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Can anyone confirm this? It looks like the F18 datalink is not sharing its tracking files with the F16. We tried to restart both airplanes DL, but nothing. Thanks!

Since i read lots of threads where ppl struggle(d) to get the Apache Datalink to use, i recently posted a rather lenghty method in another (campaign related) thread. I know this is not all-encompassing and that was not my intention, but i hope it will clarify some of the mistakes that can happen during setting up (e.g. using wrong preset; not tuning to SC; etc). This will mainly focus on SP but most of it can be used to setup MP as well. It works for me with a cold and dark a/c. Feel free to add any knowledge about the datalink (ingame) you have and are willing to share. Hope it helps! Good hunting. Geschrieben vor 2 Stunden (bearbeitet) lets say "it depends". First things first: the only thing that is working for me so far, is to send and request the PP (present position) from AI, so that i can see the symbol of the sending AH-64D on the TSD. If i request FARM reports, i get none ("XMIT NAC"), while sending works (though even if the AI recieves it cant "do" anything with it ^^). Targets, FZs or NFZs, etc is still udner development afaik. Ok, now lets start. The SP Mission has to be set up to support AH-64D datalink on every AH-64D (AI and player/clients). BUT most of this stuff can also be done ingame, though you need to know some info which can more easily be optained though the mission editor. There is one (more like two) prohibiting option(s) that have to be checked to make it workable at all from my experience (see "c" and "d"). ME (mission edior) settings: a) check or set frequencies, e.g. 225 AM. For AI this can only be set in the "unit" tab (when you click on a unit). check in the player AH-64D in the (unit tab ->) radio tab, that under ARC-164 (UHF radio) channel 2 you have the same freq (e.g. 225 MHz AM). [we use channel 2 because we will use Preset 2 for the datalink] b) check "aircraft additional properties", some blue symbol lke 3 points in a row (lower unit tab where you can also choose waypoints, loadout, etc) -> check or set Datalink Originator ID and ownship callsign, e.g. i set the AI to be "Palehorse 6-1", gave it Datalink Orig ID of 6 and "datalink" callsign P-61 (addition: in the TSD for "P-61" you will only see "-61" bc it will only display 3 letters. Keep that in mind). Max number ID is 39. the callsign is just how that Apache will show up in Datalink and on the TSD. c) check that in the "waypoint" tab, in the first waypoint there is: EPLRS on (sometimes "EPLRS(on) -a"). Normally its automatic but sometimes it got (or gets) erased. Like discriped in my previous post, i found out that if EPLRS is not set to "on", the AI will not use datalink (my assumption!). d) set in the "datalinks" tab (pink tab with 3 little symbols like two squares and a rectangle) for EVERY AH64-D you want to communicate with by datalink: datalinks -> SMDL (no other option atm) -> Settings: check that PRESET 2 is set to UHF SC (= single channel) and DL NET is ticked. [addition: you can also change the name of the PRESETs here, but this is only how they show up on your (Apaches) COMs-page and EUFD. so not really needed atm and especially not needed for AI at all] SMDL -> Networks: navigate to chosen Preset (in this case "2") and add the groups/units to that preset you want to reach via this preset (up to 8 primary members / 16 team members). There you can recheck datalink ID and c/s. This is the (my) way, how I made it work for me. Not saying this is the method. Normally a difference in freq (UHF) to the Preset (e.g. if you choose VHF on PRE 1 instead of UHF PRE 2) shouldnt make a difference. BUT as long as we cant change freqs on AI aircraft (other then with set freq in waypoint options or the one "voice" freq in the main unit tab), the player has to be on the correct freq (so correct freq on the used preset), to communicate with AI via datalink. Ingame (flight) settings: I.) If we did set all up as described above we only have to "tune" to the correct Preset. Get in your Apache, set left MPD to COM. check the EUFD, use the "DL" labeled rocker (IDM Rocker Switch) down one to switch to UHF radio DL (the square with a hole in it) and also use the "RTS" rocker switch down once to switch "voice" also to the UHF radio (need it to change UHF preset). Now press on the "P" button on the right side of the EUFD to see all presets, and use the "WCA" labeled rocker switch (left side) down once to switch to Preset 2. Then press the "Enter" button on the right side EUFD. Now on the EUFD it should display "(square with hole / < / dot) UHF* 225.000 PRE 2 L2 ..." Go to the TSD (right MPD), press "RPT" (reports) top left. then left side "PP" (present position). check down left on the TSD page, if "MSG" is set to "RQST" or "SEND". put it to "RQST" if its not. Check if in the top right some datalink callsigns show up (in my case "-61" for Palehorse 6-1 and "R-1" for Rotary 1-1 (both AH-64D)). Choose if you want all of them "ticked" to send you their PP or just one etc. Press "SEND UHF L2" right side (only shows up if 1 "recepient" is ticked). Now some symbols (helicopter) with the datalink c/s should pop up on the position of the requested datalink members. Make sure you zoomed the TSD out enough to see them, and make sure they are flying or at least are fully started up. Check if you have line-of-sight and range to those datalink members (the UHF antenna is located on the underside of the tail boom !!!). If you get "XMIT NAC" there might be something wrong, not set up correctly or an other factor. II.) like i said you can set this all up within the cockpit. i will only briefly cover some hints to it here, but @Wags has some very good vids on datalink which i will link to at the end of this rather long post. a) COMs page, press "Preset 2 L2" on the left (if UHF is shown or not shown) -> "UHF" (top) -> "TUNE UHF" (down right) -> "SC" (UHF radio will be tuned to SC of preset 2. you can check SC of preset 2 in the middel, in my case "SC: 225.000". b) COMs page in the middel you see "Ownship" and in my case "H-2" (Hammerhead 2-1) which is my Datalink callsign. Press "ORIG ID" on the lower row and you get your ownship datalink ID on the top right "DATALINK ORIG ID" in my case "2". c) COMs page press "Preset 2" -> "NET" (lower row middel). Here you can see all your datalink "members" on that PRESET. you can also delete members, add members, switch if a member is team or primary, check their datalink IDs and c/s and you can also change them. this will only change those in YOUR aircraft. e.g. if you change the ID to an other number then set up in the ME, it will not work. The datalink IDs (on this page referred to as "SUB" = subscriber ID) are one per aircraft! Also the datalink c/s will only change how you see them on YOUR aircrafts datalink and thereby TSD. e.g. if i change the datalink c/s of "-61" (which is Palehorse 6-1) to "222" (always needs to be 3 letters), that aircraft will show up as "222" on my TSD, but nothing will change OUTSIDE of MY helicopter. He will still be Palehorse 6-1 on comms. You should also have a member directory "MBR DIR" on the left lower side of the NET page. Here you should see all datalink aircrafts even if they are NOT put in YOUR preset. They show up with a/c callsign, datalink c/s and datalink ID. BUT, if the AI has not been set up in the ME to have YOUR aircraft in their preset, it WONT WORK. Hope this all helps in getting you started! good luck FARM Reports (NOT with AI !) Target sharing via Datalink in multiplayer Greetings K ----------------------------- sorry, this took some time and got to be a wall of text. but i thought i rather try to explain it completely and thoroughly then half hearted. if you have any more questions, ask or PM me. Any typos or spelling mistakes are intentional english is not my first language, hope its read-able xD cya

