Corsac

Hi, This is a followup to another thread but specifically about the wishlist parts: the current TACAN database in the Hornet only includes beacons from Caucasus and Nevada. With some help and a bit of investigation we noticed that the current implementation comes from (DCS)\Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit\Scripts\Computers\MC_No1.lua and has some issues and missing parts: it relies on get_terrain_related_data("name") which doesn't work with maps other than Caucasus or Nevada apparently. I'm not sure if it's an issue in the internal function or something which should be provided by the terrains themselves. Apparently that function is used by a lot of modules and mods so maybe it should be fixed (one way or another), but a workaround is to use get_terrain_related_data("id") (and use the self_ID from entry.lua in the various terrains) it only selects specific entries for Caucasus and Nevada. I understand it requires a coordination between ED and the terrain maker but it would be nice to select and add beacons for all the available maps. I think it's especially useful for maps used in cold war scenarios where GPS might not be available, and Cold War Germany is a prime example here. There are examples on the linked thread but obviously ED (and Ugra Media) might have way better idea than us. I have the feeling this could be rather fixed by implementing it in the DTC but I understand it's a work in progress and I'm not sure when the beacons part is supposed to be implemented. Any implementation would be ok for me (although currently it's a bit difficult to work with DTC for a lack of real "default" DTC).

My changes are basically the same except I used: local theatre_ = theatre or get_terrain_related_data("id") or "none" and then a different selection : elseif theatre_ == "GermanyCW" then TACAN_Data = { getTACAN('world_0'), -- HAM (Hamburg) getTACAN('world_10'), -- NTM (Nattenheim) getTACAN('world_14'), -- FUL (Fulda) getTACAN('airfield200_2'), -- BIT (Bitburg) getTACAN('airfield235_0'), -- BUE (Buchel) getTACAN('airfield163_6'), -- FFM (Frankfurt) getTACAN('airfield16_1'), -- GSO (Gutersloh) getTACAN('airfield165_2'), -- RMS (Ramstein) getTACAN('airfield29_1'), -- TOF (Tempelhof) getTACAN('airfield32_1'), -- WUN (Wunstorf) }

So, thanks @Minskyfor pointing me to that file. I investigated a bit and initially reproduced your issue trying to add any other map than the ones currently in it (Caucasus and Nevadat). It turns out that it's because the file uses get_terrain_related_data("name") to get the current map name, and apparently it only works on Caucasus (and I guess Nevada), not on any other map I have (it returns NULL). The problem was actually identified in 2021 and a workaround was found (see by using: get_terrain_related_data("id") If I do that and use the id found in the terrain entry.lua file (check for the self_ID field) then I can enter specific TACAN inside the database. I'm not really sure I can attach my MC_No1.lua (for IP reasons) but you should be able to reproduce easily locally (feel free to ask if needed). Obviously it breaks IC but on SP and PVE servers I think it should not be too much of an issue. Still it'd be nice to have it fixed/supported directly in DCS Hornet. In the end I think there's a bug (either in DCS core or in all the external maps) where get_terrain_related_data("name") doesn't work. And if it's on purpose then I guess MC_No1.lua should be changed to "id". And then maybe a wishlist thread for adding relevant beacons for relevant maps.

Thanks for the pointer to that file, I'll take a look as well.

Hi, I've started flying on CW:Germany with a date before GPS, so having to rely only on INS navigation. There's obviously some drift after a while and the advice from the manual is either to update position using a waypoint over a recognizable feature, or use the tacan database. It seems that the Tacan database is only populated on Caucasus and unpopulated on all the others I could test (Cold War Germany, Marianas, Persian Gulf, Sinai). Manually adding a TACAN at the beginning of each flight will rapidly become old, so is there a way to populate that database differently? I assume at some point there will be a DTC interface for that but it's not yet the case. I can see the maps have a Beacons.lua (or beacons.lua) file defining those so I'm unsure what would be needed. It'd be really useful for those CW scenarios.

Thanks!

Thanks, I'll give some more trying but I don't think it matters: looking at the fuel page the ext tanks do fill up (even without refueling probe extended), it just takes (too much) time.

Thanks for the feedback. It's been bothering me for a while but wasn't sure. I guess in the meantime I'll just drop my tanks before landing or replace it when rearming.

Hi, when refueling on the ramp with an empty centerline tank and nearly full internal tanks, the centerline tanks won't be full after refueling ends. It seems that the fuel transfer *to* centerline is slow and the internal tanks are full before, stopping the refueling process. I guess it's the same with wing tanks. And rearming wont replace the external tanks with "new" ones, unless I first remove it and then add it back. It looks like a bug to me but maybe I'm not doing the refueling process correctly (I didn't select anything wrt. transfert, xfeed etc.)

So we're back to my earlier message. That won't really work for MP servers, which in turn don't seem to enable it, so everybody loses.

