jubuttib

Big shame, I was rooting for Jake...

Some people like operating the systems (like the ATGM sight), as well as just directing what happens, more than actually flying. I happen to enjoy both, but for example I'm much more interested in being in the backseat in an F-14, and will definitely do that once the F-15E comes in a couple of decades too. Though I'll probably end up piloting the Apache for the most part, my regular co-pilot isn't very proficient with helicopters...

VERY interesting, I'll need to try that!

Hello, complete ME noob/idiot here, trying to make some sense of things. I've been using a modified version of this mission to practice weapon employment and systems management in the modules I've bought: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3301568/ I've modified it by adding and removing some stuff, making almost all planes on the ground start cold, allowed labels, etc. The current version of the modified mission is included as an attachment, with a track file that also showcases the issue I'm having. And that issue is that I'm not getting the datalink to work at all with either the JF-17 or F-16C when in SP or MP, and when trying in MP even Ka-50 datalink wasn't working properly. When I play missions generated by Liberation I get datalink working just fine, and to my memory datalink HAS worked in the recent past (meaning not that many months ago) even in this practice mission. I have no idea where to get started solving this, and would appreciate some help. Even just a confirmation whether or not the datalink works for anyone else when running the mission could be useful. One thing that I did try, but isn't included in this version, was to assign the AWACS plane in the mission to do the task Nothing, then back to AWACS. That at least made the AWACS plane itself pop up in the datalink though none of the targets it sees are in there. And it does actually work and sees targets, because if I tune to the AWACS radio channel it gives me non-stop information about enemy units. So this would somewhat hint that something in the mission has gotten bugged at some point, and things aren't initializing in a proper way for them to be showing up in datalink? Perhaps because it's an older mission (2.5 period), and ME does some things differently now? Thanks in advance to anyone who even looks at this mess... JF-17 and F-16C datalink testing 2.zip

While you certainly can't edit the red side flight packages in the Liberation GUI, it does of course generate a bunch of flights for the red side too. So as a stop gap solution what you could do is generate the mission via Liberation, open it up in Mission Editor, then change some of the red side planes to have Client slots. It's certainly not perfect, but it'd be something, for now. *shrug* EDIT: There might be some slight jiggery pokery required with the timings, but I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work overall.

To improve performance in some cases you can also load up the mission on a dedicated server instance running on your computer, and join that via multiplayer menu. What this effectively is trying to accomplish is put some of the computation into the dedicated server thread instead of having everything happen in DCS, which as we know doesn't really do multithreading...

I have to admit that I've used Petrovich very little as a pilot, because unfortunately in my experience he has... Let's call it a tendency to hit the bottle, or something. He can fly around a bit, if you're careful with your instructions, but he also has a propensity to go a bit nuts, and quite often enters into VRS and drops the heli out of the sky if you're not careful with what you request.

There's a saying in my country: "A pessimist is never disappointed."

Thanks, though I should have specified I meant more from a mission setup perspective. I know I need to have an AWACS plane in the air, but beyond that I'm clueless. I have however tracked the issue down to the mission itself. I was mistaken before when I said that the datalink was working fine on the Jeff, there were certainly issues, there was just a coincidence with the spawn location of the plane that made it appear as if the datalink was working. I tested a Liberation generated mission now and the datalink worked just fine on the F-16C. Now I'm really annoyed though because the practice mission included in the archive I attached is really dang useful for practicing the planes on my own, as well as teaching my friend how to use various systems on the modules. I'm pretty certain that the datalink HAS worked in it, and probably could be made to work again, but I just have absolutely no clue how one would go about achieving that... The most progress I made was taking the AWACS plane in the mission and assigning it to Nothing, then back to AWACS task, and at least IT showed up as a friendly on the datalink after that for the JF-17. But nothing else did (the AWACS is doing its job, if I tune my radio to it it's giving me notifications of enemies in the area, they're just not in the datalink), and the F-16C still doesn't show even the AWACS on datalink...

Last I heard the IR jammer was out.

Would anyone be able to give me a list of requirements for getting the datalink to work on the L16, if I were to make my own mission for testing? I would like to get this thing sorted out.

Here's a new track and I edited the mission to take out the A-4, for whatever reason (I can't think of why) the A-4 had taken the place of an IL-78 as a refueling platform... Yeah, don't get it at all. =/ JF-17 and F-16C datalink testing 2.zip

Oki, I'll make a version without it later.

