pdmarsh

Will do. The altitude settings should be easy enough to test. I'll let you know how that goes. Thanks, Paul

Clean Uninstall of Saitek Drivers @m4ti140 -- I had problems getting my X52 Pro to work on a second PC and ended up having a long chat with someone at Saitek. I was given the following instructions in order to do a truly clean uninstall of Saitek drivers and software. My problem is probably different from yours in that I never had the X52 Pro running on that PC and still have issues. There might be a compatibility problem. That's why there is some info here on checking the USB driver installation. In any case, I hope this helps you. Paul A: Clean driver install - this will need to be done under safe boot, with the connection to the internet severed. If you're connected to the internet via a cable then disconnect Restart the PC and get it into Safe Mode during the boot up (usually F2/Del or F11 depending on the BIOS manufacturer) Go to device manager and delete the X52 Pro entries from the HID section, checking the remove driver box first, dont restart if promted Scan for new hardware changes, if any new entries for the X52 Pro appear, delete those as above Keep repeating 3 and 4 until the X52 Pro doesn't appear in the HID section. At this point all versions of the X52 Pro drivers should be removed from the registry Reboot - back into safe mode and run step 3. IF there are no entries for the X52 Pro there then we can be pretty confident your PC is clean. Uninstall all Saitek related software from the Programs and Features B: RegEdit - Whilst still in Safe Boot if you're allowed go into the Registry Editor: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\DirectInput\VID_06A3&PID_0762 Delete that folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\MediaProperties\PrivateProperties\Joystick\OEM\VID_06A3&PID_0762 Delete that folder C: USB Chipset At this point we can check to see if the PC is working OK in a very clean state in reference to the X52 Pro. If it is then we can reboot back into normal mode (with the connection to the internet still severed) Check the PC again if its OK, then we can look at installing the downloaded drivers again manually via the unzip method. If it doesn't then we need to look at updating the USB chipset driver via the manufacturer site. Type 'System Information' into the search bar to being up detailed info such as the motherboard manufacturer and model number Unplug the X52 Pro (important!) Reconnect to the internet and download the latest USB chipset drivers and install (if you've done this already then me might have to look at enabling USB legacy drivers but that usually doesn't help

Here's the info on the trigger: Look for trigger "1 ONCE (Flag 66108, NO EVENT)." Notice under "ACTIONS" that the flag that gets turned on is 66019. I believe it's supposed to be 66109. Hope this helps, Paul

@Apache600 -- Thanks for your comments. We're happy to help. It appears that the "Unit's Altitude Lower Than" trigger was set using meters AGL. If so, just note that it needs to be in meters ASL. I tested the easy sortie with a new setting, but here are my recommendations for all three sorties: Easy: 82 meters Medium: 95 meters Hard: 119 meters Also, I found a typo in one of the flag triggers after you drop off troops at the field hospital. You never get the message that they are back and you can RTB. It's a simple transposition of numbers. I'll get that flag/trigger info for you later today. Thanks, Paul

OK, it appears that setting the infantry alarm state to green and their speed to zero keeps their feet firmly planted on the roof. However, the alarm state setting must be placed above the immortal and invisible settings. Otherwise, the troops move toward the enemy, even with speed set to zero. Hope this helps. Paul

I need to correct something. The infantry did not get killed by friendly fire. I see now that a timing trigger is used to deactivate the infantry if they don't get picked up in time. It was coincidental that a flight was passing overhead as they deactivated. Tacview interpreted all of this as a kill and even attributed the kills to a pilot, who never fired a shot at the troops. I can't find any way to keep those troops from moving off of the roof. I tried using a "hold" waypoint and I played with alarm states. It appears to be hard-coded in DCS that the troops will move toward the nearest threat. Paul

@Apache600 -- First, I want to thank you for this mission. I'm looking forward to flying many, if not most, of the scenarios you have built in. Our small group flew the easy helicopter roof extraction sortie last night and discovered what I believe is a bug, or that a change in AI behavior has been coded that changed your mission. As soon as the infantry that are to be extracted spawn on the rooftop, they immediately begin to move toward the enemy vehicles, jumping off the roof in the process. As a result, they were thought to be enemy troops on the ground and were killed by friendly fire, ending the mission. There might be a waypoint action that can be set to force them to remain in place. I'll experiment with that. I hope this helps. Thanks, Paul

Thank you, Vyrtuoz! That did the trick. Paul

I just tested code 800003 (4/14/17) and got the same result where the missiles turn 90° away from the targets just before getting there and go into the drink. So far, only 800001 works for me.

