Getting a radar lock in guns mode?

[Voyager]

Getting into dog fighting and ACM, and I'm having trouble getting a radar lock on the bogey when I've gotten them in my sights, so I think I'm doing something wrong, but not sure what. These are in air start. Steps are to flip the ACM switch, flip the arming switch to armed, confirm with Jester that radar is active, weapons to guns, then pressing the PAL key.

 

If I look at the repeater I'll see the radar trace go to a line when I'm pressing the PAL button, but I don't seem to see any response on the HUD indicating that it locks on the target like it moving the diamond onto the target or such.

 

What should I be seeing, or how should I be getting an ACM radar lock? So far I'm doing ok with the gyro sight, but want to be able to at least get a good radar lock before I start with short range missiles.

 

Thank you,

 

Harry Voyager

[Manhorne]

You have to have the target aircraft near the ADL symbol on the HUD when you press the PLM button to get a lock I find in Gun mode . I sometimes have the HUD in Aim-9 mode and put the radar in VSL Lo mode to get a lock then just switch to gun mode ....

[Voyager]

How far off of the ADL can it be? We looking at 5 degrees, 20 or more like 2?

 

I'll have to try the Sparrow +.VLS Low mode to see how that works too.

[Devil_Lettuce]

When the ACM cover is open doesn't that put the system in Boresight and not STT?

[draconus]

There's no moving diamond in gun mode but the pilot radar modes are still working.

 

 

http://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/general.html#pilot-lockon-mode-plm

[r4y30n]

Yup, the gun sight symbology takes precedence over the radar scan symbology. As mentioned above, you can switch weapons to anything else if you're not actively shooting and want the visual feedback.

 

Regarding OP questions, with a single press PAL will start scanning and keep scanning until you tell the radar to do something different. Same goes for VSL HI and LO, the radar will use the chosen search mode until overridden. It may take a couple sweeps to lock a target but once it does you'll see the diamond on target, even with gun selected.

 

PLM, on the other hand, only works while holding the button but overrides any other mode. Put the target under the ADL and hold PLM until lock.

 

PAL has the longest range of all pilot modes (15 nm vs 5 nm for the others).

[Voyager]

Thank you. I checked my key bindings and tried the radar modes you all pointed me to and was able to get good locks in the dog fight mission. Slowly figuring out how all these new dangled gadgets work :D. I'm going to have to change my call sign to Luddite or something like that, aren't I? (Though about Old Fogey, but that sounds a little to close to "bogey" to be a good calsign).

 

Did find a different issue; apparently the replays are different from the flight, as in I distinctly remember shooting the Flank we down, but when I watch the replay, he shoots me down instead. Thinking there might be a bug. I'm going to try the dog fight in an F-15 and see if I see the same sort of problem. I'm not sure if it is a replay bug, or a bug in the way the replays handle the F-14B,or a big in the way replays handle the Su-27.

[Manhorne]

The replay tracks are all messed up. If you save them and then replay the same one a few times you sometimes get it to play the track back correct.