The_Ders

Re Maverick boresighting, Follow-up with latest updates: Per the DCS 2.8.2.35632 Open Beta -- F-16C Viper, January 25 2023 changelog Fixed: AGM-65 boresight alignment accuracy. If boresighting a Maverick to the Targeting Pod on the ground, you must first set the GND JETT switch to ENABLE and the Master Arm switch to ARM or SIMULATE. As much as possible, boresight directly ahead of the aircraft and at least 1 nm away to avoid parallax errors. Sounds like we could squeak by without setting GND JETT and Master Arm, but if boresighting to within 1 nm, would cause parallax errors, as experienced before.

Big thanks for the slew cursor upgrade link. I'll definitely order one. ~$50 for a mini-cursor replacement on a ~$250 controller seems so dumb but so necessary. This, and the sloppy Pinky Switch are the only major factory faults I've found (fyi Delta Sim has a Pinky switch replacement as well, but did myself). The factory slew cursor is SO F****** bad. And thanks again all for the kind help and patience with the original INS alignment question, and further HMCS and Mav boresighting questions.

Alright, the problem WAS indeed with my lack of properly aligning the HMCS and boresighting the Mavs. HMCS align tip: disable Track IR, center the view, zoom in on the HUD, and use numpad slow zoom keys to align the crosses, if you want it as close to perfect as possible (it's also just quicker). Also, I didn't realize AZ / EL and Roll meant using the Radar Cursor X/Y slew knub and not twisting my head around like I'm having a stroke. Is there an F-16 hotkey shortcut that automatically aligns the HMCS and boresights the Mavs? I appreciate the realism here, but there is only so much time I (we all) have in the day. Would rather go through the real procedure once to "note" it, then skip it and spend the time working on other things. I know it's only a few minutes each total, but 10 cold starts... that's 30 minutes. The TM Warthog cursor slew switch is also notoriously twitchy/sensitive - I have the X/Y curves tuned way down. Pics: 1. Result after mav boresighting (also after hmcs alignment). The mav cross is skewed slightly left, and same result after a few boresight tries. However, WAY better than before. When I deselect the TGP and slew it (or maybe CZ it), then the Mav cross seems to align near perfect (See Pic 3). Note: The HUD TDC box is skewed slightly left, but WAY better than before. 2. Now zoomed in HUD TDC from Pic 1. Note the box is slightly skewed left of where TGP point track is looking (assume this is just the imperfect nature of the HUD TDC / parallax etc.) 3. After Pic 1 -- after undesignating / moving the TGP (and maybe CZing too?), then moving TGP back on, the Mav seeker cross seems to align near perfectly. 4. Zooming in, the HUD TDC is still slightly skewed left of where the TGP and Mav are looking. Again, WAY WAY better than before. Again, assuming this is just the imperfect nature of the HUD TDC / HMCS / parallax etc. Are these the alignment results you guys are getting? Would laser ranging w/ TGP tighten up the HUD/HMCS boxes? I imagine IRL, the HUD box and HMCS box will never be spot on like the TGP. I suppose to reduce this offset and get a more accurate mark point using the HUD / HMCS box, you just need to be as close as possible to the target. Makes sense -- if you're 100 miles away, your VIS mark point could be several miles off target. Thanks all for the help.

Interesting about the actual "EIA" alignment procedure to get to 6 (or 0.6 technically). Question here was if "only" getting to 10 (1.0) and not 6 (0.6) was causing my sensor/seeker alignment issues - it probably was not. I'll have some time to play maybe tonight or in the next few days and report back. I'm sure it was ~pilot~ error, not properly aligning the HMCS and boresighting the Mavs each time from a ground start.

Brilliant. Thanks for the tips. Will try hmcs aligning and boresighting mavs next dcs session and report back. Happy holidays for those in the States!

