bonesvf103

OK, I had a look again, and like I said in my original post, I was going off the top of my head and had it backward. When aspect is set to nose, the blip is on the bottom and when it is in tail it is slightly above the cross, not the other way around (I tried it 3 times to be sure)--so no need for video examples. I think what really threw me was that the 0 point on the DDD shifts. In the manual it mentions the scale limits but not the 0 point shifting accordingly so I thought 0 was always the cross. So I thought above the cross was one scale and below was another scale, not the same scale but shifted. Now it makes perfect sense. Thanks! v6, boNes

Ah, OK, that makes more sense especially to disregard the side scale numbers. Another question: If you use the HCU in radar mode to lock a target, is range displayed in the DDD? If so, what is the scale of the DDD? Is it 0 on the bottom and whatever the range scale is set in the buttons above the DDD ? Thanks. I'll post that video and/or trackfile later. v6, boNes

Thanks for your response. Yes, the first thing I thought when doing this was it didn't make sense, primarily because the tanker was clearly moving away from me, so the closure should be opening--this is what was shown in beam and tail, but in nose it was showing closing--whether it was 200 kts or 600 kts, it still showed closing,and that doesn't make sense. I'm assuming that when in PD search, opening is below the DDD center cross and closing is above the cross. Is the aspect closing scale shown on the leftmost vertical axis in the DDD while the Vc closing scale is shown on the rightmost vertical axis on the DDD? I ask because in the HB online manual under AWG-9 and the section entitled Pulse Doppler mode there is a shot of the DDD and the leftmost axis is graduated from -1200 on the bottom and +1200 on the top and on the rightmost axis it is graduated from 0 at the bottom to 800 at the top. On that rightmost scale there is a tick mark, I assume shows the closure? It's not labeled in that shotor in the text I can find. I am off site now but when I can, I will post video of it as it is something I reproduced many times. So the Vc switch works in ONLY STT modes? I am also confused by this because in the HB manual it says "The Vc switch (18) controls the rate scale on the DDD in the pulse doppler search modes" but doesn't mention its roll in STT. Thanks. v6, boNes

I'm sorry, now that you posted that, I do recall that you mentioned that. I look forward to the updated version, and of course to the F-4 as well! v6, boNes

I was reading about the DDD at https://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/general.html#detail-data-display-ddd-and-panel And it said that the TGTS switch is not implemented. I was under the impression that it was. Is the manual up to date? v6, boNes

Some questions regarding the DDD behavior I've been seeing lately... I have a tanker, co-altitude with me, nose cold, about 8 miles away. He is doing 300 knots, I am doing 130. Radar is in PD search, azimuth is set to 20, bars set to 4, Vc is set to normal, antenna elevation is centered. When I have the aspect switch set to tail, his blip appears at the bottom of the DDD. I take this to mean that he up to and around 1800 kts opening. When I set it to aspect he is halfway between the DDD cross and the bottom of the screen, I take that to mean he is 600 knots opening. But when I set it to nose, his blip is slightly above the cross in the DDD, which I take to mean that he is around 200 knots closing. How can that be if he is flying away from me? Also, the Vc switch appears to have no effect on the blip, in any aspect switch setting. Is that correct? Note that these are round numbers as I'm going off of my head right now, but the scenario is basically correct. Thanks. v6, boNes

There are 3 tones. The "by default" tone, the low, rumbling growl is the standby looking for targets tone. The slightly higher pitch tone means that it sees *something* in the seeker--which is good enough for a kill, but the really high pitched tone means it DEFINITELY sees a distinct IR target and thus an even better PK. v6, boNes

I did a few tweaks in my graphics settings based on Spudknocker's YouTube video and it seemed to improve it a bit, but not quite there yet. If it is a RL issue, then I guess I'll just have to accept that except for the notion that if my JHMCS is on, that also implies that my tinted visor is also down which should help make the symbology easier to see against a bright sky or white clouds. But then again, until ED models you being able to put your hand up to shield an instrument from sun glare, I don't think we'll see tinted helmet visors in their planes unless you are in a third party plane like the JF-17 or something. v6, boNes

No, because in TWS mode you do not need to lock the targets. As long as the radar can see the targets and is in TWS, it will automatically keep track of them and then the icons will flash when they are within launch acceptance range. Nothing gets traditionally locked on until the Phoenixes receive the go active command from the AWG-9. This is why targets that are seen by the TID do not get spike indications until the missile has gone active or you have pulse doppler STT or pulse STT'd them. v6, boNes

