Karon

It's not a matter of S-8, it's the splash damage that was changed what, in 2010 or so? In 2008 S-8 and S-13s were my weapons of choise for anything not as armoured as a tank.

I never managed to finish Viper pilot. There's a limit to the amount of bullshit I can bear. Really terrible, the worst military book / biography I read, and I really read a bit of everything, some good, some not (still never as bad as that book): from Sakai to Gorrini to Rudel to more recent Macy, Franzak, Fick, Tootal just to name a few. I can't believe I spent money on that thing.

I come from LOMAC. I bought BS1 in 2008, I still have the DVD. Then the upgrade to BS2. Later on, a stand-alone BS2 license on sale. The price is nothing compared to amount of hours I enjoed and the number of people this hobby has allowed me to meet. I know people can disagree but when I look at DCS and I think about how much time and money goes into research, development and arts. I think that I have thrown already at least 100h into studying the RIO seat between manuals, NATOPS and testing. Then I think about the fact that "typical" game publishers are still selling the umpteenth COD for the same embarassing price. Then I check for the prices of ONE tank in WOT, WT et similia and it's not usually much lower (if it is lower at all) than a part of a sim that requires way more effort than a 3D model and I really ask myself how can people really complain about it. Don't get me wrong, money is money, no gives it away for free but on the other hand ED is not a charity. I think people here lack a lot in terms of perspective and forget that this is a niche and no one forces anyone to buy. If you are not happy, get BMS for instace! It's almost free and it's amazing, no one is forcing you to comply to a platform that you don't like! On the other hand, this does not mean that people cannot point out what they think is wrong. For instance, the big complain I have for ED is the unintentional attempt to brake the multiplayer: I don't mind having a million small DLCs but they should you the same system as BIS has for ArmA3. They should work on improving the MP experience (and they are doing it, think about the dedicated servers). Of course there's much more to do. They also have the tendency of screwing up from a PR and marketing point of view sometimes but hey, I've seen MUCH worse. Anyway, my .2€.. feel free to disagree. It's free :)

Having a great pilot also make the difference, Sir! :) The 54s behaving as 120s definitely help though because I lost the first two missiles mid flight. Everything else is just adjusting the antenna manually to maintain the lock while cranking until the Phoenixes go Active. TWS Auto will definitely improve the situation.

1. I usually create a small flightplan depending on what the pilot wants to do. For instance, I set homebase (usually a divert AF), and at least 2 waypoints. If we are doing A/G one is the target area (so I can slave the LANTIRN there) and the second can be an IP or another reference. If we are A/A I set the waypoints to draw sort of boundaries of the friendly area. You can see that in all my streams. The unexpected turns come from a variety of reasons. For instance, totally unnecessary overcorrection (like, really, why pulling 9G because you want to check 45deg left..). I guess is that many pilots are not used to non-FBW. Others are not used to the lack of info provided by the HUD and forget to check the instruments. 2. Dunno di G limit of the RIO, there's a thread about it in the Bugs section of this forum. It's not too low btw, you can still dogfight very well without having the RIO going black and without preventing you to push to the limits. 3. It was a general. Some people forget to adjust the wings when bombing, some others have no clue about what I'm talink about when I ask them if they want control over Chaffs of Flares (as I mentioned, the DLC). Again, it's not a problem of being new to the F-14, I am as it is everyone who hasn't flown the real thing, more the lack of understanding that the F-14 has a crew of 2 and neither pilot or RIO can fly the aircraft alone. Let me know if you want to fly together sometimes (as long as the timezone is compatible), I'm often on GAW, for instance.

I was answering the the previous posts mate :) About your second question, the manual states that it's possible to switch between TWS and STT although it's less "safe" than using the DDD. TWS Auto to Man instead, no issues, it's just a matter of who controls the TWS mode I guess. I haven't tried to push TWS to STT while a launch is going though. Also, the AIM-54 AFAIK behaves as an AIM-120 now (if it hasn't been patched yet). IRL is the WCS that tells it to become active. To get a more comprehensive answer, the easiest solution is testing.

Thanks. Arduino is an incredibly simple yet powerful platform. I can't understand why people keeps buiying weird controllers that cost hundred of £ just to have a dozen buttons more when with 30£ you can build a controller with 100 functions. Anyway, if you are building stuff using real life components you may want to check DCS-BIOS. I use HID usually because it's more flexible but integrating stuff such as gauges cannot really be done with that standard.

It's very easy:the WCS pushes TWS Auto right after firing an AIM-54. What they RIO can do now is having the pilot manoeuvre in order to have the target at 12' same level, fire than push TWS Man and tell the pilot to start cranking. It works every the time as long as the pilot cooperates. I have plenty of examples in my streams on my youtube channel.