One of the most annoying things about the Hornet IMHO is its datalink update rate. A10C datalink (SADL) has less than 1 second update rate for PPLIs and any other symbology. It's virtually real time updated. Why is that the Hornet has a datalink with 12 seconds update rate? Why is the Hornet 1200% worse than other aircrafts in this regard? Is ED prohibited from simulating the real behavior (I don't know what the real behavior is, I'm just asking)? Why every time I look at a symbol in the HMD or SA page the actual object isn't there anymore, confusing the pilot and giving him wrong and dangerous information? If the object has constant movement then the extrapolation (both relative and absolute) works good and the symbol will follow, but if the object moves then the symbol gets 12 seconds of wrong position. Yeah I know they are two different systems and bla bla, but the NATO network is the same. I'm dying to know if this is a legal limitation of the simulation ED was allowed to make, a bug that someday will be fixed, or if it is just what the Navy has to deal with IRL (poor pilots). Any information about this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I set my KC-135s to "Invisible" so that they would not be attacked by enemy aircraft, but they would be invisible not only to enemy eyes but also to friendly Link 16s. Of course, there is an AWACS in that airspace, and the other aircraft show up in the datalink, but not that tanker. To test this, I removed the "invisible" setting and the tanker shows up in the datalink. If I set an AWACS like the E-3A or E-2D to "invisible", it will still show up in the datalink, but the KC-135 will not. This is too much of an inconvenience.