I've been noticing after recent patch updates that it is really hard to see the HUD (F-14 and F/A-18) and landscape features. For the HUD, even if you have the brightness turned up all the way, it is hard to see the HUD symbology particularly if it is against a white background such as clouds or fog. The green blends in with the white to the point that symbology is not visible or discernible. Landscape details also make things hard to see. I feel like no matter what map I am in whether it's a bright sunny clear day, or there are some clouds present, that there is a light haze over the ground to have to see through. This makes it hard to see airbases as runways blend right in to the landscape unless I zoom my view in real close (not very realistic). I admit it could be my graphics settings, but thought I'd bring it up here anyway. I have an RTX4070 OC edition--are there any setting anyone would recommend to remedy these issues? at 22:00, hard to see the airbase in the "haze:" F-14 HUD visibility at 13:00 (heading tape especially hard to see): F/A-18C HUD Visibility (JHMCS) at 18:00 and HUD at 26:50: Thanks. v6, boNes

I think also it is modeled in DCS that you have to consider the aspect of the laser spot. For example, if your laser i lasing on the rear side of a vehicle, and your buddy is approaching from the front side of the vehicle, his TPOD won't see the spot because the spot is on the other side of the vehicle. Then there is of course smoke and clouds and trees etc that will disrupt or weaken the intensity of the laser or just plain block it. Now I wish we had the opposite--the LANTRIN being able to find a buddy's laser. But can't have everything I guess. v6, boNes

Did you use the version of VAICOM Pro that is on the github server? Because if you just happened to have the older release say in a zip file or a backup drive and re-installed that, I think I can see it installing the pre-community version--maybe even the Hollywood version before the LANTIRN updates. v6, boNes

I do too, but yes what you describe is true behavior in the sim and I have had to adapt to it begrudgingly. It's not too bad once you get used to it but for newcomers it is frustrating especially if you don't know about it. v6, boNes

I was afraid of that. Kinda pointless to carry those CBUs then... Thanks. v6, boNes

Several times I have dropped CBU-99s right on the forehead of say a URAL, and watched in external weapons view as the bomblets exploded in the immediate area around the URAL and never on it, and the URAL escapes unharmed. Is there a logic that says that since URALs are not armored that HEAT won't work on it? It doesn't make sense to me that the bomblets dropped on it don't destroy or even damage it. It shouldn't matter if it's armored or not. A soldier doesn't have tank armor but I'm sure a HEAT bomblet going off near him would kill him. v6, boNes

I also hunch forward and just rely on the sight picture and I plug every time. v6, boNes

I admit that WAS the expectation I had for WHOT and BHOT. Too bad that the video doesn't change accordingly but now that I know what it does, that's helpful, thanks. v6, boNes

Despite my testing in the above, I too prefer to use the Mav-F without a TPOD. Less to have to fool around with in the heat of battle. I just wish the WHOT and BHOT actually worked. All this time all I've seen that do is change the color of your crosshairs which is useless. v6, boNes

I've never had that problem with Jester taking that long to scan a piece of sky. My voice command is pretty fast, takes less than a second, and he executes in way less than 6-7 seconds. Even if that didn't work out, the 10 seconds of engagement time is pretty negligent on a whole when the targets are farther out than say 30 miles. Closer than that, I am relying on Jester but I'm also maintaining SA with the AWACS so i don't need to wait on Jester's IFF or finding them per se as I have AWACS info to go by. Without an AWACS, I go in the direction of the nails/spike and put the picture together to figure out where the bandit might be and find him on radar then. Less than 15 miles away, I'm taking the radar completely with PAL then PLM/VSL. Where I do need more work is in more efficiently deploying the DDD which is from what I understand, the game changer between everyone else's radar and mine. v6, boNes

I had been testing this extensively a while back and the only time I got the IR Mavericks to work with the TPOD 95% of the time was to realize that when you lock the moving target with the TPOD and uncage the Maverick, the Maverick will look at the target initially, but not actually lock onto it. To have it keep the track, you have to every so often redesignate the target to "update" the target. The only time the Maverick will track the target on its own is if you undesignate the TPOD and quickly TDC over to the Maverick while it is uncaged and slew the seeker over to the target. It makes sense in a way since the TPOD is merely telling the Maverick where to look and that's it. And the Maverick will look but since it's not "actively" being used, it just keeps looking where the TPOD told it to look at that particular moment. It's kind of dumb until you let it be the "SOI" then it smartens up. But you still have to be 1) quick at handing off to the Maverick and "fine tuning" it and 2) cognizant that it still needs a good enough heat signature/contract and its seeker can be affected by things like ambient temperature, LOS angle and so on--it was meant really for ships that are against an ocean background anyhow. I've come to getting more comfortable doing that quick action and getting kills almost all the time, but it takes alot of practice to get the rhythm right. The only thing I don't like about them now is how BHOT and WHOT have always been useless. I only notice it changes the color of you crosshairs but does nothing with the target imagery or targeting ability. Here is a video showing the TPOD used with the Maverick without TDC depressing: And here is one where TDC is depressed periodically to "update" the Maverick: v6, boNes

