletes this flight (after confirmation)
This will not remove the flight from the totals and records
4- Opens Google Maps to show Tello’s last position. Only if vGPS module was purchased and vGPS was active
for this flight!
5- Opens the Android share function for the flight’s KL file. Depending on individual apps installed you may
send, save, open the KML file. Only if vGPS module was purchased and vGPS was active for this flight!
6- The flight path of this flight. If vGPS was used for this flight the graphics top is “north”, otherwise top is
“heading at takeoff”.
If vGPS was purchased and active for this flight you can tap here to open the KML file in Google Earth.

Page 26
VR Mode

TelloFpv can be used with VR headsets for an immersive flight experience.

Please note: This is a plain side-by-side VR solution that works with any of the cheap headsets available, like Fiit Vr2s
or any other plain VR headset.
TelloFpv does not work as a Google cardboard app, Google daydream app, Samsung GearVR app, Oculus app, ….
These VR headsets activate a special mode on the phones that requires the apps to be specifically made for this
particular headset. If you have any of these special headsets you have to find a way to de-activate the special VR
mode.

The VR display contains a head up display (HUD) with the following information

1. Wifi strength in dB
2. Flight time
3. Drone battery (other batteries will only show up as warnings)
4. Video / Photo mode, will also show recording time, and photo download progress
5. V/S for videomode / sportmode
6. Speed
7. Distance
8. Altitude
9. Open VR settings to adjust the view
10. Go back to main screen

The HUD can be either flat or it can hover in front of the screen, using a 3D effect. The 3D effect is only visible with a
live video feed, otherwise the eyes don’t follow this trick.

Page 27
VR Settings

This view allows you to adjust the VR views to accommodate your eyes and headset.

1. Adjust horizontal position to match distance between your yes (IPD) / headset lenses
2. Adjust vertical position to match the phone’s position in the headset
3. Adjust size of each view for 16:9 video mode (only active in video mode)
4. Adjust size of each view for 4:3 photo mode (only active in photo mode)
5. 3D effect for the HUD, left is no effect, right is strongest 3D effect. The 3D effect is only visible with a live
video feed, otherwise the eyes don’t follow this trick.

Page 28
Copilot

This is for expert users only:

You can run TelloFpv on your main controller phone, and run TelloFpv Copilot (a separate, free app to download) on
another phone to share the view. The second phone running Copilot shows a subset of the information available in
TelloFpv. Copilot can change between single screen FPV and split screen VR mode independently.

Copilot is for viewing only and cannot control the drone. If you want two users to control the drone you can setup
Master & student controllers on the TelloFpv phone, and run Copilot on the student phone.

Important: You have to use a Wifi extender and both phones have to be connected to the extender. Otherwise it will
never work! This is mandatory due to limitations of the Tello wifi network.

Please check the internet for guides what a wifi extender is, which extender to buy, how to setup and use a wifi
extender with Tello. Using a wifi extender can be a somewhat complex thing, and this is not really related to
TelloFpv.
I can’t provide support for all the issues that come up with different wifi extenders and their setup. Wifi extender
setup or use is considered out of scope for this guide.

Page 29
Video quality tips
First: Tello isn’t a 4k camera drone so don’t expect perfect videos. Video transmission isn’t the best, is affected by RF
noise including nearby Bluetooth and recovery from stream corruption just isn’t the comparable with large drones.
Check Tello footage on Youtube to understand what quality level is possible in good conditions.

That said video quality in TelloFpv should be as good as or a bit better than the original Ryze Tello app under the
same conditions. If not something is wrong. There is no “Best settings for video” as it depends on the conditions you
are in, amount of interference, quality of the phones antennas, etc. The default settings are a good start, though.

Most issues with video stream / recording cause the video stream to stutter, the recorded video to jump, or
introduces blurred / pixelated areas of the screen. In almost all circumstances these issues are due to low wifi
connection quality between phone and drone. Even a good wifi connection can be disturbed by RF noise, most
notably Bluetooth. So stay away from all RF sources, and turn off anything that uses Bluetooth (smartwatch, fitness
tracker, headset, …). Make sure to turn off the phone’s Bluetooth!

