F16 Ground Radar (GM) - How to build a clear picture

[AngryViper.101]

Hi

Please may someone post an update video, or steps to follow to help me generate a good ground radar (GM) picture?

I can clearly see ground vehicles via TGP, from say 10 nm away and 25,000 feet up but even when I fly slightly to the left of the target area the ground map image is not clear. I also use EXP and DBS1 and 2 modes after selecting range of 10nm and closing the A from A6 to A3 and A1 , but I cannot identify the ground vehicles like tanks and anti-air defenses.

Any advice / tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

[LieutenantFalcon]

One thing: don't expect too much from the A-G radar. The pilots don't like it and don't use it much, it's a tiny radar. The most you'll get out of it is slaving it to landmarks and infrastructure, not individual ground units.

The DBS modes are reliant on you going off-angle. The further off angle you are, generally the better the image will become. Still, even then at short range with the highest manual zoom you can get (range scale on the top-left the lowest) you will still struggle to identify individual vehicle-sized units. It's best in this case to use the TGP in conjunction with the HMD

[=617= Evil]

3 hours ago, warford said:

Hi

Please may someone post an update video, or steps to follow to help me generate a good ground radar (GM) picture?

I can clearly see ground vehicles via TGP, from say 10 nm away and 25,000 feet up but even when I fly slightly to the left of the target area the ground map image is not clear. I also use EXP and DBS1 and 2 modes after selecting range of 10nm and closing the A from A6 to A3 and A1 , but I cannot identify the ground vehicles like tanks and anti-air defenses.

Any advice / tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

GMT is by far the most useful mode in the AGR in the Viper for me. You can spot moving ground units from huge distances, and you can just turn down the map definition so they're easier to pick out. Very handy. Obviously doesn't help with buildings or stationary targets, but still a great tool to have in the toolbox. Especially when you're hunting for mobile SAMs. 

[diegoepoimaria01]

On 1/10/2023 at 4:29 PM, LieutenantFalcon said:

One thing: don't expect too much from the A-G radar. The pilots don't like it and don't use it much, it's a tiny radar. The most you'll get out of it is slaving it to landmarks and infrastructure, not individual ground units.

The DBS modes are reliant on you going off-angle. The further off angle you are, generally the better the image will become. Still, even then at short range with the highest manual zoom you can get (range scale on the top-left the lowest) you will still struggle to identify individual vehicle-sized units. It's best in this case to use the TGP in conjunction with the HMD

Thanks, the mention of the off-angle gave me some clue .

I was having the same doubts and I'll try to do some tests about it.

 

If I have understood correctly, before ( like 1 year ago ) the radar simply displayed a black zone, while now it loses in performance / definition , correct ?

Also, does the vertical angle counts too? I always thought that the only angle was the horizontal one ( left / right ), I did not thought that the up/down was involved ... but if you are near, there should be a doppler shift too ( or an angular variation ) great enought for the radar to gain better picture, am I right ?

 

 

[LieutenantFalcon]

1 hour ago, diegoepoimaria01 said:

If I have understood correctly, before ( like 1 year ago ) the radar simply displayed a black zone, while now it loses in performance / definition , correct ?

Almost. It used to show black, but nowadays it just shows the non-DBS map in place of it. 

I haven't heard anything about vertical shift so I can't speak for that. That might be something to experiment with, but I don't think it's going to give you the same gains as horizontal shift