A little off topic but while shading is mentioned, I noticed with the new patch that my terrain details always seem to be as if a cloud is covering the sun, or it's overcast. It makes it hard to see things like an airfield 7 miles away. What settings should I play with? Gamma? Should I change them in DCS? v6, boNes

Hey Mark! I think you and I talked about this over the weekend in that it appears Jester's calls are all queued, like a laundry list of events that he has to go down and say in order. So that call that the bandit is at your 7:00 even though you now see him in front of you in the HUD is very delayed and annoying. I generally don't trust anything he says unless we're straight and level and there is not much else going on outside in our airspace. v6, boNes

Ah ,yes, I forgot that the OP was talking about online. Latency does effect things too. I have been using Voice Attack with VAICOM Pro for a couple of years now and since I have I have never gone back to the Jester wheel if I could help it. Things you say like punching a frequency, I just tell him what freq I want and I see him changing it in my radio freq display on the right panel within a second or 2. If I see a datalink target 30 miles away at around angels 30 I justt tell Jester "Scan sector angles 30 for 30" and he sets the radar properly and I see the contact on the TID. I can even put a map marker on the F10 map and tell him "Map marker 1 to fixed point" and he will immediately start entering the coordinate into the INS. Then when he is done I tell him "Navigate fixed point" and he changes the steering for me without me having to go in back to do it. Where he really shines for me (or she since I modded him to JEstHer haha), is with the LANTIRN. As I mentioned above, that is great but if I were to eyeball a target area, designate it, and then tell him to look for SAMs or what have you, he finds a valid target way quicker than I can. And after we hit it, he automatically starts looking for another target in the area and locks it right away if there is one. So I have a love hate relationship with Jester, but it's mostly love. Either way, Jester is the most advanced crewmember around, more than in any other sim (Oh, that's right,they don't have any in any other sim), and I think certainly more than George or Ivan or us having to jump in the back so much. v6, boNes

I've been flying with Jester since he was born, notht in SP and MP. Jester is fine with me but the only problem I have with him is all his responses are queued. So if alot is going on, he has to go down the laundry list of triggered responses, so that means that bandit that was at your 10:00 is now on your six and he only NOW calling 10:00. I've come to learn to not trust any of his clock code calls unless I am straight and level, and even then, only where this is not much air activity. On the other hand he is dead accurate with the LANTIRN. There have been times when he lost the LANTIRN track as the bomb was falling, but he corrected right away and got the track back and killed the target. I haven't had him lock any friendlies before. But when he did, did you see what HAFU symbol he had? Was it unknown? Maybe even friendly? I wouldn't fire unless I knew for sure it was hostile, or that it was declared by AWACS. Sometimes he hooks them maybe even locks them, but then realizes they are friendly and he changes HAFU on them and kills the lock. He also never STT locks them unless I tell him to, which is fine and helps me make sure it's not a friendly. So are you sure he's not just hooking the target? Just because he hooks it doesn't mean it should be fired on, he may be checking it out. My only problem with his targeting abilities is when he has hooked a target but leaves the LatLong info up instead of the target info up. I don't need to know what his coordinates are, I need to know his altitude, range, etc! I also don't know if he is actively popping chaff. I read that if he sees the missile he will, but a human would be popping anyway just in case, such as if there was a spike. My only indication he is popping chaff is if I happen to hear them dispense but if there is alot going on, I may never hear it. I can't say it is necessarily Jester when Phoenix locks are lost just before pitbull. It may be him, but more often the enemy aircraft can spoof it (notch it, terrain mask it, etc), or it may be the missile itself which is notoriously buggy on and off. I would say if you want to be sure, but AIM-54Cs on so that at least if the lock is broken, they will go pitbull on their own and give you a better chance of a hit. Maybe Jester can't see targets in front of you because there are many other targets in the area? He is programmed to optimize the scan volume to get as many targets in the scan as possible. If one of these happens to be say below the optimal scan of the radar that has 90% of the other targets in it, then he won't "see" the on right in front. Of course that is why it is better to fly with a human RIO or for you to jump in back real quick. But that's more an AI limitation of a logical program than anything else. I'd say, if you know the bandit is less than 15 miles away, you shouldn't have Jester do the targetting. You have PAL mode which is goof to 15 nm and when closer say 5 nm or less, you have PLM and VSL Hi/Lo. So try to use those when they are right in front of you. v6, boNes

I spoke with a former RIO and he said that in that configuration they did have PTID in the back and that the LANTIRN was 100% capable. v6, boNes