Super Grover

There's a switch on the ALE-39 control panel which can launch a single flare. You can bind it to a key or a button. PRO TIP: the C/J/F settings don't have to match the loaded CMS type. So for example, it's possible to launch flares with chaff program, and chaff with jammer programs, etc... The programmer doesn't know about the true type being loaded and it fully depends on what it set on these rollers: L10, L20, R10, R20. Consider this situation: the L10 is loaded with chaff, but set as "F" on the panel - either by mistake or on purpose. When you ask (press a button) for a single chaff, it won't launch anything. But when you press single flare, it will launch single chaff instead.

I wouldn't recommend using this video as the main source of information about the system as it has various parts wrong, particularly the programmer part. There are two ways how you can prepare the CMS loadout for the aircraft. From the mission editor, or from the ground crew comms menu, where you can select what is loaded to your dispensers - you have to do it prior to rearming. The sliders from the rearm menu mustn't be used - we can't disable this built-in DCS feature, and using them may break your countermeasures system. The system is complete from the functional side, the only thing that is missing is the art for the LAU-138 rail/launcher. The LAU-138 is there by default, even without any missile loaded on that station. You can get the current layout of your dispensers from the kneeboard. The system should be set (prepared for you by the ground crew) to whatever is selected in the mission editor when you enter the cockpit - this includes the loadout type settings and the counters. If you change the ALE-39 loadout from the ground crew radio menu and rearm the aircraft, it's the RIO's responsibility to update the programmer, reset the programmer and adjust the counters.

Probably that rectangle is an "O", which means an "observable error". In your case, it's probably triggered by a wrong initial latitude or no latitude entered. The INS is able to verify the latitude entered. When it observes that it's signigicantly different from what it senses with the gyros and the accelerometers, it refuses to continue the alignment and stalls. In real life this can be a sign of an INS malfunction, but in our simulation it's simply a sign that the RIO did something wrong when priming the system with the aircraft coordinates.

If I could clarify it a bit further, and split the problem into two: the range and the geometrical relations (cone in which the radar beam is emitted). Let's start from the range. There are four antennas on the aircraft receving radar waves. Their sensitivity - and thus the received signal strength - depends on the angle of arrival of the radar wave. The RWR electronics anaylzes the strengths from the antennas, and reconstructs the relative direction of the emitter. As you can see, there's no direct information on the signal emitter distance from the aircraft. It's hidden in the signal strength, but the relation isn't simple. I'll give you two examples when the signal received can be low but the threat real. The emitter can use a low emission mode (even the F-14 has low range, low emission ACM radar modes) and you as the threat won't know about it. The threat may be directly below or above you - because of the antenna type used in the RWR, the signal received from below or above can be very low. All of above makes the RWR unable to calculate the distance from the threat accurately enough to apply hard cuts on the threat distance. It's better to get a few false positive alerts than to get one false negative, and be shot by a missile about which you wasn't warned from the RWR. The geometrical relations. The main beam lobe width of a tracking radar can be as large as 10-15 degrees. Plus there are side lobes. The same applies to the missile guidance signal. In DCS, the emitter owner (module) decides which objects are withing the beam geometrical limits, and sends information about being painted by the radar to those objects. Maybe some systems are a bit too generous in informing about being locked, but it's not something we can control. The real life RWR have limitations, and are less precise than we - the flight simmers - usually imagine them. Our goal was to recreate that realistic, imperfect behaviour, and we want to make it even better. And our next step will be the ALR-45/ALR-50 for the F-14A, which is even more analog and much simpler system.

Thanks for letting us know about the issue. It's on the list and we will address it soon.

Hey Airhunter, thanks for notifying us about the problem. The implmentation in the sim is correct. Once you initiate the process you can't stop it. The switch is not to be used in normal combat situations but only in emergency. We'll rewrite this section in the manual to better reflect how the system works in the simulator.

On ground, the ASH quality shouldn't be much different from a normal full fine alignment. However, what you described can be a result of various effect: from as simple as selecting GND (align) instead of CVA when performing an alignment on a carrier; but also releasing parking brakes and moving, drift accumulated in flight, or an IMU/INS failure. Being the RIO ain't easy job :).

Hey AndrewW, Thanks for your report. We're aware of this problem, and we've prepared a fix which should solve it - the menu should be centred in your user interface viewport. It should be available within the next days. Again, thanks for your input. Regards grvr

It looks that you broke some components of your INS/AHRS by pulling too much G. :smilewink:

Hey, just wanted to let you know that we're testing a fix now. It will display Jester menu centered and within the limits of UIMainView.

Hey Mike Busutil! Please, verify that your exterior lights master switch is set to on. It's marked with 5 here: http://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/cockpit.html?highlight=lights%20master#throttle Because of the location, it's not clickable in the cockpit, but you can assign it from your controls settings. It's called "Exterior Lights Master Switch". I hope this will solve it for you. If not, please let us know, and we will investigate it further to check what may be causing this issue for you.

