F-14A/B datalink does not show hostile contacts in MP

[Zhivuchiy]

DCS Openbeta 2.7.8.3.8494

No mods installed.

I have a problem that F-14 A and B datalink does not show hostile contacts in MP. I tested Buddyspike and Growling Sidewinder servers. Result is always the same, only friendly contacts. I took a couple of screenshots from F-14A, JF-17 and F-16 for comparison. There were approximately 22 players in the opposite team.

Before posting to bugs. Has anyone else experienced the same?

Edited July 19, 2021 by Zhivuchiy

[QuiGon]

The Tomcat DL is working fine for me. It does show friendly and hostile contacts when I fly on the Buddyspike BlueFlag servers.

Maybe you're just not close enough to the bandits? I have the impression that the Tomcat DL is more limited in either the amount of displayable contacts or the distance of contacts that can be shown. But that's just a feeling.

Edited July 19, 2021 by QuiGon

[near_blind]

Link 4 is has a limit of how many DL contacts are displayed, but hostile link contacts should take precedence over friendly or ambiguous contacts.

 

Also bare in mind that Link 16 used by the bug and dart are peer to peer networks, and detected contacts will propagate further between aircraft on the net. Each aircraft is broadcasting what it sees and rebroadcasting what it has received through the link.

 

Link 4A used by the F-14 when talking to an awacs or a ship is a provider client type network. All info is coming from a single provider.  You are limited by the provider’s ability to detect the contact and the range the provider can push that info out to clients. 

[Kula66]

No issues on GS or in 6v6 friendlies recently here - bandits showing up fine.

[draconus]

http://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/general.html#link-4-in-dcs

8 targets limit in Link 4A (no control over what is shared) and 4 for Link 4C (RIO controlled).

[The_Tau]

If there is any issue with datalinks in F14 its with ships, CV or cruisers. Very often it like "disconnects" from ship datalink, making all datalink contacts appear or disappear every few seconds, which is very annoying. And no, Its not due to lack of line of sight, disconnecting still appears when you are 20-30k feet 20 nm from boat or even when you are on the boat...

Edited July 19, 2021 by The_Tau

[captain_dalan]

Weird, i didn't fly this weekend, but i did last one, on Growling Sidewinder and Through the Inferno, and Dl worked just fine

[Zhivuchiy]

5 часов назад, draconus сказал:

http://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/general.html#link-4-in-dcs

8 targets limit in Link 4A (no control over what is shared) and 4 for Link 4C (RIO controlled).

Thank you. This partly explains my situation.

From your link:

When set to TAC the data link will then receive the 8 target tracks with the highest priority from the TDS controller. 

 

Based on this. Should not I see 8 closest hot hostiles of 22 (the total number of enemies) and not 8 friendlies?

39 минут назад, captain_dalan сказал:

Weird, i didn't fly this weekend, but i did last one, on Growling Sidewinder and Through the Inferno, and Dl worked just fine

Yeah, it worked for me as well. I assume it was less crowded environment. I will try again, maybe I should fly more in a straight line and not in circles. 

[Karon]

It looks like your LINK4 is saturated, it happens quite often in crowded servers or missions. I mean, it's not a big loss anyway, as your radar is the primary source of information, but it is not ideal. The real issue is the logic behind what is displayed that is awful and, as most of the data coming from the AI, it lacks proactivity.

If you have a wingman, switch between LINK4A for general SA and LINK4C for section coordination and attack. Again, DL is handy, but hardy a necessity: remember that you have a guy behind you, and his primary task is controlling the F-14's stupidly powerful radar

[Zhivuchiy]

54 минуты назад, Karon сказал:

The real issue is the logic behind what is displayed that is awful and, as most of the data coming from the AI, it lacks proactivity.

Yeah, saturation is a part of a problem and the logic behind what is displayed is the other part. I got it now.

Thank you everyone, who replied!

Edited July 19, 2021 by Zhivuchiy

[MBot]

Also keep in mind that there is the issue that the Tomcat is not receiving datalink targets from AWACS that are further away than 150 NM from AWACS, even though AWACS can track targets much further away (and reports them on the radio).

 

 

[QuiGon]

On 7/19/2021 at 7:33 PM, MBot said:

Also keep in mind that there is the issue that the Tomcat is not receiving datalink targets from AWACS that are further away than 150 NM from AWACS, even though AWACS can track targets much further away (and reports them on the radio).

 

Oh, so this is an actual issue. I totally forgot about it, but it's my experience as well, which I mentioned above:

 

On 7/19/2021 at 8:50 AM, QuiGon said:

The Tomcat DL is working fine for me. It does show friendly and hostile contacts when I fly on the Buddyspike BlueFlag servers.

Maybe you're just not close enough to the bandits? I have the impression that the Tomcat DL is more limited in either the amount of displayable contacts or the distance of contacts that can be shown. But that's just a feeling.

 

 

[MBot]

3 hours ago, QuiGon said:

Maybe you're just not close enough to the bandits? I have the impression that the Tomcat DL is more limited in either the amount of displayable contacts or the distance of contacts that can be shown. But that's just a feeling.

 

Though the issue is neither about your distance to the bandit, nor your distance to AWACS (=the DL connection), it is about AWACS' distance to the bandit.

Edited July 21, 2021 by MBot