Just FYI on this. After the most recent Kneeboard Builder update, my A-10C cockpit completely disappeared. I could see the gun, wings and fuselage, but no cockpit. Fortunately, I had an older copy of Kneeboard Builder on a different PC and went back to that. I had to repair DCS World to fix the A-10C. I'll try the new version and will also try to remember the lite mode setting. Thanks, Paul

I agree--great additions to Tacview! Regarding real time telemetry, is there a guide that explains how to set it up between PCs? I got it working with one PC running both Tacview and DCS, but can't figure out how to get a remote PC running Tacview to connect with the PC running DCS. I did look for documentation but did not find anything. I got to the point where the PC running Tacview appears to be connecting to the PC running DCS, but it says the password is invalid. Thanks, Paul

No problem. For some reason my sent messages are not getting saved, so I just wanted to make sure my response went through. Paul

@Pac-Man -- I have been trying to respond to your PM, but no messages are showing up in my sent folder. Did you get my response? Thanks, Paul

Hi Vyrtuoz, You are absolutely correct. It should have occurred to me that I needed to re-select the new aircraft. Sorry for the false alarm. Paul

This is from the DCS-BIOS GitHub site: Currently, DCS-BIOS supports the following aircraft modules: A-10C UH-1H Mig-21Bis (contributed by wraith444) Ka-50 (contributed by airtom) If you want to add support for another module, please get in touch. It seems the addition of new modules to the DCS-BIOS library has stalled. It's a lot of work to tease out the commands and get them in a format that DCS-BIOS can use. I tried and immediately got in over my head. It's really a shame that it has to be this hard. It would be nice if module developers would provide a list of commands and code similar to what is currently provided for keyboard commands, e.g. for "Nose Wheel Up" use this code (in lieu of keyboard command). Paul

My pleasure. I hope it's a good one. Thanks, Paul

@Vyrtuoz--During a multiplayer session last evening I had to respawn after taxiing into grass. I left the session and went into the spectator area. I re-selected the same airframe from the list that I had originally chosen. While Tacview recorded the first instance of this aircraft, it did not record the re-spawned instance. Should I have closed DCS entirely and rejoined the session? While choosing an entirely different airframe might have helped, it's not always an option for various reasons. Is this possibly a bug in Tacview? I have attached the ACMI file. My airframe is a Hawk with pilot name Skeeter. I could not find a log file associated with Tacview. If there is one, where would I find it? Thanks, Paul (Skeeter) Tacview-20170401-232922-DCS-Hawk 1.2.zip.acmi.zip

Dock Strike Name: Dock Strike Author: Paul Marsh (pdmarsh/Skeeter) Mission Type: MP Controllable Aircraft: AJS-37/Ka-50/SA342M/UH-1H/Mi-8MTV2/A-10C/Su-25T/F-15/M-2000C DCS World: 1.5 Quick Summary Multiplayer/multi-aircraft mission initially designed around AJS-37 Viggen anti-ship strike and including dock strike task, asset extraction and other optional flights. Mission file download: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/upload/iblock/a1c/Dock_Strike.zip Full brief/Discussion thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=185478

