Why Jester can't lock to any AA target?

[ebabil]

I usually play at 4ya servers against AI.

When I select f-14 with AA missiles, he almost can't lock anything. I either have to use TWS auto or pilot locking within shorter range. And usually i get hit. The only benefit of Jester for me is him saying "we have been hit"

Aren't the other planes' pilots and rio's are AI? how can they lock me from 50nm and my Jester does "no can do boss" all the time? 

Is this what we always will have or are there any plans to balance it? 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by ebabil

[Panny]

Not going to lie, I have no issues with Jester locking; this feels more symptomatic of you not being fully familiar with TID symbology, managing Jester, and AWG-9 capabilities. For starters, differentiating radar contacts and datalinks contacts is a good start.

Cheers!

[ebabil]

I am not a pro but more or less I know these things. At least he can lock a target which is coming head on at same altitude. But he keeps saying "no can do boss"

[near_blind]

This isn't enough information to diagnose the problem. What radar mode were you in? How were you asking jester to lock the target? STT ahead? STT Friendly? Hostile? STT specific contact? STT TWS Contact #?

[Callsign JoNay]

It's probably user error. I have no problems with Jester locking things if they are within the AWG-9 scan volume.

Make sure you can see the top half of the HAFU on the TID. That is what the AWG actually sees. The bottom half of the HAFU is only link-4. Jester is not smart enough to adjust antenna elevation or deal with notching targets to turn bottom half HAFUs into full HAFUs.

Edited February 6, 2022 by Callsign JoNay

[eatthis]

hafu? is that the tid symbology?

 

[near_blind]

5 hours ago, eatthis said:

hafu? is that the tid symbology?

 

 

It's what the TID symbols are telling you. 

[DoorMouse]

1. Make sure you have a RADAR TRACK already for the target you want to lock... Not a DATALINK TRACK.
2. Make sure the target is Doppler Hot, probably over 800-900 knots closure. Otherwise he is flanking and in/out of your filters
3. Don't use "lock enemy/lock target" unless it is in front of you and has an active radar track. Usually this doesn't work anyway unless it's a perfect target profile.
4. DO use the "lock specific target" and use the yellow radar tracks not the blue datalink tracks

The issue is jester doesn't say, "can't lock him, he's behind terrain" or "<profanity> he's in the notch". So you have to be aware of why he can't lock him, and I've rarely had an issue where I didn't understand why he can't pick up a lock. 

[DoorMouse]

3 hours ago, near_blind said:

 

 

It's what the TID symbols are telling you. 

@IronMike The Angle Tracking is not implemented yet, correct?  I was just listening to the Tomcast about this.

[eatthis]

3 hours ago, near_blind said:

 

 

It's what the TID symbols are telling you. 

what is the a 1?

2 hours ago, DoorMouse said:

1. Make sure you have a RADAR TRACK already for the target you want to lock... Not a DATALINK TRACK.
2. Make sure the target is Doppler Hot, probably over 800-900 knots closure. Otherwise he is flanking and in/out of your filters
3. Don't use "lock enemy/lock target" unless it is in front of you and has an active radar track. Usually this doesn't work anyway unless it's a perfect target profile.
4. DO use the "lock specific target" and use the yellow radar tracks not the blue datalink tracks

The issue is jester doesn't say, "can't lock him, he's behind terrain" or "<profanity> he's in the notch". So you have to be aware of why he can't lock him, and I've rarely had an issue where I didn't understand why he can't pick up a lock. 

2, i thought the dopplar filters were waaaaay less than 800 knots, thought it was more like 100 knots???
3 ahhhh on the rare occasions i go for stt i use enemy and it usually fails, that might be why
4 with lock specific target can you choose it from the tws priority number?

 

[DoorMouse]

19 minutes ago, eatthis said:

what is the a 1?

2, i thought the dopplar filters were waaaaay less than 800 knots, thought it was more like 100 knots???
3 ahhhh on the rare occasions i go for stt i use enemy and it usually fails, that might be why
4 with lock specific target can you choose it from the tws priority number?

 

The doppler filter is ~140 knots closure, this is maybe an exaggeration, and part because I don't think Jester properly manipulates the beam/hot/cold filters properly?  Maybe he does i dunno... but if someone is beaming you they are probably actively defending and likely to lose lock quickly. 

 

And yeah, if you try to go STT and your closest target is a Datalink target, they could be behind a mountain for you but visible to the E3. So Jester cant lock him. He just does a poor job of telling you why.   I THINK you can use a separate menu for Lock TWS track.... actually haven't tried that.  

[near_blind]

1 hour ago, eatthis said:

what is the a 1?

Hostile
Ambiguous
Friendly
Unknown

Ambiguous isn't really a thing in the F-14.

1 hour ago, eatthis said:

2, i thought the dopplar filters were waaaaay less than 800 knots, thought it was more like 100 knots???

The MLC region blindspot +/- 133 knots centered on your own ground speed. The Zero Doppler Filter is +/- 100 knots centered on your own negative groundspeed.

 

 

38 minutes ago, DoorMouse said:

The doppler filter is ~140 knots closure, this is maybe an exaggeration, and part because I don't think Jester properly manipulates the beam/hot/cold filters properly?

Manipulating the doppler filter via the aspect switch won't have any effect on the MLC blindspot, which is always centered around own groundspeed, it merely changes the range of closure rates the radar will consider.

[Nealius]

On 2/7/2022 at 3:51 AM, DoorMouse said:

Make sure the target is Doppler Hot, probably over 800-900 knots closure. Otherwise he is flanking and in/out of your filters

What's the best way to approach flanking targets? I find that Jester won't lock anything up for me because 99% of the time the target is flanking or otherwise not in that "perfect profile" you mentioned. 

[Southernbear]

On 2/6/2022 at 6:38 AM, ebabil said:

I usually play at 4ya servers against AI.

When I select f-14 with AA missiles, he almost can't lock anything. I either have to use TWS auto or pilot locking within shorter range. And usually i get hit. The only benefit of Jester for me is him saying "we have been hit"

Aren't the other planes' pilots and rio's are AI? how can they lock me from 50nm and my Jester does "no can do boss" all the time? 

Is this what we always will have or are there any plans to balance it? 

 

 

Its already been stated above but allow me to streamline it for you.

Your issues with STT locks is due to how Jester funtions.

"Lock enemy target ahead" only works for confirmed hostile targets from about 11 to 1 a clock ahead of your aircraft and they can't be too high or low either so try to point your nose right at them, they MUST be confirmed hostile either by DATALINK or by Jester selecting it in TWS-A and IFFing the target.

"Lock target Ahead" is slightly more reliable as it doesn't require the target to be confirmed hostile....mostly useful for when there is a big furball so that "Lock specific target" is too much of a hassle.

If you must get a STT lock for the AIM-7 in the ranges between 50-10nmi the best choice would be "Lock specific target" and memorize the range to the target you want to lock from your TID. Remember your in the F-14 so you'll have all the info needed to pick targets right there on your TID.