NeedzWD40

Nothing at the moment, but in the future it will allow you to switch between Air Target Mode, Ground Target Mode, Radar Map, and Terrain Profile Mode for the FCR. First two are self explanatory, RMAP is like a B-Scope GTM, TPM gives you a picture of the terrain with the radar.

No lead calculations like TADS, works similar to setting a target point. FCR not synchronized in MP yet, so can't test that out. CPG can sight select FCR, get targets, then sight select TADS and set FCR as ACQ source; should work the same if pilot is using FCR and CPG using TADS, once it gets synchronized.

NFZ: Anything detected in an active NFZ will not be targeted by the FCR. PFZ: If a PFZ is active, targets within it will be prioritized by the FCR. For example, you could create a PFZ over an area, divide it, then activate each PFZ individually to prioritize that grid. Both simply tell the FCR what targets it should select or not within the 16 target limit.

Sometimes you're the pigeon and sometimes you're the statue.

AH-64D Autopage Off Inop.trk

You could mod the keybinds to the front seat, though that of course isn't an ideal solution either.

Under the AUTO setting, the scan area is dictated by the aircraft's radar altimeter. It's comparable to the automatic setting for weapons, so consider that with it in place. The elevation scale is represented in ~6 degree increments, with the default being -6 downward. The pilot can only use the manual elevation arrows but the gunner can use the manual tracker up/down to do more fine control of the elevation. Thus far the best tip I can offer is if it's not detecting targets, either engage with TADS or reposition from a different angle. In testing, I've found that repositioning (where possible) from a different direction and angle can result in finding targets, indicating that the original position was simply not good for the FCR.

Sort of. A better way to describe it is the FCR is another sensor that provides data that the weapons processor can use, which in turn hands it over to the missile(s). The FCR "collects" the information for multiple targets and has the "message" ready for each target, whereas TADS has to form it each time. This is correct behavior. The FCR can't separate a dead hunk of metal from a live one. Use the SHOT cues to determine if a target is dead or worthy of another tap, then use PFZs and NFZs for further filtering.

The easiest way right now is to use the TSD's pan and scale feature to cross reference what you're looking at.

I'm actually wondering if map may have an impact as well, as my testing was done on Syria whilst looking into a separate issue. What was the height difference for you? Did you try any of the manual elevation settings?

Currently, there seems to be an extreme downward bias for target detection. I was just doing some testing and a target on a hillside above the aircraft was extremely hard to detect until I was flying above it. Manually adjusting the elevation didn't seem to help much, though closer in I was able to get it one notch above at 1.5km. On the other hand, looking down at targets from a ridgeline to an area down below about 200ft and I was able to pick up many targets rapidly with ease, even those in defilade. In both cases I was close to the ground under 15ft, so it's all about relative target elevation. However, something else to keep in mind: if your sight is the FCR, then as a pilot it will try to follow your current acquisition source, which can make it possible for the FCR to be looking away from your target. If you want it to scan an area you're looking at, set your acquisition source to PHS and run your scan. Alternatively, fixed will keep the scan zone centered on the centerline. Until a scanburst is done, it will focus on the commanded heading at time of scan. CPG can do the same, but must use the slave function to bind to the current acquisition source.

Conditions? Settings? Track? Using slave all the time in front seat in all situations, haven't had a crash yet.

Just tried it and it works, both seats.

Can you share a track or a basic mission that illustrates the issue? I've not encountered these issues yet.

Apologies; yes, that is correct. I do virtually all my flying from the front seat. The targets found via the FCR can still be pushed into the COORD page via the FCR TGT menu, but slaving the TADS is gunner-only at the moment.

@Raptor9 has already answered the other half of it, but the INU degradation issue still remains, so ensure you consistently reset your INUs to ensure accurate coordinates are passed to the missile.

You must sight select FCR before using AGM-114L.

For me, I had to go to the FCR>UTIL page and turn on the FCR to enable it.

TADS looking at FCR targets will come later with the LINK functionality. For now, you can do a scan and then sight select TADS and set ACQ to FCR, then slave which will make TADS look at the current FCR target (or last target position). You can also use the TGT function with the FCR to generate target points via COORD and slave to these. PFZ/NFZ zones are useful if you have a lot of targets and want to focus on one area in specific. ie if you have a SA-10 site and you want to ignore the nearby vehicle depot, you might set up a PFZ over the SA-10 area to prioritize targets there. NFZs conversely are useful for setting areas that you don't want to target at all, such as friendly forces. Pilot FCR GTM mode works, no other modes beyond GTM are implemented. Scan size also works for both seats. FCR must be the selected sight to adjust scan size.

Issue still present as of DCS version 2.9.2.49629.

Figured this out: some skins like the gray SCNG skins force the FCR off and selecting another skin doesn't bring it back.

Which skin? Some skins force the FCR on/off visually.

Actually, you just need to find the new IDs for your controllers and rename the config files to have the new IDs. I had to do this after an upgrade a few years back.

A group that has "On Road" routes have a section in the mission file called spans that detail each line on the path along the road, illustrating where the group is going. It serves no purpose in the game, only the editor. If there are many groups with lots of on-road routes (and conversely, lots of spans), you can overflow the mission file which leads to it not loading and giving you errors.

This looks like the spans overflow issue. The mission table is getting filled up with detailing the paths for your groups which leads to an overflow error. You can try to get around this by assigning dynamic move orders via scripting to the group(s) rather than presetting them in the mission.