Thanks for the replies all. This thread can probably be moved out of the bugs section and into a systems help section. Summary: It sounds like HMCS alignment and Mav boresighting is where my issue is then, since INS 10 is the best alignment possible for now. I'll replay the same mission that I know I've had trouble with multiple times. I'll make sure I align the HMCS and boresight the Mavs, and post back here with the results. ~~~ It doesn’t go to 6 anymore, was changed quite a while ago... Oh well... now this is good to know. Noted, though seeing the INS alignment at 6 in the air (presumably / in hindsight, all air starts) led to this confusion. For ED -- would be helpful to others I think to update the training mission, user/flight manual, and startup / alignment lesson videos to reflect this... or perhaps they are planning on implementing it, hence leaving it documented. Then at the moment, there is no reason to do an INS NORM Align, correct? Might as well do a Stored Heading alignment (INS STOR HDG) and save 6 minutes. Verify (with ICP Enter) L/L coordinates (& altitude?) within first 2 minutes of alignment. After align, switch INS to NAV. Done every time! After checking coords with F10 map several times, I've been assuming the entered coords for a cold start are "always" correct, for the F-16 module anyway. Is this an accurate assumption? After the frustration, I've lately been checking every time... good habit I guess. Aligning the HMCS and boresighting the Mavs: I have admittedly sometimes not always done this, though my last test flight, I for sure boresighted the Mavs (successfully, I think), but may have not aligned the HMCS. And vice versa perhaps in other cases. Mav Boresighting questions: * Any tips on boresighting Mavs on the ground? Boresighting the Mavs on the ground seems to be a crapshoot. Sometimes it seems to work, other times the Mav seeker head seems to "fly off" after trying to designate > boresight > undesignate. * If I unpower the Mavs after boresighting (whether on the ground or in the air), do they lose boresight alignment? i.e. Do I need to re-boresight them? (assuming yes). * Is there any benefit to unpowering the Mavs in the air after boresighting (in air or on ground)? I assume no... since I don't believe the nitrogen seeker cooling is modeled for the IR Mavs? Might as well leave them always on after boresighting, yes? HMCS Alignment questions: * If I turn the HMCS off mid-flight after aligning the HMCS (on the ground or in the air... assume on the ground is MUCH preferred), does the HMCS lose alignment? Would I need to realign mid-air? (w/ autopilot and smooth air).

[AGM-65 Maverick boresighting issues discussed further below. For ground boresighting, this was fixed (and with new procedure) in DCS 2.8.2.35632 Open Beta. Apparently some airborne boresighting issues may still be present as of mid-late January 2023... I have not tested this as of Feb 25 2023]. Hey all, For a cold start, I cannot move past a 10 on the alignment. It ends up causing positions errors etc. with the HUD, TGP, HMCS, Mav WPN, etc... it's extremely frustrating. I'm not loading weapons during alignment. I've tried everything, including following along real-time with Wags' video below on my 2nd monitor. I did everything 1:1, same time (roughly), same order. Still, my INS did not move past 10 like Wags' did. What gives?

During the G-meter description portion, the instructor says "the instrument includes a reset button used to reset the needles to ZERO". Understood what he really means, but this is incorrect. It resets the needles to ONE (G), not zero. Everything is functional here, just the voiceover and text overlay are incorrect. FYI... probably not worth re-voicing over, but can fix the overlay. Or not. Minor. Apologies for the extreme nitpicking here! :smartass:

Ok. Will manually try to copy everything over. Will report back if still having problems. Thank you!

Hello, I have left 2.5 OpenBeta intact (still installed), and have now installed 2.5 Release. However, nothing was migrated. No controls, settings, logbook, campaign / mission progress... Are users expected to manually migrate all of these things over? Best,

The ability for control inputs and modifiers to change functionality during phases of flight (taxiing, flying, etc.) or flight modes ("combat", as in if certain systems are enabled, like the radar) would add yet another layer of controlability and customization. For example, F-5E: while taxiing, the NWS button on the TM Warthog HOTAS is nosewheel steering. But perhaps during flight (gear up condition), it automatically switches to acting as the pitch control damper lever switch. Why not use the physical damper lever on the stick? Because now, I have it as a view-modifier (modifies the hatswitch and other stick buttons to become view controls, when not using TrackIR.) Useful feature, no? Thoughts?