I have tried following some of the instructions mentioned here but I haven't been able to get datalink to work reliably outside of the specific training mission (the second AMRAAM employment mission). I have a specific training mission I use to learn new modules, which has all kinds of targets, and so far it has worked great (modified version of a user created Caucasus Free Fly type mission). It has an E-3 hanging around in the sky, supposedly providing datalink. This tends to work fine the vast majority of the time in the JF-17 (though sometimes I have issues with that), but I haven't been able to make it work for the F-16C whether I start from the ground cold, hot or already in the air. This includes waiting for the alignment to finish without doing anything to the starting co-ordinates on NORM start, as well as hitting ENT on each of them, and also inputting them myself. No difference. I have included an archive with a track file from my recent attempt (just now), switching between the JF-17 (Aerial-1) and the F-16C (Aerial-5) starting in the air in the same area of the map. The Jeff has no issues getting plenty of enemy contacts on datalink with the normal procedure (2nd radio to channel 199, mode to MASTER and turn it on to NES), while the F-16C gets nothing. The only things I do in the mission: 1. Turn on autopilot, altitude and heading hold for the JF-17, altitude and steering point for the F-16C 2. Make sure there's enough throttle input 3. Turn on datalink Jeff: 2nd radio to channel 199 -> MAST -> NES F-16C: Check that MIDS LVT is on -> XMT to L16 on right MFD's HSD screen (4. Sometimes turn off the radar emissions for the F-16C so that the TWS tracks don't clutter up my HSD) I also tested turning MIDS LVT to OFF and then back on again before turning XMT to L16, and tested the other XMT mode as well on another flight that's not on this track, and nothing. JF-17 and F-16C datalink testing.zip

True, some games artificially limit themselves to 32, but plenty of games work with it: DCS, MSFS, X-Plane, Project CARS series, AMS2, AC, ACC, iRacing... Personally really like using them, and if a game doesn't support the buttons I'd personally map the offshoot to Vjoy devices. But I can see your point, do it however you wish.

Windows does support up to 128 buttons without drivers. Easiest way to build might be using something like the Bodnar BBI-64? Thought I'd ask you, since you seem to know a lot about the Apache controls: Of the 2 and 3 position switches on the TEDAC, would you happen to know which of them are momentary and which are stable positions?

Just that the footage from the teaser (with black trees and white peeps) could have been an earlier or later version of the new tech than that still image where the trees and roads look hot. There could have been big changes between applying the IR parameters to everything between the shots.

That is just a goddamn work of art. Amazing job!

And it wouldn't be out of the question for both of them to use different versions of the tech, leading to different results, since it's presumably rapidly changing at the moment.

Looking at the teaser video, where we saw actual troops there, the trees were black while troops were white, so maybe since the trees are white in that shot that's actually a black hot image?

Quick question if someone here knows about this: I know that trees etc. shouldn't really be that hot or cold compared to the surrounding area in most cases, but what about reflectivity? On a sunny day, could leaves of trees reflect more IR from the sun than for example the ground would (ground vegetation often is more vertically oriented and could reflect less up to the sky where our planes are, while leaves could be more prone to doing that), making them appear relatively hot? Emissivity and reflectivity are always big issues with trying to figure out the actual temperatures of things in IR footage. Just a thought, probably wrong.

So... Is the question somewhat non-sensical? If range/distance isn't defined anywhere, can you put the system as a whole on the scale? Specific footage, sure.

"NIIRS Level 7 NIIRS 7 Criteria Detect individual steps on a stairway. Detect stumps and rocks in forest clearings and meadows." Sounds a bit low? And to what distance is this supposed to apply to? Am I misunderstanding NIIRS completely? To me it seems like it's more about rating final images rather than an imaging system, since nothing in the scales relates to at what distance you're taking images. Pretty sure the Apache cameras can do a 9 from like less than 100 meters away? "NIIRS Level 9 NIIRS 9 Criteria Identify individual grain heads on small grain (e.g., wheat, oats, barley). Identify individual barbs on a barbed wire fence. Detect individual spikes in railroad ties."

Hmm, is this also why I never reached "6 RDY" state for my alignment, and got stuck at 10 even when using normal?

Not sure I'd want to do it myself manually, but it could be an interesting setting for servers to have a realistic refueling and rearm time...