Hey =BJM= Thanks for letting us know that this is an option you would like to have. Currently, it's impossible to assign those controls to an axis, but I've added it to my todo list. It will be available later during the early access period. In the meantime, you can use the buttons to navigate through the menu, but also you can consider using your head rotation if you use TrackIR or VR.

Thanks for reporting this, deadpool. Actually, the switch initiates rapid firing of all flares but it won't stop releasing it when you return the switch to OFF. We're changing the manual now to remove the information that it happens as long as the switch is held in the ON position. It should be available with the next update of the manual. I hope you're enjoying the F-14. Best regards

Everything has been ready on the SRS side for months so there should be no update only because of the release of the F-14.

It will come later down the EA period. However, this shouldn't influence much how one uses the aircraft, as that raw PRF audio output wouldn't bring much more information over what is presented on the ALR-67 displays, but instead, it all those noises could be distracting.

You don't want Jester to learn that you don't believe in his smartness The pilot has to be certain that the active CMS function of the switch doesn't change unexpectedly, so it's up to you to command Jester to set the FLARE switch to the mode you want. Nevertheless, Jester is smart enough to use chaff and flares if you let him do it, and then he will use all his smartness to spot for incoming missiles, if possible determine the threat type, and expense the appropriate countermeasures. For example, if he observes a SAM launch from an SA-3, he will use chaff only to defeat that threat. On the other hand, when unsure about the missile, he will use both chaff and flares.

Almost all in-cockpit controls and hotkeys are mapped to SRS, and the intercom (ICS) is fully functional using SRS. Even such functions as HOT MIC, RADIO OVERRIDE, or KY-28 are supported. The only function that is not available is BOTH - transmitting on both UHF1 and UHF2 simultaneously. The SRS is the only voice option supported at the moment. However the recent DCS World newsletter contained a paragraph on a new voice over IP system for DCS World, and once it's in, we will support it too. Answering the second question: Whenever another user wants to join your aircraft in a multiplayer session, you are given the option to allow it or deny access to the RIO seat. This is a standard feature of DCS.

May I comment one thing? There are no separate controls for flares - the DLC engage/CMS button serves for both dispensing chaff and flares, and what is dispensed is controlled from the RIO pit.

2. The pilot has a button to dispense countermeasures - it's the DLC engage / CMS switch on the stick. The type of countermeasure dispensed depends on the ALE-39 flare mode switch in the RIO pit. The switch has three positions: PILOT, NORM, MULT. In PILOT, the DLC/CMS button dispenses single flare. In NORM and MULT, the button commands single chaff. The pilot's com/mic/ICS switch has four positions: ICS (Intercom), UHF1, UHF2, and BOTH (UHF1 and UHF2) The RIO radio transmit button is located in the right foot rest (the RIO operates it with his foot), and the radio to transmit is selected with the XMTR SEL switch in the COMM/TACAN panel. The switch has three positions: UHF1, UHF2, and BOTH. Both radios can receive simultaneously. DCS does not support BOTH for transmit.

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-cp-16xl.jpg Other panels are missing in this photo, but the CAP (Computer Address Panel) is there. :smilewink:

Thanks for reporting! We use different ways to access DCS object lists depending on the object type, and it's quite complicated. I've just checked, and indeed, static objects are not reported in the same way as moving vehicles. Probably they are also not included in the other queues used - hence they are probably missing from the radar image. I'll investigate it further and apply a workaround if needed.

Yes, everything LANTIRN related is accessed through a dedicated stick (and a base of the panel). Although it's not a true joystick (it doesn't move) but rather a nice grip from which you can access all controls, which are: one HAT to slew the sensor, two 4-way HATs, three sliders, a two-stage trigger, and two buttons.

We call it a typical day at work

Great, now, your second radar image is very close to mine. So indeed your previous pictures were taken with very high gain settings. I thought that was the issue - a very dark terrain - as it was very different from the screenshots everyone presented. However, now I believe that you might refer to the shape of the lake that was visible in 1.5.7 and now is gone. And it's all related to the interpolation algorithm used. Previously, the algorithm was very aggressive and tried to fill even very long gaps in the returned signal. Now, it's improved and should not present false information about the terrain when no information is available. Let me illustrate it with an example: The view: And the corresponding radar image, using both the old and the new algorithms: There are more empty areas when using the new algorithm than when using the old algorithm, and those areas represent the invisible sides of the hills and ridges. This way you can properly interpret the rising terrain (darker shade), the ridges (the edges) and the regions which are invisible for the radar. Unfortunately, those obscured areas look very similar to water. Back to your original testing spot. By coincidence, at that specific location, the old interpolation algorithm filled the gaps, recreating the shape of the lake on the radar display. It looked like the map of that region, but it was less realistic as the radar had no information about those points. I hope that this explains the difference you observed. Regards

Yes, the default settings so in LOG. I haven't touched any radar settings except switching it to A1. By mistake, I wrote LIN in the post above. Of course it was LOG :)