MACDEV DRONE DX User manual

Copyright Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. 2011
All rights reserved
No part of this document may be copied or reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior
written consent of Mac Developments Pty. Ltd.
Notice is hereby given that this manual is part of the article owned in whole by Mac Developments Pty. Ltd.,
known as indicated in this manual and drawings. All rights of manufacture and reproduction of such articles
or any part thereof are reserved by Mac Developments Pty Ltd. Neither said article nor any part thereof may
be manufactured or reproduced without the written authorization from Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. All
proprietary rights and information are the sole property of Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. MacDev, Clone,
Conquest, Gladiator, MatchStick, Cyborg, Shift and Drone are all trademarks of Mac Developments Pty Ltd.
Statement of Liability
Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. makes no warranties with respect to this documentation and disclaims any
implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The information in this document is
subject to change without notice. Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. assumes no responsibility for its resale or safe
handling. Mac Developments Pty. Ltd. assumes no responsibility for physical injury or property damage
resulting from its use.

MacDev 2 Year Warranty
Your marker is covered by the MacDev 2 year warranty against manufacturing defects. Your marker is
guaranteed free of manufacturing defects for a period of two (2) consecutive years beginning from the
product release date. If a manufacturing defect is detected, the defective part will be either repaired or
replaced at no cost to the owner. Your warranty does not cover damage due to theft, misadventure or
operator error/abuse.
Caution!
This is not a toy. Misuse may cause serious injury or death. Eye protection designed specifically for paintball
must be worn by user and persons within range. Recommend 18 years or older to purchase. Persons under
18 must have adult supervision.
READ OWNER’S MANUAL BEFORE USING
Your new Drone DX is machined from high quality solid aluminum and contains precision machined parts for
high performance.
Please take the time to learn the parts of your Drone; it will help you when reading this manual.
Numbered basic parts as shown in the figure on the left:
1. MatchStik 2-piece barrel
2. Feed clamp lever (used to affix your loader)
3. Drivetrain, unscrew to remove (note: marker must be degassed first)
4. Eye covers and screws
5. Gladiator VX Inline (High Pressure Regulator)

6. Velocity adjustment screw (anti clockwise to increase velocity)
7. Trigger with screw adjustments
8. LED display used to view gun status/settings
9. Membrane pad with power and programming buttons
10. Air hose
11. Venting ASA, screw your air system in here
12. Venting ASA on/off cap (used to turn the air on or off)
Quick Setup
Switching on and operating your marker
Switching your marker on and off
The on/off button is located on a membrane pad on the rear of the frame. Push the button with the power
symbol . When done correctly, your LED will display a red light if no ball is loaded or a green light if a ball
is loaded and the marker will be set with the beam sensor system on and ready to fire. Turn your marker off
by holding the power button down until the LED goes blank.
Firing your marker
If a paintball is loaded in your marker, and the power is switched on, you may fire the marker by pulling the
trigger. If a paintball is not loaded, then you need to either load one, or read the section below on disabling
the beam sensor.
Understanding the beam sensor
Your marker is equipped with a visible light sensor to determine if a paintball is correctly loaded. This system
is used to prevent accidental ball breakage due to misloaded paintballs. The LED indicator on the back of
your grip will show you the status of the beam sensor:
Ball loaded –green (or special color for non-semi mode)
Ball not loaded –red
Sensor error –flashing orange
Disabling the beam sensor
To disable the sensor (for dry firing,) hold the scroll button on the membrane pad until the LED starts
flashing. You can re-enable the beam sensor the same way.
Installing a preset air system
Your marker comes equipped with a high quality venting ASA (Air System Adaptor) that is designed for use
with commercially available air/nitrogen systems. To install your preset air system, unscrew the ASA cap by
approximately 3 turns do not unscrew it further, as the cap can come off completely. Once this is done,
carefully screw your air system into the ASA until it stops.
Turning the air on and off
To pressurize your marker, screw the ASA cap down until it stops. This will depress the pin on the end of
your air system and pressurize the marker provided you have sufficient air in your air system. To

depressurize your marker, unscrew the ASA cap until you hear the air being vented from the cap. Your air
system is now turned off and safe to remove.
NOTE: WHEN YOU UNSCREW THE ASA CAP, YOUR MARKER MAY STORE ONE SHOT. POINT THE MARKER IN A
SAFE DIRECTION AND FIRE OFF THAT SHOT BEFORE ENTERING A SAFE AREA.
Using a loader
Your marker can operate using any commercially available loader. The software and beam sensor will
compensate for the speed of the hopper, ensuring that the marker fires as quickly as the loader allows.
Installing a loader onto your marker
Open the cam lever as shown. This should allow your loader neck to fit into the feed tube as shown. If your
loader does not fit into the feed tube, then you may have to loosen the cam lever –this is done by rotating
the cam lever counter clockwise; once your loader is pushed all the way down into the feed tube close the
cam lever. If your loader is loose, you may need to open the cam lever, and tighten it by turning clockwise to
adjust the cam system to hold your hopper tightly. Only ever adjust your cam lever by one turn at a time to
prevent over tightening.
Removing your loader
Open the clamp by swinging the lever on its hinge. This will loosen the loader and allow you to remove it
easily. If it does not remove easily, then it means that you have the cam lever over tightened.
DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN YOUR FEED CLAMP! OVERTIGHTENING MAY RESULT IN DAMAGE TO YOUR LOADER
OR CLAMP.