EDIT2: sorted, it's probably not a bug, just one of the 10-block of cartridges that runs out of flare in multi mode before the 20-block does so the MULTI FLARE stops dispensing two chaffs because there are simply no more chaffs in one of the AN/ALE-39 stations. /*************/ I found a couple typos in the manual as well: I guess it should be: C at B QTY and R INTV, R at B QTY and R INTV and so on. No big deal of course. Is there a thread dedicated to the manual? I have found a few here and there (for instance the use of FUSE instead of FUZE).

I am working of an acticle about that for my site, unfortunately I'm about to fly abroad and I won't finish it before I'm back. So, short version: I've been killed in the F-14 by the vast majority of my pilots at least once. Usually due to the lack of use of pedals when pulling hard resulting in blackouts or structural damage because people are not used to fly non-FBW much apparently. I come from the old Il2 and the FW so I have the opposite problem and not compensating with pedals even in a FBW aircraft feels very weird. Mistakes happens of course, no big deal but if it is the first time you fly a '14, tell your RIO so he can give you some suggestions. Random banking and pulling. Most pilots forget that there's someone behind them working on a radar. If you bank or pull hard without saying nothing you mess up the work of the guy behind you. I've lost locks and SA so many times due to that.. RIO blackout similar to the previous, why on earth you have to pull 12G just to turn 90 deg left if the closest threat is 500nm away?! ATM the RIO blacks-out way before the pilot so push a millions Gs if it's not necessary. TWS. TWS Auto doesn't work, you should know that, and the RIO needs to have the target almost boresighted so when the WCS takes controls it doesn't lose the missile (only then you can push TWS Manual and crank). Anyway if the RIO ask you to stay in certain parameters in order to maintain a lock and fire stay there. Still, many random pilots don't bother and keep turning and manoeuvring. FENCE IN & basic stuff. I call something such as a FENCE IN, the pilot ACKs and then forgets stuff such as MSL PREP. If you are not sure about something, speak with your RIO, it's better than bail an easy kill because your missiles are not ready. Similar to that, it's happened quite often with wings in bomb mode, or the DLC not even assigned to a button. You are part of a team so ask your RIO if you are not sure about something. "Stealing" the radar. This is absolutely the worst one. When you push ACM or other modes from the pilot seat the RIO loses control over the radar and when it comes back, it's often messed up and some parameters are changed. This means losing SA, time and even locks, so don't do it. Speak clearly if you need to push ACM. So, especially if you fly with random RIOs or pilots, remember you are part of a team. Speak with the other guy and work together!

Quick advice: read the manual thoroughly before watching videos. They always miss most of the useful little details that really make the difference. Videos can be useful sometimes to see the bigger picture, but there's little point in a picture full of gaps. STT is like yelling at the target that you are about to engage it. Like, yelling INCREDIBLY LOUD :) I use it scare human pilots off or to lure them into thinking that I'm Jester and not a human RIO. Which means that I lock them, push TWS so they think I lost them and they turn hot on us and fire from that mode. When the AIM-54 goes active it's usually too late for them. It has worked quite a few times already. The only solution I see for you is finding a human RIO. Even a newbie one works better than Jester in BVR, due to the status of the TWS Auto. Alternatively learn to use the current TWS as sort-of boresight mode. Check the manual to learn its limitations.

Should we try to guess or are you going to tell us what you do, step by step? I fly only as RIO and I haven't had too many issues. The trick is setting up the engagement correctly in order to deal with the WCS' morbit love for the bugged TWS Auto and to prevent or counter notching. Even multiple kills are quite easily achievable, especially vs AI. I made a video about notching a week ago and my last scenario was 3 MiG-23 vs RIO: two splashed with phoenixes (altough I haven't adjusted the antenna enough and lost a phoenix for that reason), the last one with an AIM-7. Humans can be a problem because as soon as they see you slowing down and craking they assume you FOXed and go defensive. Humans use (or should use) terrain masking much better and the same goes for energy management and weapons. So, end of the day, it all depends on the individual skill and knowledge of the pilots. PS: I have way many more issues finding decent F-14 pilots actually..

HS comes up when the INS alignment is started but the datalink is not properly set. Usually, as you set the D/L for carrier INS alignment it disappears. Try to do the full startup yourself or jump in the backseat in SP and check the DL settings.