Overall its hard to get good video quality in an office setting or a residential area. It’s much easier outdoors.
Even outdoors sometimes seemingly innocent things like lamp posts can be a source for lots of interference (old
transformers, early LED converters, etc all emit a lot of RF noise)

Tips to get best results:

 Switch your phone into flight mode to turn off all RF emission
 Activate only Wifi and connect to Tello's wifi
 Make sure BT on the phone is switched off, as even if no device is connected it will disturb the video feed
 Turn off any nearby bluetooth / wifi accessories (fitness trackers, smart watches, PC, mouse, keyboard …)
 Fly in an area with little interference (no wifi or Bluetooth sources)
 Use a wifi range extender! This really improves link quality significantly!
Place it a few meters away from you. Your phone and controller are a major source of interference
(especially if you use a bluetooth controller) and the repeater needs a signal with as little noise as possible
 If you want to use a controller choose a wired controller connected via USB OTG adapter.
 Bluetooth controllers are not recommended for good video quality. Bluetooth transmissions cause lost data
packets which result in corruptions of the video stream, which is then repaired but that repair takes time.
The result is obscured video showing artifacts, or stuttering because Tello has trouble to keep up repairing
the stream data.
 Make sure you don’t have jello!
Jello (aka “rolling shutter effect”) is a “warping” effect visible in the videos. Not only does it look bad, it also
massively reduces the amount of detail in a video. The video link is compressed by slicing the frame into tiny
sections and encoding all movement of these sections. Each tiny movement requires encoding time and
bandwidth. The less sections move, the less bandwidth is used for encoding movements, and the more
bandwidth is left for enriching these sections with additional detail. So reduce Jello to get better details!
Jello is caused by caused by vibrations of the camera, so anything that causes vibrations provokes jello and
reduces details:
* Use good / new props
* Take off the prop guards
* Don’t record in strong winds
* Check your motors for misaligned / bent shafts
* Increase exposure time (less light, or add an ND filter)
 Adjust video settings according to your environment and your intentions (video recording, FPV, long distance
FPV)
 To gain insight into the wifi & video feed quality turn on the “show corruption indicator” option
Page 30
Video settings
 Bitrate
The level of detail in the video depends on the bitrate. Higher values allow for more details but at the same
time the video feed becomes more fragile and suspect to corruption. A corrupted video stream shows
pixelated areas or garbage on the screen.
Lower values show less details but the video stream is more robust, and does not need to be repaired as
often.
If you have a perfect wifi link with no interference and want to record video chose3- 4Mbps.
If you expect an instable wifi link, chose a lower bitrate, especially for long distance FPV
“Auto” starts at 4Mb but drops the bitrate as the Wifi link quality is reduced over longer distances. Manual
settings ive better results in my iew.
 IFrame interval
As mentioned the video stream gets corrupted from time to time. In a noisy office environment and when
using a BT controller this may happen several times a second, in a rural area without any interference
maybe once every ten seconds.
TelloFpv identifies most corruptions and asks Tello for a new IFrame automatically to repair the stream. But
if a corruption goes unnoticed this will cause some pixel garbage on the screen until a new IFrame arrives. If
no subsequent corruption causes a new Iframe to be delivered this Iframe interval ensures that an Iframe is
received at least every X seconds, so an unnoticed stream corruption is repaired. So the longer the IFrame
period, the longer the garbage can stay on the video.
In theory a low IFrame interval would be the solution, however each IFrame causes the video to blur
momentarily because an Iframe is a low resolution image that sharpens only as subsequent frames arrive.
For really smooth and sharp video in a low interference environment you may try IFrame rates up 10 or 15
seconds, or you may even switch periodic Iframes off completely. Just keep in mind if corruption happens
right after the last IFrame that the garbage can stay on screen for a long time.
For long distance FPV it is suggested to use low IFrame intervals as here the stream breaks up very often,
and video stability trumps video quality in this case.

Page 31
Notifications displayed
 Please connect to Tello's wifi
Your phone is not connected to Tello’s wifi. You may press the wifi signal strength indicator in the bottom
bar to open the Android wifi selection dialog.
 Connecting to Tello...Is phone in airplane mode?
Your phone is connected to Tello’s wifi but Tello can’t be found on the network. This happens on many /
most Android devices if the phone is connected to the internet via cellular data. The App sends requests to
Tello but the phone redirects these requests via cellular data connection to the internet, instead of using
wifi.
Please disable cellular data (set phone into flight mode, then re-enable only wifi and connect to Tello’s wifi)
 Connecting to Tello...Is Ryze Tello App still open?
Your phone is connected to Tello’s wifi, and Tello has been found on the network but refuses connection
requests. This typically happens if the Ryze Tello App is still open in the background. Please use the Android
task manager to force close this app.
 Low light condition
There is not enough light for Tello to reliably position the drone using the VPS. All autopilots will be
somewhat inaccurate.
 VPS inactive
VPS has switched off, because of low light conditions, indistinguishable /monochrome ground surface,
reflecting surfaces, moving ground like water or grass, etc. Fly over solid ground in good light conditions
Note: This also happens if the bottom camera is dirty, or if old / wrong props cause vibrations!
 Not receiving VPS data
The wifi link quality is so low that only very little VPS data arrives at the phone. Telemetry data is unreliable!
 Wifi interference
Tello flies near a source of wifi interference (not necessarily Wifi, could also be some other source of RF
noise like a bad transformer).
 Wifi signal weak
Shown if Wifi signal drops below 40dB. Fly closer to your smartphone
 Battery low
One of the batteries is low. The bottom status bar gives more details about battery conditions. Warning
threshold for the drone battery is configured in the settings. Warning threshold for phone and controller
batteries is fixed at 10%
 Landing…
Under some conditions Tello may decide by itself to initiate a landing. This happens on low battery as well as
VPS inactivity and possibly other error conditions. Most landings can be cancelled by pressing the “Cancel
Landing” button at the bottom or by pushing the throttle stick. There is also an option available to auto-
cancel landings. Some forced autolandings (e.g. very low battery) can’t be cancelled.
 Altitude limit
You are approaching the altitude limit you defined in the settings
 Tello tilted
Most likely tello has crashed, or is on a sloping surface
 Overheated, shutting down
Tello has overheated and is shutting down. If this error is shown Tello will inevitably shut down
 Battery problem
Tello reported error code 203 indicating some issue with the battery
 IMU calibration required
Tello reports that an IMU calibration is required. This needs to be done in the Ryze stock app, please follow
the instructions provided by Ryze
Page 32
Trouble shooting
Photos / Videos are not stored under DCIM directory