Adjusting your velocity
The velocity of your marker is adjusted via an adjustment screw on the bottom your inline regulator. To
increase velocity, use a 1/8” Allen Key to turn the adjustment screw counter clockwise. Always adjust your
velocity gently and use a chronograph.
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR VELOCITY ABOVE 300FPS, AND ALWAYS OBEY LOCAL LAWS AND REQUIREMENTS.
Adjusting the trigger
Your trigger has three adjustment screws, they are located in the front face of the trigger in the following
order from top to bottom:
-Pull tension
-Switch actuation point
-Pull length
You can easily adjust these three screws to personalize the feel of your trigger.

Replacing the battery
Remove the three screws holding the wrap around grip onto the left hand side of your grip frame. Gently
lever the battery out of the frame from the bottom. Take care that the terminals are not caught on the
battery.
Place the replacement battery into the marker, NOTE: make sure you put the bottom of the battery in first
then push it onto the terminals. Only use high quality alkaline 9V batteries, the best possible choice is to use
a MacDev Militia PowerPack (type 6LR61).
Programming your Drone DX
Tourney lock
Your board is equipped with a tourney lock system. When the tourney lock system is activated, settings on
the board cannot be changed.
The lock status can be changed by opening the left hand side of the marker wrap around grip to gain access
to the front of your circuit board. The tournament lock is a white button above the word MACDEV, as shown

in the picture.
When the board is powered on, hold the tourney lock button down. The LED will flash a series of green and
red, ending in either green (tourney lock off, or red (tourney lock on).
Programming menu
To program the board, first ensure that the tournament lock is off and then turn the marker off. Hold down
the trigger whilst turning the marker on. Continue to hold the trigger while the LED shines white. When the
LED changes to blue, you may release the button and trigger, and proceed to adjust your settings. Click the
trigger if you would like to advance to the next color. When you would like to adjust a setting, hold the
trigger until the LED goes blank. After releasing the trigger, the LED will flash, the number of flashes shows
you the last setting. When the board has finished flashing, pull the trigger the number of times you would
like to input your new setting.
Each setting is color coded. The colors are given below:
LED Color
Setting
Default
Blue
De-bounce (1/2ms increments)
10
Red
Dwell (1ms increments)
8
White
Fire mode
1 (semi)
Green
Max ROF –capped modes only
10 (12.5bps)
Tourney
Lock Button

Yellow
Ball settle delay (1/2ms increments)
15
Teal
Anti-mechanical bounce
2
Purple
Anti-bolt stick
3
Flickering Blue
Factory Setting
-
Flickering Red
Cycle filter
2
Flickering White
Eye mode
2 (forced)
Flickering Green
Bolt tracking delay (MS)
10
Flickering Yellow
Test mode dwell (MS)
2
Menu details
Each setting in the menu is detailed in this list:
De-bounce (Blue)
The de-bounce setting of your marker is used to control the amount of “bounce”in your trigger. A very low
de-bounce setting will result in a lot of bounce. In some tournaments or fields, it will be necessary to reduce
the amount of bounce by increasing the de-bounce setting. Always increase the de-bounce slowly, because
settings higher than 15 will result in your marker feeling unresponsive.
Dwell (Red)
The dwell setting controls the amount of time that your solenoid is held open. A very low dwell will result in
very poor performance from your marker, whilst a very high value will result in a very slow maximum rate of
fire and excess air usage. The factory setting is recommended as a base line, you may use small increments
for fine tuning.
Fire mode (White)
Your marker is equipped with 8 different fire modes. These fire modes will allow you to use your marker in
many different situations –tournament play, recreational and scenario. Always follow the rules and local
regulations when selecting your fire mode. The available fire modes are given below:
-1 Uncapped semi
-2 Capped semi
-3 Uncapped
-3 shot burst
-4 Capped
-3 shot burst
-5 Uncapped full auto
-6 Capped full auto
-7 (unused)
-8 (unused)
-9 Capped PSP
-10 Capped Millennium