Thanks for the tip. I'm using Open Mods Manager so I copied CoreMods/aircraft/FA-18C/DTC/ALR67/CMDS_defs.lua to my mods library (using the same relative path) and edited the file there to my liking and enabled that mod. Now after a cold start, if I go to MUMI and load the ALR67 I get that modified default configuration. No need to load a custom DTC for DCS UI after slotting in. Works just fine for me even if it's not entirely satisfying. I noticed that in CoreMods/aircraft/FA-18C/DTC/defaults there are multiple test.json files which might also be relevant but I have no idea how to use/tune them and anyway they're still in the main install path and not in Saved Games so it's not really more useful than tuning CMDS_defs.lua. It'd definitely be nice to be able to have a default configuration in saved games for users to tune.

What about all the other slots (5/9/11/14 for cat1)?

I found this topic because I was using exactly that trick (editing Mods\aircraft\FA-18C\Cockpit1\Scripts\TEWS\device\CMDS_ALE47.lua) to setup the CM the way I liked it, and it doesn't work anymore. As I read that thread it looks that if I load the "DEFAULT" DTC from the MUMI page by boxing the ALE47, I should get what it's in that file? But apparently it doesn't, not on my install at least. Any clue on what to do? Or maybe the new path is aircraft\FA-18C\DTC\ALR67\CMDS_defs.lua ? That file doesn't exist here but maybe I should create it?

Sorry I might not have been very clearnull. If there are statics on cat 1 you might want to put stuff on slot 1/5/9/11/14 so noone can be spawned there. Unfortunately that means that at landing you might have to collide with the statics on slot 1 when taxiing.

That doesn't seem to work. You can't really block all the spawn points for a CAT because it'll also block path at landing

We certainly are As a way to distinguish the two plane, i'd definitely be really interested in having a Growler with modelling of electronic warfare or a Foxtrot with SHARP reconnaissance pod.

I watched the followup Q&A video from @Wags and I am very excited about the potentially upcoming SuperHornet as well as the dynamic campaigns update. I still had a few question about them so I thought about asking them here just in case I'm still a bit puzzled about why there would be more information on F-35A AN/APG-81 AESA radar than the F/A-18 E/F/G AN/APG-79 one. I didn't look for them and I know that there are more export customers for the F-35 than the F/A-18 E/F/G but still I'm not sure how much of that is really relevant What are the expected keypoints of dynamic campaigns for MP servers, especially with stuff like ECW and Grayflag implementing (semi-)dynamic campaigns with heavy scripting? With dynamic campaigns, will there be an emphasis on support roles like reconnaissance with pods like the existing F-14TARPS, and maybe aiframes like RF-4 or RF-5 (derived from current ones) and maybe Reccelight (for the EF-18) or ATARS (for F/A-18D) and SHARP (for F/A-18E/F) Same thing with EW with aiframes like the Prowler or maybe even a Growler. I know this is likely very hard to do properly (because it's heavily classified) but having a DCS-core implemented would be really nice for dynamic campaigns

I guess so. At least not the last time.

Followup: it was me messing up and because the instructions aren't all that clear. The problem was in the calibration steps indeed. What I needed to do is: calibrate RX (then RY) from IDLE (excluded) to MAX then "calibrate afterburner" from IDLE (excluded) to MIL And after that you can set the AB ratio.

Hey, I'm trying to follow that but something looks wrong on my end. I've calibrated the throttle, SimAppPro is running and I'm launched on a mission with the F/A-18C. I've enabled the controls indicator (RCtrl+Enter) so I can see the logical detent DCS is using. When pushing the throttle: the DCS logical detent is reached at ~73% (and burner is activated) the physical detent on the O2 throttle is reached at ~82% I've tried to "set the afterburner ratio" to 73% in SimAppPro but no dice, the logical detent in DCS is always reached before I get to the physical detent. I've also tried to set the AB ratio to 82% just in case but it doesn't change anything either. I've tried to restart DCS and SAP between attempts but it doesn't change anything either. I'm confused because it seems I'm doing things as OP intended but it doesn't work at all so I guess I'm doing something wrong but I have no idea what to check. I've also asked on Discord but no answer yet.

By the way even if it's for the F/A-18D I'd love to see a skin with ATARS on the nose

Hi, not sure it's really the right place but since the MP route tool is derived from the ME I think it might. Would it be possible to improve the import/export possibilities for the flight plans in the MP route tool? Examples of quality-of-life improvements: in the F10 map, beeing able to import another plane flight plan in the route tool: if you click on a plane you can see its current flight plan, it'd be nice to be able to directly import it from the UI (so only the package leader would create the flight plan) support for a `RouteToolPreset\Map` directories with one flight plan per file (so it's easier to share them) support for an "export to file" / "import from file" in the route tool (similar)

here's a screenshot with a working indicator thoughnull

Easy comm's aren't enabled. I do use a mod: but I don't think it's really related. Totally unrelated to this though. Please check the CJS SH Discord pins.