Notes A narrated mission brief is included in the mission download zip file. File download link: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/download.php?iblock_id=1&id=2543060&goto=%2Fupload%2Fiblock%2Fa1c%2FDock_Strike.zip Higher resolution brief on YouTube: This mission makes use of custom skins by Home Fries. They can be downloaded here: AJS-37: VA-75 Sunday Punchers Su-25T :VA-72 Blue Hawks Ka-50: HMLA-169 Vipers SA342: HMLA-169 Vipers UH-1: HMLA-169 Vipers And the following skins by nhenley85 Mi-8: USAF SOC Acknowledgements Thanks go out to Home Fries, whose mission design input (not to mention custom skins) made this a better mission, and to the Black Veal Squadron and 75th Virtual Fighter Squadron for their testing time and suggestions. Primary Mission Objectives and Available Aircraft Destroy 8 of 10 cargo containers on shipping dock 1 or 2X Ka-50 Black Shark and/or 1 or 2X SA342M Gazelle Destroy 3 of 4 container ships inbound with cargo 1 or 2X AJS-37 Viggen (Rb-15 load) Extract asset and return him to FARP London 1 or 2X UH-1H Huey and/or 1 or 2X Mi8-MTV2 Hip Supporting Aircraft (optional to primary mission objectives) Primary CAS 1 or 2X A-10C and/or 1 or 2X Su-25T Secondary anti-ship/CAS flight 1 or 2X AJS-37 Viggen (Rb-75 load) CAP 2X F-15C Eagle and/or 2X Mirage 2000C SEAD 1 or 2X Su-25T Situation The area around Gelendzhik has been demilitarized and very peaceful for some time. Even the airbase had been turned over to civilian use and all military hardware moved out of the area. Nevertheless, given past history this zone has been kept under constant observation. Recently, satellite surveillance has picked up an unusual amount of cargo activity at the southeastern docks in the bay surrounded by the city of Gelendzhik. In addition, we have picked up some suspicious SIGINT. All of this led us to insert an asset, code named Voyeur, to inspect offloaded cargo containers and report on their contents. Our concerns have been validated—the containers hold munitions, military hardware spare parts and other essentials for what can only be a planned action by the enemy. In addition to the offloaded cargo on the dock, another convoy of container ships is on the way. We strongly suspect this new activity will lead to a re-militarization of the area and, quite possibly, a reinstatement of Gelendzhik as a military airbase. None of that can be allowed to happen. While area defenses are still very light, the time to strike is now. An immediate strike has been authorized to take out the convoy and destroy the cargo containers already on the docks. While these actions are taking place, we will also extract our asset. Task Details Dock Strike The dock strike will consist of one or two Ka-50 Black Sharks, one or two SA342M Gazelles, or a mixed flight departing FARP Rome and flying very low west-northwest up the coastline before turning inland at waypoint 2. From there, the strike package will follow streams and roads in a valley before reaching the bay area target zone. We don’t know if any air defenses have been set up, but staying low should help keep you out of trouble. The strike aircraft will enter the bay from the east and set up for the attack near the center of the bay. At this point you will be at your most vulnerable, so press the attack quickly. We are fairly certain that the airbase remains an unprotected civilian facility, but some air defenses might have been placed nearby. We counted 10 containers in all, and want at least 8 destroyed. After the attack, surprise is no longer a concern, so immediately head out over water and fly back to FARP Rome. Anti-ship Convoy Attack The strike package will consist of two AJS-37 Viggens. Each will be armed with two Rb-15 standoff anti-ship missiles. They’ll depart Maykop-Khanskaya and fly west-southwest to the target area. Waypoints 1 and 2 provide visual navigation fixes. Waypoint 4 marks the release point for the Rb-15 missiles. This waypoint is just inside the 70 kilometer range of the Rb-15 missile relative to our best estimate of the convoy position at time of launch. Navigation waypoint 5 marks the estimated location of the convoy itself. Rb-15 missile target waypoints have already been downloaded into your data cartridges. Waypoint BX6 marks the point at which the missiles will start their drop to cruise altitude. Waypoint BX7 marks a final turn point, but this should be a straight in approach in any case. BX8, the target waypoint, is our best estimate of the convoy position at time of missile launch. If desired, you can refine waypoint BX8 by making a radar fix on the convoy, although this should not be necessary. Finally, waypoint BX9 marks the self-destruct point should the missiles miss and overfly the target zone. At least three of four container ships must be sunk. Sinking one or both escort ships would be a bonus. It might be necessary to RTB, rearm and re-attack. In this case, a fix of target point BX8 will be required after you reacquire the remaining ships on radar. Asset Extraction The asset extraction flight will consist of one or two UH-1H Hueys, one or two Mi-8MTV2 Hips, or a combination flight departing FARP London and, initially, following the same ingress route as the dock strike package. You will have to rely on VFR and kneeboard maps for navigation. Our asset, Voyeur, is in hiding about four miles east of the dock target area, near your waypoint 13. Once he has you in sight, he’ll pop green flares and then green smoke. Land nearby and establish credentials. You will be notified when dust-off is cleared. As mentioned, we suspect Voyeur’s presence has been detected. There might be enemy troops in the area looking for him. You are cleared hot to take out any of these troops if they do appear. Get airborne if you have to to take out any troops, then land again to pick up the asset. Once on-board, head out over water and RTB to FARP London. After landing, use the F10 menu to drop off Voyeur. He should appear at the center of the FARP. CAS Close air support of the dock strike and asset extraction missions will be handled by one or two A-10C Warthogs, one or two Su-25T Frogfoots, or a combination flight out of Maykop-Khanskaya. You will fly west-southwest before heading up the coast toward the theater of operations. If flying an A-10C, and as you approach or orbit the IP point contact JTAC, call sign Pontiac, on 133 MHz to see if any enemy air defenses have been detected. If so, you are cleared hot to take them out. If flying an Su-25T, target waypoints have been created close to suspected AAA sites. You can use the F10 menu to have JTAC place orange smoke markers near the targets. If no targets are or remain available, orbit the Gelendzhik bay and provide further cover for the attack and extraction packages. Once they have left the area and are over water en route to their originating FARPs, you are cleared to RTB. CAP Combat air patrol will be handled by a flight of two F-15C Eagles or two Mirage 2000Cs. They will depart Sochi-Adler and fly northwest up the coast into the theater of operations. AWACS, call sign Overlord, is available on 126 MHz to assist. Mission Resources AWACS/Overlord; 126 Mhz JTAC/Pontiac; 133 Mhz DOCK STRIKE ANTI-SHIP STRIKE ASSET EXTRACTION CAS CAP EAD