PLEASE NOTE: SOME VERSIONS MAY HAVE SOME MODES REMOVED TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL LAWS. FOR
EXAMPLE, ALL MARKERS SOLD IN AUSTRALIA OFFER ONLY SEMI AUTO MODES.
Rate of fire –ROF (Green)
Your marker can electronically limit its maximum ROF. This is required in some tournaments or fields. In
uncapped modes, the ROF will only be limited by the speed of the marker and hopper. If you use a capped
mode like PSP or Millennium, the mode will obey the maximum ROF. The ROF is adjustable from 8bps in
1/2bps increments (1=8, 2=8.5, 3=9 … 26=uncapped).
Ball Settle Delay (Yellow)
This is a small dwell included to allow the ball to settle into your marker breach before firing. For a very fast
loader, this may be set to 1, for slow hoppers it should be higher. If your ball settle delay is set too low for
your loader, then you may experience paintballs breaking in the breech.
Anti-mechanical bounce (Teal)
Primarily, you should use the de-bounce register to remove bounce from your marker. However, if you
experience excessive bounce, it may be from a mechanical source. This AMB filter is designed to remove
excessive bounce, and it should be incremented slowly to remove bounce when bounce cannot be removed
using the de-bounce register.
Anti-bolt stick (Purple)
When your marker is idle for long periods, friction and settling effects can cause your bolt or other moving
parts to be sticky. The ABS system is used to overcome this on the first shot by temporarily increasing the
dwell setting. The ABS is adjustable from 1-10ms where the setting is the temporary increase in dwell, and a
setting of 1 removes the ABS completely.
Factory setting (Flickering blue)
This setting is only used by the MacDev Factory; do not alter this setting unless directed by a MacDev tech.
Cycle filter (Flickering red)
Your software allows the buffering of a single shot in case you pull the trigger during a cycle. This filter can
be used to reduce the time allowed to buffer this shot, adjustable from 1 (full buffer) to 10 full cycle filter.
Higher settings will reduce the amount of mechanical bounce in the marker, whilst low settings will make
the marker feel aggressive and responsive.
Eye mode (Flickering white)
Your marker can utilize the beam sensor (eye) in different ways. This setting can be used to select which way
you would like to have the sensor used. The system can use a delayed mode, where if a ball is not detected
in the breech, a shot will be fired after a half second delay. This mode is useful if you are using a sound
activated loader, or if you would like your gun to indicate to you when you are out of paintballs. Another
option is the forced mode. In this mode, the marker will only fire if a ball is detected. However, the user can
force a shot to be fired by holding the trigger until the marker fires.
The beam sensor can also be used to test the speed of your marker by watching the bolt during dry firing. To
allow this, your marker has two test modes –test mode with full dwell, and test mode with adjusted dwell.
When fired in these modes, your marker will report back to you the approximate speed achieved via the

color of the indicator LED.
The colors are given below:
-Red: less than 10bps
-Yellow: 10-15bps
-Green: 15-20bps
-Blue: 20-25bps
-White: 25+bps.
To set your eye mode, use the following register settings:
1. Delayed
2. Forced
3. Test mode with full dwell
4. Test mode with adjusted dwell
The test mode with full dwell uses the same dwell that you are currently using with your marker, the test
mode with adjustable dwell allows you to conveniently change the test mode dwell without changing the
usual operating dwell of your marker. To adjust this dwell, use the last register (Test mode dwell).
Bolt tracking delay (Flickering green)
The bolt tracking delay is a parameter used to ensure that bolt tracking is working correctly. Do not adjust
this unless you are advised by a MacDev tech.
Test mode dwell (Flickering yellow)
The test mode dwell is used to adjust the dwell used when the user selects the test mode with adjustable
dwell in the eye mode register (Described above). The user may adjust this setting from 1-30ms.
Factory reset
If you would like to reset your software to the factory default settings, gain access to the tourney button
your board, then enter the programming mode. While in programming mode, press and hold the tourney
lock button. After approximately 10 seconds, your indicator LED will flash all colours indicating a reset has
been completed.
Using and RF transmitter
Your stock board has provision for an RF transmitter attachment. To use the RF transmitter function, you
must plug a compatible RF transmitter module into the RF transmitter plug (directly under the eye plugs on
your board), and it will be activated automatically.
Maintenance
If you take 10 minutes after every day of play to maintain your marker, you will be rewarded with consistent
reliable performance.
You should perform basic cleaning after every day of play, and you should perform drivetrain and inline
regulator maintenance after at least every 2 full days of play or around 10,000 shots. You can clean and

