Freefly Astro & Astro Max setup guide

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  • Published on May 12, 2026
  • 1 minute(s) read
  • JS
  • Matthew Toohey
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This guide outlines how to prepare a Freefly Astro or Astro Max drone to carry the Hovermap ST or Hovermap ST-X. Once set up, the Hovermap and drone will be able to share autonomy command data and receive GPS through the electrical interface cable.

The key steps shown in this guide are:

  1. Mount the Hovermap to the Freefly Astro

  2. Install Emesent Commander on the Freefly Pilot Pro controller

  3. Setup Hovermap and Freefly Astro for basic operations

Pre-flight checklist

  • Hovermap is running the latest release of Cortex and Commander, or a minimum of Cortex version 3.4.

  • Freefly Pilot Pro controller is fully charged.

  • Freefly Astro/Astro Max batteries are fully charged.

  • Freefly Astro/Astro Max parameters are set for Hovermap (section 2 below).

Set Astro/Astro Max parameters

If your Astro/Astro Max has firmware 1.6.14 or later installed, the following Astro parameters need to be set for it to operate with Hovermap:

  • Set MAV_2_MODE = Custom

  • Set COM_RC_IN_MODE = RC Transmitter Only

  • Set SER_EXT2_BAUD = 500000

You can refer to the Freefly Wiki page for more detailed information on the Astro drones and Pilot Pro controller as well as Astro integration with Emesent Hovermap.