Thanks Grimes. As to whether or not JTAC is broken, I was also thinking about its ability to see targets at night. Given that all I have to do is change the start time to get it to see targets tells me it must be broken. I can force it to see targets at night or in dark conditions using the methods I described, so I assume it can and should work in those lighting conditions. These are static targets, so nothing changes in the mission except time and light. In a totally separate vein, I also discovered that JTAC will only see targets the are in the mission when it, JTAC, spawns. Using the triggered action method I can, once again, force it to see such targets. When I create the trigger, all I have to do is place the unspawned targets at the top of the action list. If they are not yet in mission, JTAC will simply call the next target in the list. As soon as one of the new targets spawn, it will call that target before others lower on the list. It appears that the target list in the trigger is constantly being scanned. However, unless I force JTAC to see newly spawned targets, it will never call them. I used a different method to fix this in an earlier mission. I deactivate the first JTAC and have a new JTAC spawn after new targets have spawned in the mission. I hope this helps in some way. Paul

Thanks Grimes. One problem with the hack I found is that while JTAC will see and call the targets, it does not send the location over data link, it just provides coordinates and says "Clear to engage." So far, the best method I have found to get JTAC to work under the conditions in this mission is to create triggered actions for the "FAC Engage Group" tasks. I then create a trigger with a "Time More/30 seconds" condition and create the list of target tasks. However, after JTAC works through this list, it goes back to not being able to see other targets in the area. If you call JTAC, it just says "no further tasking available." So, the big question is this--Is JTAC broken or is this expected behavior? Thanks, Paul

@Grimes -- Thanks for your response. The mission file is attached. The quickest way to test is to jump into one of the A-10Cs, which I have put on a hot ramp start. Change frequency to 133 MHz, then wait about 30 seconds to allow JTAC to get on station. Contact JTAC and it will respond with no targets available. The mission start is 7:45 AM in October. There is some cloud cover and fog, but I found that eliminating these has a lot less effect than simply changing the start time to later in the morning, at which point JTAC will see targets. I am using "Perform Task > FAC Engage Group." After a fair amount of experimenting, I did find one method to not only get JTAC to see the assigned groups, but to assign them ahead of any un-assigned targets in the area. I believe the fact that "FAC-a-ref" appears at the top of the task list forces JTAC to do standard spotting before getting to the assigned target list. Also, without the tweak I found, "FAC-a-ref" cannot be moved down in the list. I found that if I actually edit the "FAC-a-ref" task and make it one of the "FAC Engage Group" tasks, suddenly things begin working, although not perfectly. I can get another "FAC-a-ref" task to be generated by changing the group task to "Nothing" and then back to "AFAC." Now, "FAC-a-ref" can be moved below the "Engage Group" tasks. It's a hack, but it seems to work. There are problems with this, but it's too much to go into. Finally, I forgot that when I had JTAC issues in another mission I was working on some time ago, someone suggested to use the triggered function routine for the "FAC > Engage Group" tasks. That worked great and I intend to test it in this mission. Thanks, Paul Dock Strike Test.zip

Yeah, I was testing the A-10 mission in Dock Strike and found that JTAC was not working as intended. During the first run, we must have contacted it late in the mission with more available light and thought it was working. Thanks, Paul

@Hawkeye60 -- Thanks for the info. I tested this software once a while ago and thought I was having conflicts with other programs, maybe even Flightpanels, and never got back to it. I'll have to try again. It would be great to have my FIPs working in DCS. Paul

@Hawkeye60 -- I have to agree with you. Flightpanels works great once you get past the installation issues. It was all volunteer, so there won't be much, if any, support going forward. I can answer the simple stuff, but that's about it. When you mention Saitek MFDs, are you referring to the Flight Instrument Panels (FIPs)? If so, I have those working fine in X-Plane, but not in DCS. Thanks, Paul