Hello ED team, I'm a moderator on the Growling Sidewinder server and after getting several bug reports about disappearing datalink contacts, I started my own investigations. I set up a single player mission with a awacs and many bandits around him to see what happens. The results are quite interesting. I first started with my main plane the JF-17 and its seems like the awacs has a blind spot on his 10-11 clock position when orbiting. You can see that the Awacs doesn't fly a perfect orbit and every time it fly straight, all bandits are visible but if the Awacs is orbiting, the bandits on his 10-11 clock position disappears. I repeated the test several times and all awacs have this blind spot. Awacs blindspot.trk The Bug become really interesting when I started to check the issue with different aircraft's. I just changed my aircraft and therefor I should get the same result like in the test before but instead of having just one blind spot, I got TWO now in the Flankers. Repeated the test several times with the same results. This bug is not only awacs, its also plane dependent. Awacs blindspot Flanker.trk I hope you can fix the bug soon. Thank you for your time and effort.

Hi all! In the last few weeks, I've faced an unfortunate complication with the F-16 viper on latest beta. It seems like there is a bug which makes the F16's datalink useless, HSD page doesn't display any wingmans/friendly's without a particular reason. the weirdest thing that this only happens at night time flights as well as especially if there's another client has connected as a wingman/friendly. (except bots, they are displayed fine anytime for some reason). one more thing to specify, I was testing it with some friends of mine and they having the same issue.. I'm afraid but this is a bug that needs to be fixed immediately. meshima_hashait_ (1).miz server-20210620-151040.trk

In the newest version of the official ED manual, the MIDS DDI format was added with a text saying that "This format will be documented in a later edition of this manual." This seems to be a new addition, earlier versions of the manual didn't mention this page at all. Does this mean that ED are planning on implementing in depth MIDS configuration options and this DDI page or is the addition to the manual only refer to the fact that the functions on the page (which as far as I know currently have no functional effects and are only for roleplaying purposes) will be detailed later on?

You can enable EPLRS in the advanced waypoint setting for every unit but I would like to know what excatly EPLRS is and what it does in DCS. The DCS manual only says that EPLRS Set the unit's position datalink on/off. So do I have to activate it for every plane in DCS so that players are able to use their datalink in multiplayer missions ?

Hi guys! Su-27/J-11 cockpit skin that upgrades its Data Link and turns it into a much more informative device. It brings situational awareness to a whole new level. You are able to instantly know range to all contacts that are shown on the screen. You can tell what is the speed and altitude are for each of the contact with minor error margins. I released it few momths ago and it seems first few hundreds of huge Flanker gang liked it so i decided to create a thread for it so more of you guys would know about it and benefit from this improvrment. Cockpit itself is a dark edit of Devrim`s english cockpit. Link to skin: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/files/3313790/ There is a youtube video at the download page about this and other Flanker upgrade and it shows howthey work and how to use them. Here`s how it looks: Here`s the front dash picture with this DL: And wider view:

Hi everyone, I don't know if this is intended behaviour but with D/L turned off you can turn on DataLink son SA by turning on TACAN. I think this is not correct. If I am wrong I am happy to be corrected. I don't have the TRK so far but have this on a vanilla mission: I'll add the track later on. Thank you.

hi I've followed tutorials on Youtube however Datalink doesn't work I don't know where i set it wrong Please explain to me how I should properly set it thanks in advance

Hi, I have been experiencing the following behavior regularly in online Liberation missions. I don't want to opn a report, as I am not sure if this would be a bug happening to other people as well, or related to our setup. The issue is that our datalink contacts come and go at intervals. All of them. I have thought several possible sources, but ruled them out: AWACS turning cold and losing contacts: to my understanding this would be nonsense, with the big rotating antenna of the AWACS, should not matter if he is hot or cold on the contacts, right? Contacts are on the beam, and are lost to either the AWACS or the contributor fighters. I see some heavy issues with this, as: I don't think we should always, 100%, lose all contacts that are turning, regardles of their relative altitude, size, speed, RCS... We even lose contact with tankers when they slowly enter a turn. And it is not only on fighter radars, also for AWACS (!). This would, anyway, be a radar problem We are not losing only the beaming contacts. Also datalink contacts that are hot are lost. And they are, suspiciously lost all at the same time. So we go from having 3 bandit groups (some hot, some cold, some entering beaming aspect) to suddenly, at the same time, having none. It is as if somebody swiched off the datalink completely It feels like we are having 1minute of MIDS followed by 1 minute of no MIDS (not measured, I don't even know if it is that regular, as same duration.... just the feeling) While this is adding tension to our BVR engagements, it is indeed very annoying. It also leads to a lot of broken radio calls, as the contact disappears from our SA page while we were reading the B/E position to coordinate. I would like to hear opinions on this issue. If it happens to more people, and it is considered a bug, but not yet reported (I did not find it, but might have been a bad search-fu on my side) I could try to create a track. Our online tracks are very large, and sometimes this starts happening mid mission, as we take off from a long distance. I would need to research if this also happens offline. BR raus

Can someone with more knowledge share some insight in how the DL is implemented in the mudhen? As I understand it should be included in the suite 4 SE we're getting. I'm just wondering what sort of functionality it has in comparison to the hornet and viper? Is it the same, better, worse, different ect. ?

This statement by Wags no longer works in DCS. Track attached. The filtered channels work with no problems at all, and even achieve huge ranges. mids terminal bug.trk

Hi all. First time I open my DCS after Dec 19th's patch and my datalink is not working at all, in different missions, some of them I played a million times with datalink always working perfectly. I checked the changelog to see if there are changes in the datalink or something, but I couldn't fin anything about it. Is anyone else having this problem?

Currently we have to use the mouse to switch from field to field when we setup Unit IDs and Call Signs in the tab "DATALINKS". Adding the functionality to switch to the next/previous textfield using [TAB] respectively [Shift]+[Tab] (as usual in similar tabs of the ME, like in the tab "RADIO SETTINGS") would be a great improvement. EDIT: This topic may better fit into the forum https://forum.dcs.world/forum/815-mission-editor-bugs/

I found out and then tested that the contacts via the Link-16 datalink are only transmitted to distance about 125 NM. But the PPLI of its own units is transmitted over a correct maximum distance 325 NM. The SA page in F/A-18 is designed to display contacts at distances greater than 125 NM. Next, if the participant transmits PPLI is able to send other data, ie. contacts. Tested with AWACS E-3 Sentry. I note that the distance that AWACS is able to send via the Link-16 has been tested and not its detection capability. The monitored aircraft flew about 2-3 NM from AWACS and in the mission I set the fog of war, AWACS all the time saw the target but sent its position about the distance of 125 NM from the Link-16 terminal. I noticed this phenomenon in missions and therefore I decided to test it.