Problems transitioning to "realistic" radios

So I took the plunge and unchecked Easy Radio and Radio Assists in the hope of hearing radio chatter from other flights in my mission when tuned in properly but the silence was deafening. I cannot figure out what I did wrong. Here's what I did:

Set my own flight to 251.00 UHF

Used UHF radio transmit button on HOTAS to transmit.

That worked, my wingman heard me and responded to commands.

Then I alternated the top radio between the following freqs, with no success:

Set "Enfield" Flight (UH-60s) to 124.00 VHF AM

Set top radio to AM and TR. (It's the radio that has 2 digits in the left hand window, right?)

Looked for this flight on radio menu after using VHF AM radio transmit button on HOTAS.

Silence and flight does not show up in VHF AM radio transmit menu.

Set "Uzi" flight (F-15-Es) to 134.00 VHF AM

Same radio as above, set to AM and TR.

Looked for this flight on radio menu after using VHF AM radio transmit button on HOTAS.

As above, silence and flight does not show up in VHF AM radio transmit menu.

Here is the strangest one of all:

Set "Axeman" (JTAC) to 72.00 VHF FM

Bottom radio to FM and TR

Got no response from the JTAC until I switched over to AM, then it worked. WTH?

I'm stumped. Can anyone help? Many thanks.

Other flights won't appear in the radio menus, only things you can interact with do. For aircraft, that means tankers and FAC. If you're tuned to the right frequency you will hear AI flights announce when they're passing waypoints and engaging enemies (unless they've been set as 'radio silent' in the editor). Obviously these things don't happen all the time so there's long periods of silence unless the mission is very active, AI waypoints are close together, etc.

What do you mean "Got no response from the JTAC until I switched over to AM"? How did you 'switch over'?

It would be helpful if you'd post the mission. The radios have always worked as expected for me (at least, once I figured them out :D) so I think it's more likely that you're just a bit confused. :)

Well the bottom radio has an AM and FM switch, yet 72.00 is an FM frequency, isn't it?

Here's the mission. It's quite good if I say so myself, give it a try and let me know what you think. I appreciate your interest and willingness to take a look.

I saw your message at the mission thread and I checked this version.

You shouldnt just change the COMM field of the unit, that doesnt suffice. You must give them a command, preferably the very first you give them, at their first waypoint.

The command would be "Set Frequency" which you can find under 'Perform Command'. This also gives you the option to decide between AM / FM. If you put invalid frequencies (ie 30 for AM) it will not work. So the band selection for JTAC has to be on FM, then frequency 72, other airplanes AM plus 124/134)

PS, use the top radio (the one directly below throttle) for AM, and the bottom radio for FM.

Thanks once again, Geskes. I just noticed the ability to select a frequency in the "Scripted Actions" tab of the flight's menu. Will this produce the same result as doing it as a command in the main Advanced Tasks window for WP 01?

As I understand it, the 'scripted actions' provides a way to cause AI changes in response to triggers. That is, if you add something under the 'scripted actions' tab, it will appear in the dropdown list for "PERFORM AI TASK" actions (I think that's what it called).

So adding a scripted action won't do anything unless you explicitly execute it in a trigger.

The radio system hasn't been working for me either - I'm not sure if it's bugged/still WIP or if I'm just doing things wrong. It's still in beta I guess, hopefully they'll get it all cleaned up before releasing.

Wow, I just can't get the radios to work properly at all, at least to monitor the comms of Enfield and Uzi flights. Wingman comms are okay, Axeman (FAC) is okay but works only on the AM band when in fact I set an FM freq. I'm bafffled. In this version of the mission I followed the advice here and set freqs as the top task of every flight at its first WP, 124 AM for Enfield, 134 for Uzi. Total silence. These are not invalid AM frequencies! Could somebody possibly take a look? I'll owe you a beer.

I checked this version but I dont see the 'set frequency' commands but for the FAC?

The fac has right command but now I wonder if you use the radio correctly because in the way it is setup it should talk on 72 FM, not AM. You cannot tune to 72 with AM radio. If you flip the frequency selection dial to AM or FM on the FM radio, you do not choose between bands. Rather you set the radio to either the AM guard channel or the FM guard channel depending on which radio you are flipping the switch. On the AM radio, the switch will only work when flipped to AM, on the FM radio the switch will only work in FM. But for normal operation and to be able to tune into a frequency, you must leave the dial to MAN which is manual selection (of frequency, trough the frequency selector knobs). So this is why your FAC responds when you flip it to AM, the switch in that mode has no function and the radio acts as if in MAN mode. If you set it to FM, you are tuning to FM guard channel and not the selected frequency.

