Trying to sort out some comms weirdness

[Laer]

Hi. I've been a bit confused by how the comms are working... not in how to use them (procedure, understanding, etc), but in why things aren't working the way I would expect.

 

 

For example, I've been playing around with navigation and calling into airfields I intend to land on.

 

 

Firstly, many times, it seems I can't dial into navigation beacons. I realize (now) that the Hornet can't use NDB stations, but even when I try VORs, the UFC doesn't seem to accept the frequency (reverts back to the previous one).

 

 

Initially, I thought it might just be a line of sight thing, but even in the air, I get the same issue.

 

 

I have simple comms set. I believe I'm using the UFC properly (Pull the Comm1 knob, set it to manual, clear the scratchpad, type in the frequency (remembering to add the zeros so the decimal place is properly positioned), and hitting enter)... yet it never 'sticks'. I can't imagine it's a distance thing, either. So, I'm not sure what might be the problem.

 

 

Secondly, when I dial in an ATC frequency of some (random, nearby) airfield, and then use Comm1 to bring up the ATC menu, all the airfields in the list are greyed out... or, on some occassions, only one other airfield is available, and not the one I want... despite me being very near the one I want). I would normally think that means the frequency is not dialed in correct, yet I keep doing it over and over, and everything SEEMS to check out... yet it's greyed out. Again, not really clear on what is going on there. (I have simple comms set, BTW... I'm not sure if that's a factor). Supposedly, with simple comms, greyed items mean 'You can't do that right now'... but, I'm not sure what's the restricting factor here, seemingly having the right frequency set, and being very near the airfield.

 

 

Any theories/help? I'm sure I'm just missing some simple factor, but I'm kind of stumped.

[Wolf359]

Are you using VoiceAttack/Viacom Pro? Asking because I am experiencing the same thing. If you are NOT using VA, then the issue is probably localized to the release. At least it would narrow down the search.

[Tippis]

It might not be all that helpful for your actual issues — without a track or trying it in detail it at least sounds like you're doing it right — but just as a general tip: don't use any of the “simple” modes in DCS. They almost universally make things much more difficult and unpredictable.

 

Both simplified radio and the “game” modes just mean that the game will try to “help” you by assuming what it is you're attempting, and then letting you do that irrespective of what should be the outcome of what you're doing. This means that any mistakes you make will not be readily apparent, and the game's assumed interpretation might not be anywhere near close to what you're trying to do, so you end up with completely inconsistent and incoherent behaviours. That's what the greyed-out text is telling you: you're not set up properly for that particular action, but it will let you do it anyway, so you can't really problem solve since the problem is magically gone.

 

Play without radio and flight simplifications and the game will become simpler to handle, paradoxically. You may need to be more precise and accurate, sure, but you will also receive much better feedback that you're not being precise or accurate enough, so you'll start to actually learn how to operate the darned thing.

[Laer]

Thanks for the responses, guys. I'm in Sim mode, but ya, my comms are currently on simplified. Although I've had DCS for a very long time, I only occassionally played it, and that would just be me flying around, and not really doing much with the avionics, etc.

 

 

Recently, I've been trying to learn everything properly (the Hornet is actually suprisingly easier to learn, especially compared to my A-10!). Radios were (up to now) something I thought would be too complicated to do on Sim/Realistic mode... but now, it seems that (despite being on Simplified) I think I'm pretty much doing it the 'real/complex' way anyway. I have to see how the non-simple comms mode differs, and will probably switch to it if what I'm currently doing is pretty much 'real mode'.

 

 

Yes, I just recently got VoiceAttack (very impressed with it). Partially for the cool feeling of interaction... partially to address not having to memorize some of the more obscure keyboard shortcuts or awkward keyboard keyboard presses... and partially because I pretty much ran out of buttons/axis on my X52 Pro. So, on al counts, VA really addressed those.

 

 

There's a few things I have to try... One vid said that pressing the Enter button (UFC) has to be more than just a click for it to properly lock in.

 

 

I also was confused by how the airport frequency info (F10 map, when clicking on an airport) had 4 different numbers. Now, I realize that those are supposedly different frequency bands (ex VHF, UHF, etc)... but, I'm not familiar enough with the ranges to distinguish which band each one is in (...or even knowing if they are ALL useable... certainly don't seem to be).

 

 

I've been reading the Chuck's Hornet guide (...His guides are always excellent), as well as watching various tutorial videos, including the official ones. Just been a bit puzzling/somewhat frustrating, as what they do doesn't seem to work in my sim, for some reason.

 

 

I'm going to play around some more... I've already set the Comms to 'real' for the next time I have a session, as I was wondering if that might be interferring (as you pointed out).

 

 

It may be one or a combination of factors, although I'm not really sure what, as everything seems to check out (ex. line of sight isn't blocked, etc).

 

 

What might also be a factor, is I have been manually starting up the jet in my recent sessions... and I know that, although it's does start up the engine properly, my steps DO lack some of the lesser proceedures... so, maybe some comms related step is missing in my startup... maybe some switch is (by 'cold and dark' status default) in the wrong position.

 

 

Got to tinker some more. If I DO figure something out, I'll post it here, in case others are curious.

[Laer]

UPDATE: I just tried it again with Sim/Real Comms selected, but seem to get the same randomness. I'm fairly sure I'm just not understanding something.

 

 

I'm doing these tests in Quick Mission (Advanced mode). I noticed, for example, that even though I dialed the ATC frequency of an airfield (not the one I took off from), only the one I took off from would be non-grey in the ATC airfield list... and that was only after I called the first (home base) one once (as previous to that, when I tried contacting them the first time, they too were greyed out, even though I had their frequency set).

 

 

Although it doesn't explain all the issues stated here, I am starting to get the feeling that (at least in Quick Mission mode) you can only radio the field you take off from??? Maybe?....

 

 

I don't know. I'm really puzzled by the seemingly random behaviours I'm seeing when trying to dial in either ATC or Nav beacon frequencies, and what determines what is greyed or white in the ATC list (...I would have thought it was the currently dialed in Comm1/2 frequencies, but that doesn't seem to be the case, from what I can see).

 

 

I thought, too that maybe I was leaving something out in the 'from cold and dark' startup... but even if I start the mission on the runway (already fired up), I get the same behaviors.

 

 

 

Again, if I figure anything out, I'll post here, in case anyone else is curious and following along.

[Luc Lav]

Also having the same issues

 

Very puzzling indeed. I try the a2a mission and cannot make contact with the Texaco, the text is greyed out. Please help me.

[Luc Lav]

Greyed out

 

That fixed it! Ticking off the “easy” radio boxed got it done. Thanks.

 

Seems to me one of those you tuber squadrons could post a tutorial on what these ticks do and why they are there. There a lots of vids showing button assignments as well as just about everything else but some of these other issues are the source of plenty of frustration but very little information is available from anywhere.

 

Thanks again.