Betaflight VTX setup: table, channel, power and pit mode

The controls below are the ones on the Video TX tab for Betaflight. Names match the screen.

No VTX detected. Until a transmitter answers, the status line says no VTX was detected. The table and the channel picker are still there, so a table can be loaded before the transmitter is powered.

Unsaved. A change that has not been written is marked Unsaved. The table preset path is different: writing a preset saves immediately and does not wait for the save bar.

Frequency. The large readout is the current frequency in megahertz, next to the band and channel slot and the power label.

Pit mode pill. When pit mode is on, the status pill says Pit mode. When it is off, the pill says Transmitting.

Disabled channels. A channel that the table marks as disabled is greyed out and cannot be selected. The hint under the grid says that.

Replace the table. Choosing a preset asks before it writes. The confirmation says the table is written to the flight controller and saved right away. Cancel leaves the current table alone.

Save or revert first. The button that loads a standard table stays disabled while the table editor has unsaved edits. The label says to save or revert changes first.

Betaflight does not guess a transmitter's channels. It stores a VTX table: bands, channel frequencies and power levels. The Video TX tab reads that table and will not offer a channel the table does not contain. That is why a new board often needs a table before the first frequency change.

Control of the transmitter still depends on the port. On the Ports tab, the UART wired to the transmitter is set to the protocol that transmitter speaks, usually SmartAudio or IRC Tramp. The Video TX tab changes the frequency and power. It does not assign the UART. If the port function is wrong, the status stays at no VTX detected even though the table is loaded.

Pit mode is for the bench. It keeps the transmitter from lighting up the room, or moves it to the pit frequency stored for that purpose. Low power while disarmed is separate: the craft can sit armed-ready on a low power level and rise to the selected power only after arming. Set the power you want in the air first, then decide whether disarmed time should drop to the low level.

INAV keeps extra wire settings because SmartAudio and Tramp are picky about the serial line. One-wire control uses only the TX pin. Stop bits, the early AKK fix and the older soft-serial method are there for transmitters that do not speak the usual timing. The short stop bit is the Tramp variant. Maximum power override caps the output in milliwatts even if the table lists a higher step. The Tramp frequency band choice is the group that Tramp hardware expects.

The Betaflight configurator is the whole tab set, including Video TX. This page is the VTX part of that set. OSD elements that draw the channel or link quality are on the OSD editor. A VTX table that ships inside an official preset can also be applied from the presets page, which is a different path from the presets built into the Video TX tab.

Nothing on this tab flashes the transmitter's own firmware. Flashing a flight controller is the firmware flasher on Android over USB. The video link itself is analogue or digital hardware on the craft. FlySpark sets the controller's VTX configuration. It does not replace the transmitter.

After a table write, power-cycle the transmitter if the goggles still show the old channel. The flight controller can store the new table while the transmitter keeps the previous channel until it is powered again. Check the megahertz readout on the tab against the frequency printed for that channel in the table before you arm.