This is the same for the AM radio, so if you set that to AM, you will not hear anything because you have activated emergency guard mode.

PS I think for aircraft, setting the COMM field should be enough, and if you dont set anything they will talk on default 124. My earlier statement about set frequency being required is false, but not when setting up FAC.

PPS, I also suggest to set both the helis and the f15s to the same freq so they can be monitored simultanously.

I think Geskes is 100% correct, about everthing. The "FM" and "AM" labels are actually "EMER FM" and "EMER AM", i.e. the guard channels. The manual states that "EMER FM" has no effect on the VHF/AM, and "EMER AM" has no effect on VHF/FM (p137, "7. Frequency Selection Dial").

I don't think the guard channels are actually implemented in the game, so the only useful setting for this is "MAN" and "PRE", and unless you have loads of channels that you're constantly switching between PRE seems like more effort to me than it's worth.

Using the 'advanced' options to specify radio frequency and callsign are only required for ground units; air units you can just use the fields in the main group info dialog, unless for some reason you want them to switch frequency during the mission. There's no overlap between the frequency ranges so you don't really need to explicitly specify AM/FM/UHF.

Bahger, I do not know if you are doing a cold ramp start in this mission as I can not watch the track, but there was a problem in Beta 2 that came up with the radios and when in your start up procedure you began using the radios. I do not know if it is still present in Beta 3.

The problem came up when you activated/used your radio during a cold ramp start with just the battery switch on...It seemed that when the aircraft later switched to APU/GEN power, there seemed to be a reset of radio dials back to the default cold start positions all the while still graphically showing the position the pilot had switched it to. This can make the pilot confused when they look at the radio set up and think that every switch is in it's proper place and they do not get the expected result from the radio.

I suggest that the radio's are not operated until after APU Generator+APU GEN switch are both on.

Many thanks, guys. Now I feel quite foolish; it never occurred to me to switch the AM radio to anything but AM, ditto the FM radio! I am hoping my issues are resolved now, thanks to you guys, as I will do the following: set both non-player flights to 124 AM in the main group info dialog and tune to their radio comms from my flight with the VHF AM radio set to MAIN. I think I might also use the Advanced/Set Frequency command option to see if I can get comms chatter from ground units on this frequency; it seems from what nondeplume is saying that this is a possibility.

WarriorX, many thanks for your input. The mission under discussion is a runway start but it's useful to know about this glitch nevertheless.

Bahger, it's my pleasure. If you would like to check it out, here is a link to the Tutorial I put together covering Realistic Radio Basics. If you have any questions, or want to add any input, let me know.

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=61349

Hey WarriorX, yes, I downloaded your excellent tutorial a while back and have been using it as I make the transition from easy radios to realistic. It will be particularly useful when it comes to presets. Having said that, even the most well put-together radio tutorial could not dislodge from my thick head the notion that an FM radio had to be set to FM and an AM radio to AM. It was a gigantic brain-fart that I hope to have dispelled now, because hearing comms from friendlies in a properly put-together mission enhances immersion and is sufficient reason for using realistic radios in this sim.

Yeah, Bahger, I'm like that with the CDU still....man creating a new flight plan and populating it with waypoints still gives me fit's.

I'm really looking forward to a robust multiplayer experience with Teamspeak Comms filled with human pilots, combined with some Guard chatter.

WX, do you know whether, if I give an infantry unit the same frequency as my buddy flights (124) via the 'advanced' options at their first WP to specify radio frequency and callsign, their comms will be audible just like the flight comms?

(As for the CDU, yeah, I might dip my toe in it by using markpoints to drop multiple JDAMs but as for everything else I think I'll wait to find out just how much of a WIP it currently is...)

I would check with Headspace, he has a lot more experience in the Mission Editor arena. I have not "dipped my toe" in the Mission Editor yet.

Well, I'm not sure if this helps anyone, but I can confirm that the guard channel selections do indeed work, at least in terms of what data's being registered to the radios.

When selecting the appropriate Guard mode for each radio (GRD for UHF, EMER AM and EMER FM for the other two, respectively):

UHF: 243.00

VHF AM: 121.5 (naturally)

VHF FM: 40.5

Unfortunately, you can't tell (from the cockpit) what exact frequency the VHF radios are switching to when you put them in guard mode, but as of Beta 3 that's what they're on.

Thanks Headspace for the info!