 Check that the app has required privileges to access storage

Photos are distorted / show lines / green bars in the phone gallery

 Activate the re-encode photo option under Settings => Video & Photo => Photo

Video feed freezes when switching between photo and video mode

 Please contact the developer by email tellofpv@gmail.com for directions!

Video feed on screen looks distorted or has black bars at the side

 Tello sends different video aspect ratios 4:3 or 16:9 depending on the camera mode. You may decide if to
stretch the video to fit the screen using an option under Settings => Misc

Bluetooth controllers T1d / Flypad are not found

 Do you see and use the “scan for t1d and flypad” button on the controller settings screen? I not you may
have to scroll down!
 Make sure the controller is not paired in the Android Bluetooth settings. If paired, unpair it first!
 Check that the app has privileges to “access location” (required for Bluetooth scanning)
 Check that Google location service is active (if inactive Android may not give search results)
 Try again. Some devices require 3 or more scan cycles to find a controller
 Is the controller a Gamesir T1d or Parrot Flypad? If not you have to follow manufacturer instructions to pair
and configure the controller as a normal Android InputDevice first. See controller section.

Bluetooth controllers were found and worked, but now fail to connect

 Some phones allow only a limited number of BLE connections and a memory leak causes these to be used up
over time. Try to reboot.

My gamepad doesn’t work or one of my gamepad buttons or sticks doesn’t work

 Try this gamepad tester

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.elron.gamepadtester
 TelloFpv will work with all stick & buttons recognized in this gamepad tester
 Pre-configured button & stick mapping is based on Gamepad Button IDs like “L1” for the left shoulder
button. Some gamepads send different button IDs, like “5” instead of “L1” event thought the physical button
is labeled “L1”. To fix this just re-do the mapping for each button you want to use.
This will be fixed in the next major release

Video continuously shows discolored lines / square section all the time, most often green or purple

 A very small number of devices show green bars on the screen (and/or the recorded video). This is a codec
issue and in most cases comes from defects in a custom Android ROM, or modified settings.
So far there are no known incompatibilities with phone models, only a few individually modified devices
refuse to cooperate. There is no cure to this, except to use a fully functional ROM.

VPS is frequently shown as inactive

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 If TelloFpv show such message frequently then Tello’s VPS has a problem. Please clean the downfacing camera
with a soft brush or pressurized air. Vibrations from old or modified propellers can cause this, too. Use only
original OEM propellers in good shape. If vibrations persist it may also be a bent motor shaft. Examine closely
and repair as required.

TelloFpv keeps asking for internet access to validate the license

 TelloFpv validates the license for the first 3 days after installation. After 3 days it stores a permanent encrypted
license on the device and use that license. This is necessary as Play Store allows 2 days cancellation period. So all
play store sales are only final after 3 days.
Exception: If you change the Android date / time settings and disabled “Network provided time” then no local
license is stored because the user defined date makes it impossible to ensure 3 days have passed. The 3 day
period will only start after you re-activated “Network provided Date & Time” in the Android settings.

TelloFpv complains about a compromised play store

 TelloFpv validates the license against Google play store. Some hacking apps like Luckypatcher modify the play
store, and some hacking / piracy ROMs come with a preinstalled modified play store. In this case the phone no
longer reliably reports the correct status of the play store licenses. TelloFpv can’t tell if your license is valid or not
– so it does not cooperate.
On a personal note: ALL of these apps/ROMs are made to deprive developers from their income stream in one
way or another. Some drain the advertising revenue stream, others grant access to apps without purchasing. If
your TelloFpv complains about a compromised play store please send me your order number for a refund. Do
not ask for help, as I will never support any such installation no matter why you are using such a modified play
store. Your only option to use TelloFpv is to install a correctly working play store but I am not giving support for
this: you broke it – you fix it.

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