maintain your marker more often, it is up to you.
When maintaining your marker, use only MacDev accessories. Your marker is packaged with an Allen Key set
and a small tub of MacDev Militia® lube, only use MacDev Militia® lube to lubricate your marker.
Basic cleaning
After using your marker, always clean old paint from the outside. Always clean your barrel using a barrel
swab to remove traces of dirt and paint. Use your barrel swab to clean the breech and feed tube in a similar
way.
Your marker’s internal parts are quite well protected and sealed. However, when not in use, dirt can get into
the marker and cause problems –so storage of your marker is just as important as cleaning. When storing
your marker, ensure that it is stored in its bag that is free of dirt, otherwise dirt may get into the venting ASA
or breech.
Parts:
Maintaining the drivetrain
Your drivetrain should be maintained after every 10,000 shots or so. You may maintain your drivetrain more
frequently if you wish.
Before working on your drivetrain, ensure that your marker is degassed. After degassing your marker,
always safely fire a shot –this will ensure that a shot is not stored in your marker. Unscrew the back cap,
and pull the drivetrain out of your marker. Set aside your marker so that you can focus on the drivetrain.

The disassembled drivetrain is on the next page. To maintain your drivetrain, clean and re-lubricate the
following O-rings: bolt switch, keg inner and valve. Also clean and re-lubricate the keg bore, and the inside of
the back of the bolt where the valve O-ring seals, as well as the bolt and the valves themselves.
After working on your drivetrain, reassemble it, and then slide it back into your marker.
If your drivetrain is difficult to install or remove from your marker, use some lube on the outside O-rings of
the drivetrain so they can slide freely.
Over the life of your marker, some of the drivetrain O-rings will wear out, in particular, the bolt switch O-
rings and the valve O-ring. Replacements of these O-rings are supplied with your marker; however, if you
require more, you should use only genuine MacDev O-rings.
Maintaining the inline regulator
Your inline regulator (otherwise known as Gladiator Reg,) regulates the pressure from your air system down
to the pressure used to fire your marker. It is very important that your inline regulator is working well, if not,
you may experience problems with velocity fluctuation or shutdown.
Before working on your Gladiator Reg, make certain that the air supply is turned off (via the venting ASA),
and safely fire any gas out of the gun to ensure it does not have any residual pressure.
Remove the hose from the fitting in the bottom of the Gladiator Reg –you do this by pushing the collar in,
whilst pulling the hose out. Once the hose is removed, you can unscrew the Gladiator Reg from your marker.
Put your marker aside so that you can concentrate on your Gladiator Reg.
A picture of the parts inside your Gladiator Reg are shown on the adjacent page, disassemble the regulator
and clean and re-lubricate the piston and retainer inner O-rings. Also, clean and re-lubricate the bore inside
the top works where the piston slides. Please note that to complete this simple maintenance, you do not

need to completely disassemble the regulator as shown, all the parts are shown to help you if you need it
for troubleshooting.
Re-assemble your regulator and re-assemble your marker by attaching the Gladiator inline reg and hose.
Push the hose in firmly until it stops then make sure to re-chronograph your marker before using it on the
field.

Troubleshooting
Symptom
Possible Cause
Solution
Although a fresh battery has been
fitted, your marker will not turn on
The battery has not been fitted cor-
rectly
Ensure that the battery is firmly
connected to both terminals. Ensure
that the positive (+) terminal is
connected to the positive terminal
on your battery.
Your marker leaks from the solenoid
Leaking bolt switch O-ring
Clean and re-lubricate the drivetrain
with particular attention to the bolt
switch O-ring. Replace if necessary.
Low air pressure
Ensure that your air system is full,
and that the velocity adjustment is
not set too low.
Leaking manifold O-rings
Check that the two manifold O-rings
are in place between the solenoid
and sub plate. If they are damaged
or missing, then replace them.
Your marker uses
excessive air
Dwell set too high
Check that your Dwell setting is not
over 10ms.
General leak
Make certain that there are no leaks
from your fittings or air system
wasting your air supply.
Your marker is
chopping paintballs
Beam sensor is turned off
Always play with the beam sensor
enabled.
Beam sensor is dirty or blocked
Clean the breach, bolt and sensor.
Loader is set on a force setting too
high for your paintballs
Some force fed loaders can apply
enough force to break a fragile
paintball. If this is the case, consult
your loader manual to reduce the
force setting.
Detents are missing or incorrectly
installed
Replace or re-install your detents.
Ball settle delay too low
Increase the ball settle delay
Your marker will not fire
The trigger is set up incorrectly
Ensure that the trigger actuates the
micro switch by adjusting the
actuator screw.
The beam sensor is on, and there
are no paintballs loaded
Load some paintballs.
The solenoid is not plugged in
Plug the solenoid into the board.
Your marker fires high on the first
shot or is inconsistent.
Creeping inline regulator
Clean and lubricate the inline
regulator, ensure that the seat and
piston are in good condition.
Your marker fires low on the first
shot
Sticking drivetrain
Clean and re-lubricate the
drivetrain. If you continue to have
problems:
-increase the dwell by 1-2 ms.
-increase the ABS parameter on
your board.