A/A TACAN Yardstick in MP Revisited.

[Habu_69]

I have read and watched everything I can find on the yardstick method and remain confused. Say, in MP, Lead sets his TACAN to 3Y, T/R, A/A. Apparently Lead TACAN automatically broadcasts at 3 + 63 = 66Y. If I, as wing, set my TACAN to 66Y, T/R, A/A, however, I get no range data. I must set TACAN to Lead's ch, 3Y, to receive range data. This procedure conflicts with the material I have found that indicates Wing should set his TACAN to 66Y in this example, which also results, I guess in Wing broadcasting TACAN at 66 + 63 = CH 129. Can someone explain?

[Chain_1]

You are correct in that the a/a channels should be 63 apart, e.g. lead sets 29Y and two sets 92Y with both in a/a t/r mode.  You should at least get distance with this set up, but it depends on the aircraft if you get bearing.  I think there's an ongoing issue with a/a tacan across all airframes, because I couldn't get it to work this weekend in the A-10.

[Jenson]

Ownship tacan setting is via DDI screen: HSI - Data - TCN - UFC, not via the UFC TCN button.

if your lead tacan is set at 3Y, yours is set at 66Y. 

You should search for 3Y, and your lead search for 66Y. 

[BarTzi]

8 hours ago, Jenson said:

Ownship tacan setting is via DDI screen: HSI - Data - TCN - UFC, not via the UFC TCN button.

if your lead tacan is set at 3Y, yours is set at 66Y. 

You should search for 3Y, and your lead search for 66Y. 

UFC works as well.

Edited July 27, 2022 by BarTzi

[Habu_69]

9 hours ago, Jenson said:

Ownship tacan setting is via DDI screen: HSI - Data - TCN - UFC, not via the UFC TCN button.

if your lead tacan is set at 3Y, yours is set at 66Y. 

You should search for 3Y, and your lead search for 66Y. 

Tx. Now, this is the information I was seeking.

[Foka]

11 hours ago, Jenson said:

Ownship tacan setting is via DDI screen: HSI - Data - TCN - UFC, not via the UFC TCN button.

No! No! No!
These ones are  ground TACANs saved in plane's memory to correct INS drift. Do not mess with these if you're not very sure what you're doing!

[Habu_69]

22 hours ago, Foka said:

No! No! No!
These ones are  ground TACANs saved in plane's memory to correct INS drift. Do not mess with these if you're not very sure what you're doing!

Great! Now I am really confused.

[BarTzi]

1 hour ago, Habu_69 said:

Great! Now I am really confused.

Simply ignore Jenson. His comment is 100% wrong.

[AlexCaboose]

On 7/20/2022 at 10:41 AM, Habu_69 said:

I have read and watched everything I can find on the yardstick method and remain confused. Say, in MP, Lead sets his TACAN to 3Y, T/R, A/A. Apparently Lead TACAN automatically broadcasts at 3 + 63 = 66Y. If I, as wing, set my TACAN to 66Y, T/R, A/A, however, I get no range data. I must set TACAN to Lead's ch, 3Y, to receive range data. This procedure conflicts with the material I have found that indicates Wing should set his TACAN to 66Y in this example, which also results, I guess in Wing broadcasting TACAN at 66 + 63 = CH 129. Can someone explain?

Say we use the numbers in your example. 3/66Y. -1 should set his TACAN to 3Y AA/TR. -2 sets his TACAN to 66Y AA/TR. Assuming your TACAN is on, INS is aligned, etc. you should now have a range (but not bearing) to your -1. Sometimes, TACANs in DCS can go sour. In instances like this, it is best practice for the whole flight to push inverse band together, and then back to primary band. So for example, everyone would push 3/66X, and once set, push 3/66Y again. 

[Frederf]

DCS models a huge range of TACAN channels as unusable "because it conflicts with the datalink" in the F/A-18.

[Jenson]

On 7/27/2022 at 10:46 PM, Foka said:

No! No! No!
These ones are  ground TACANs saved in plane's memory to correct INS drift. Do not mess with these if you're not very sure what you're doing!

My apology if this is misleading. Because this setting works well when I set it up with my human wingman in MP. But in case this is wrong, please ignore my post, deepest sorry from me, my mistake.