Show HMCS instead of HUD?

[Motomouse]

Is it possible to show the HMCS while looking straight ahead?

 

What are the steps to achieve this if possible?

 

(Just putting the HUD on standby does not work.)

 

Thanks in advance.

[Kippy]

Theoretically yes. You can put the HUD in standby or lower the brightness and then head to the HMCS menu in the STAT page. Change whatever symbology you want from "OCLD" to "ON," and it will all show regardless of head position.

Note that some items such as the horizon line don't have this capability.

Edited September 30, 2020 by Kippy

[Motomouse]

Thank you!

[CrypticVillain]

Theoretically yes. You can put the HUD in standby or lower the brightness and then head to the HMCS menu in the STAT page. Change whatever symbology you want from "OCLD" to "ON," and it will all show regardless of head position.

Note that some items such as the horizon line don't have this capability.

 

This did not work for me. I set multiple things to ON. Including SPI, Steerpoint and FM and whenever any of them were in my hud the HCMS would switch off. What am I doing wrong?

[Ziptie]

This did not work for me. I set multiple things to ON. Including SPI, Steerpoint and FM and whenever any of them were in my hud the HCMS would switch off. What am I doing wrong?

 

Technically it shouldn't - as the HMCS is designed to "BLANK" when in the same space as the HUD.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ziptie

[Kippy]

Technically it shouldn't - as the HMCS is designed to "BLANK" when in the same space as the HUD.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ziptie

No.

 

Most symbology in the HMCS can exist in three states - "ON, OFF, or OCLD (OCLD

means symbol is on and occludable). (Note: The

HORIZON LINE is an exception and can be set to OFF, NORM, and GHST)"

 

When a symbology item is set to OCLD, or "occludable," it is no longer displayed when facing forward. This is of course to prevent being shown the same data by both the HUD and helmet.

 

This did not work for me. I set multiple things to ON. Including SPI, Steerpoint and FM and whenever any of them were in my hud the HCMS would switch off. What am I doing wrong?

 

If your HMCS is enabled and your profile is set correctly then it is tough to say - but here's what my money is on.

 

The HMCS is displayed to the pilot by means of a what is essentially a monocle. This monocle has limited scope in your vision and is only displayed in one eye. ED has gone to the length of quasi-simulating this, by giving the monocle a limited screen area. Please see my attached drawing and excuse the fact that it is a bit crude, where I have roughly circled the monocle area. You can faintly see the edges of the monocle - most notably if you look at the left side of the radar warning receiver.

 

 

In this HMCS demo flight I have set myself up facing steerpoint 1, and set the steerpoint marker and crosshair for the HMCS to ON. In the default view position, I see this.

 

 

I do not see the steerpoint ahead of me rendered in the HMCS. This is because steerpoint is actually ABOVE the edge of the monocle. If I tilt my chin up, just a little ways:

 

 

Voila.

 

Play around with it some more, and report back if you can't make it work.

[Rainmaker]

Occlusion and blanking are two different things...which I think is being misinterpreted here.

[Kippy]

Occlusion and blanking are two different things...which I think is being misinterpreted here.

I'm not sure what "blanking" is. There is a lot of HMCS functionality we don't have in DCS, including the capability to set occlusion zones, even though our control page has the OSB function there. As far as I understand, the forward area of the cockpit is programmed as the "default" occlusion zone. In the documentation I've read, I've never heard of the term "blanking."
Edited October 1, 2020 by Kippy

[Rainmaker]

I'm not sure what "blanking" is. There is a lot of HMCS functionality we don't have in DCS, including the capability to set occlusion zones, even though our control page has the OSB function there. As far as I understand, the forward area of the cockpit is programmed as the "default" occlusion zone. In the documentation I've read, I've never heard of the term "blanking."

 

Blanking is using head limits to ‘blank’ the HMD when it sees head position focused within the cockpit. The ‘occlusion’ you are talking about has to do with symbology priorities, which tells the system what to draw and what not to draw when symbols overlap. In this case, blanking is what has the effect of removing or displaying HMD symbols, not occlusion.

[Ziptie]

Blanking is using head limits to ‘blank’ the HMD when it sees head position focused within the cockpit. The ‘occlusion’ you are talking about has to do with symbology priorities, which tells the system what to draw and what not to draw when symbols overlap. In this case, blanking is what has the effect of removing or displaying HMD symbols, not occlusion.

 

^^ :thumbup: ^^

 

 

Cheers,

 

Ziptie

[Snoopy]

The occlusion zone is a defined area within the display of the helmet that only allows certain symbology to display. Items like the flight instruments, engine gauges and , HUD are normally included in the zone to ensure unhindered visibility.

 

In the real A-10C you can preview the occlusion zone and set it to various default zones or create custom ones. We don’t have this option in the A-10C II. The various settings are:

 

• None: no occlusion zone, the same as setting all symbols to ON.
  
• HUD – the occlusion zone just around the HUD.
  
• INSTRMTS – the occlusion zone around the instrument panel
  
• BOTH – the occlusion zone around both the HUD display and instrument panels (what we have in the A-10C II)
  
• CUSTOM – pilot defined occlusion zone.