Nevada Instant Action: Aerial Refueling Mission issue

[irfanahmed1979]

Can't contact the tanker. It's radio option is darkened out. Sorry, new to the Tomcat so don't know much about the radios. Any help would be appreciated.

[SpikeGondorff]

If you selected F-14B mission, you need to manually tune to 225.000.  It looks like neither the pilot nor the RIO have that as a preset frequency.

If you select the AAR mission with the F-14A, then the pilot's radio is tuned to 225.000 on channel 1 at mission start.

Since you're saying the option is greyed out, I'm assuming you're using Easy Communications, which apparently is not enabled for this mission.  If you want to learn the non-easy way to communicate, page 294 in the manual will give you a run down on the pilot's radio.  You'll need to map the Mic Button UHF1 (ARC-159) to something on your HOTAS, or use the default keybind of "Right Alt + \" to open up the Communications Menu with the pilot's radio once it's on the correct frequency.

The other option is to go into your Settings where Easy Communications is set (under Gameplay), and enable the "Force options for all missions and campaigns" checkbox.  That might not be the exact name, but it's something similar.  I've never used it, but that should force all your settings onto the AAR mission and enable Easy Communications.

[irfanahmed1979]

Thank you! I unchecked 'easy communication' and now I can send the message to the tanker. I didn't get a response from him when I sent the "Intent to Refuel". Do I have to wait for a few minutes or be in a certain position?

[SpikeGondorff]

45 minutes ago, irfanahmed1979 said:

Thank you! I unchecked 'easy communication' and now I can send the message to the tanker. I didn't get a response from him when I sent the "Intent to Refuel". Do I have to wait for a few minutes or be in a certain position?

No, the tanker will respond within 5 seconds or so with his altitude and speed.  Are you tuned to the correct radio frequency?  It should be 225.000.  If you selected the F-14A refueling mission, then it's channel 1 on the pilot's radio.  If you selected the F-14B mission, you'll have to manually tune it. 

With Easy Communications turned off, you will need to be on the correct frequency and on the correct radio before using the Communications menu.  What frequency are you using?

[irfanahmed1979]

I think this time it's the F-14B. The tanker did not reply.

Edited February 19, 2022 by irfanahmed1979

[Dragon1-1]

Make sure you use the pilot's radio and not the ICS. The latter is for talking with RIO and the ground crew.

[irfanahmed1979]

4 hours ago, Dragon1-1 said:

Make sure you use the pilot's radio and not the ICS. The latter is for talking with RIO and the ground crew.

Does RShift + \ turn on the mic for the radio or is there another switch? I mean how to make sure that I'm talking on the radio and not with the RIO?

[SpikeGondorff]

Check my first response for the keybind. I'd also check your keybind list to be sure it's mapped to the same thing as mine. 

Sorry, I'm on my phone or I'd give a more in depth reply. 

[draconus]

10 hours ago, irfanahmed1979 said:

how to make sure that I'm talking on the radio and not with the RIO?

At the top of the comms menu it will be:

ICS - intercom

UHF AN/ARC-159 - pilot radio

VHF/UHF AN/ARC-182 - RIO radio

There are three different PTT (mic button) - comm menu - one for each radio in the controls.

Edited February 20, 2022 by draconus

[Dragon1-1]

Actually, there are four PTTs. The fourth transmits on both pilot and RIO radios.

[draconus]

1 hour ago, Dragon1-1 said:

Actually, there are four PTTs. The fourth transmits on both pilot and RIO radios.

Yep, but not in DCS.

btw: Both A and B version of this mission sets Channel 1 to 225.000 on pilot radio. No need to fiddle with manual setting. At least in current beta.

Edited February 20, 2022 by draconus

[irfanahmed1979]

Thanks guys. Finally got it working. RShift +\ is the default key bind for both radios while  RAlt + \ and RCtrl + \ are for the individual radios. Don't remember which ones but I've mapped the RAlt + \ to a button on my stick.

Now the laborious task of practicing Air-to-Air refueling