Have you asked the same question this morning on r/hoggit as well? Locking a notching AI target with Pulse is usually quite easy. It's a bit more difficult vs human pilots because they generally use the terrain for masking much better. I don't understand why you would disable the MLC when your_alt < tgt_alt since it's probably disabled already (check the manual for details). Disabling MLC can work but in a look-down situation is not ideal although I haven't done many tests since Pulse is so easy to use. As the manual says, the AWG-9 is basically un-notchable in a look-up situation so manoeuvre accordingly if possible. If the range in decreasing into WVR I had good results by using both P modes and TCS to maintain the initiative and defeat a target that was notching the PD (one or two episodes should be in my Georgia at War streams IIRC). Check the manual for more details about the TCS and its functions. It's a really neat tool.

Good points, thanks folks.

Radar noob here; how does the CW behaves compared to PD when the target defends itself by means of nothing and other manoeuvres? When is better to use PD instead of CW then?

I bought them Amazon UK (more expensive but the same / following day delivery is great). Have a look there, you might find more info.

Did some upgrades on my setup, two additional Arduino Leonardo-based new boxes. I'm still waiting for the delivery of the last encoders. Now, if only Heatblur could provide us some bindings for the knobs in the RIO seat :P The Radar box (left of the UFC) has 121 buttons; the Master Switch doubles the base number and, depending on its status, some 3-way momentary work as 3-way toggles for their in-game equivalent since many buttons bindings are still missin in the RIO seat. The top "flat" box has 67 buttons at the moment but I still had to add the 4 missing encoders (should be delivered shortly). I didn't add any Master Switch since it would have exceed the HID limit of 128 buttons. I thought about "masking" some buttons as POV but still.. I tested the box with friends and on Hoggit and I'm quite happy about it, makes RIOing much faster and efficient.

The raw reading is always floating, it's perfectly normal however you should also be able to smooth it down via the cfg software. You said it didn't work, are you sure you did it correctly? That being said, if you think your throttle is faulty remember that the EU guarantee is 2y cost free.

Cold/Hot mic binding in the RIO seat is bugged as well.

Switches as the Master Arm and its cover, you mean? IIRC there are a couple of specific options in for the '14. I might be wrong :huh: Personally, I have written a simple workaround for my Arduino stuff (I used a timer). I guess you can apply the same concept to a macro. Most joysticks have some sort of cfg software that supports them. lua-wise instead I have no clue. Hopefully someone else can help you.

I haven't tried but perhaps you can use the method that works for the RWR (luas). Otherwise Helios (I never used it but it should work).

I've found another bug: the 3-way switch ICS Function binding doens't match in-game values.

I'm flying only as RIO at the moment and I build my own control boxes so missing binding are a problem (far from being urgent, of course!). These are some knobs and buttons missing from the RIO cockpit plus couple bugs. I also have a couple question about switches marked as "no function": are they going to be implemented at some point? The manual states often that some of those are "*currently* not implemented" but knowing which will be will help me planning. An example is the 3-way switch "Target Size", top left corner of the DDD panel. **KNOBS/ROTARY** CAP category +/- ICS aplifier selection Weapon interval x100ms +/- Weapon interval x10ms +/- Weapon quantity 10s +/- Weapon quantity 1s +/- Elec Fuse +/- Attk Mode +/- Wpn Type +/- Pulse video +/- Bright [DDD] +/- Pulse Gain +/- Erase video +/- Nav mode +/- Dest +/- TID contrast +/- TID Bright +/- ECMD brightness +/- AN/ALR-67 Display type +/- DECM ALQ-100 Power/mode +/- DECM ALQ-100 Audio/Off +/- **SWITCHES** Jettison station 1 (toggle and two positions) Jettison station 3 (toggle and two positions) Jettison station 4 (toggle and two positions) Jettison station 5 (toggle and two positions) Jettison station 6 (toggle and two positions) Jettison station 8 (toggle and two positions) DDD filter (toggle and two positions) AN/ALR-67 mode (toggle and two positions) Minor bug, if point your mouse over INS status indicator, the mouse pointer will change to a toggle for the pilot oxigen. ECMD brightness must be clicked and dragged, doesn't behave as the other knobs. Is that intentional?

@Cobra847 do you have an idea when the other missing keybindings will be available? Lots of knobs in the RIO seat are missing (e.g. CAP category), on top of the single pylons and many others. We can bind the "stops" of the knobs, but nothing such as a "next/prev" therefore the number of required buttons skyrockets. I'm planning to build some additional Arduino ATmega32u4 controllers for the RIO seat but in order to make them work I need those bindings (I can code a workaround but that's not the point and kinda kills the idea of using HID in the first place). It's not a priority of course (first thing should be you guys fixing the biggest issues so far then take a good, well deserved, holiday :) ) but I'd appreciate having a general time schedule. Thanks!