cannot reproduce Targeting Pod not pointing at steerpoint

[Kingfish_]

Hi,

Occasionally on missions I think I'm pressing a button or doing something to inadvertently mess up the targeting pod so it no longer points at my selected steerpoint — the problem is I don't know what I'm doing, or what procedures I then need to do to reset/make it work correctly. I've tried switching bombing modes, pressing uncage button, hitting various buttons — nothing seems to work.

What's a good checklist of button presses/procedures to effectively reset the TGP and get it fixed pointing at next steerpoint?

Thanks

[razo+r]

Press Cursor Zero (CZ)

[Lace]

It's not often that you find randomly mashing buttons will fix the issue. 

Try TMS Aft, or CZ on the MFD.  If that doesn't work the manual has a good section on the TGP, and Chuck's guides are written in a very accessible manner.  If you prefer videos Wags has a playlist of Viper training videos which demonstrates the use of the TGP.

 

[Kingfish_]

Thanks guys, will try those things if/when it happens again. (I've watched almost every vid I can find, and flipped through the manuals prior to asking here).

[jurinko]

Check also if your DCS 4-way switch is in Return position after messing with UFC/DED. 

[LoftinAmraam]

I’m on stable 2.7.7 I’ve noticed my waypoints are almost always off now as in when I hit cz it shoots off to the horizon I keep thinking I’m somehow placing the waypoints above the ground but before I just clicked by the bad guys and it put it on the ground for me idk if this is what you are having but I have to ignore my waypoints as they are never where I placed them in mission editor but I’m still learning the 16 

[Tholozor]

By default, waypoints in the Mission Editor are set to 2000m. Check your steerpoint elevation on the DED.

Edited November 30, 2021 by Tholozor

[Hempstead]

23 hours ago, Tholozor said:

By default, waypoints in the Mission Editor are set to 2000m. Check your steerpoint elevation on the DED.

 

Yep. That messed me up for a few days. The symptom is that no matter which direction you approach the steer point, on HUD, the target box always seems to be farther than where it “should” be. The “Z” height shows up.
 

Unfortunately, in mission editor you cannot set a steer point to be lower than 98 feet agl. That, I consider a tolerable bug, b/c 98 feet agl is close enough to not mess up your perception from afar, particularly when you are 20,000 feet doing a level bombing run. But if you do a Stuka style dive bombing, you can tell the 98 feet difference.

[Tholozor]

Set the elevation in the editor to MSL instead of AGL, input 0 or any value lower than the actual MSL elevation, and the elevation will snap to the correct value. If it doesn't, adjust the waypoint position slightly, input 0, and it should work.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Tholozor

[Lace]

13 hours ago, Tholozor said:

Set the elevation in the editor to MSL instead of AGL, input 0 or any value lower than the actual MSL elevation, and the elevation will snap to the correct value. If it doesn't, adjust the waypoint position slightly, input 0, and it should work.

 

However, it is worth noting that this is not how it works on the STPT page of the DED.  If you set elevation to 0ft then the TGP will (in 99% of cases) be tracking a point below the surface, and seem to be skimming over the ground (the effect is more pronounced in places like NTTR where ground level is well above sea level), whereas it is actually stabilised on MSL, rather than the ground elevation at that point.

[Tholozor]

5 minutes ago, Lace said:

However, it is worth noting that this is not how it works on the STPT page of the DED.  If you set elevation to 0ft then the TGP will (in 99% of cases) be tracking a point below the surface, and seem to be skimming over the ground (the effect is more pronounced in places like NTTR where ground level is well above sea level), whereas it is actually stabilised on MSL, rather than the ground elevation at that point.

Correct, hence why I specified "in the editor."

[Lace]

35 minutes ago, Tholozor said:

Correct, hence why I specified "in the editor."

Yes, I wasn't trying to contradict you, I can read.  I was just pointing out that if you incorrectly set the elevation in the editor, it is not as simple as changing the elevation to zero in the STPT page.

The explanation clearly wasn't for your benefit, it was for the OP or anyone else who is struggling with the operation of the TGP.

[Hempstead]

Well, every time I put in 0 agl in the mission editor, it always jumps back to 98 feet after I step off the input field. 

[Frederf]

11 hours ago, Lace said:

However, it is worth noting that this is not how it works on the STPT page of the DED.  If you set elevation to 0ft then the TGP will (in 99% of cases) be tracking a point below the surface, and seem to be skimming over the ground (the effect is more pronounced in places like NTTR where ground level is well above sea level), whereas it is actually stabilised on MSL, rather than the ground elevation at that point.

Setting 0 ASL (or any below surface value) in the editor causes the surface elevation to populate the altitude field of the point instead which is then applied directly to the airplane on initialization.

[Tholozor]

4 hours ago, Hempstead said:

Well, every time I put in 0 agl in the mission editor, it always jumps back to 98 feet after I step off the input field. 

Switch from AGL to MSL.

[Hempstead]

33 minutes ago, Tholozor said:

Switch from AGL to MSL.

So, you agree in mission editor setting steer point using agl is buggy? Why else would I need to avoid using agl and switch to msl instead?

[Frederf]

AGL has a minimum value that is above the surface. MSL's minimum value is at the surface. They are different behaviors but I doubt it's a bug. The MSL floor used to be the same as the AGL floor many patches ago but it changed. Probably this happened because the waypoints of sophisticated airplanes were taking their vertical position from the waypoint Y values and this was a big annoyance when trying to attack said points.

I don't see why the AGL floor value isn't 0 as well. I suppose it's to prevent setting very low AGL flight plans and opening bug reports when the AI wouldn't fly that low properly.