skypickle Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 What does that dial just to the the left of the throttle do? Cant find it in the manual or chuck's 4930K @ 4.5, 32g ram, TitanPascal
jaylw314 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) 18 minutes ago, skypickle said: What does that dial just to the the left of the throttle do? Cant find it in the manual or chuck's What, do you mean this dial from page 148 of the manual? Edited January 13, 2023 by jaylw314 1
skypickle Posted January 13, 2023 Author Posted January 13, 2023 yes but i dont know how to use it. It talks about IFF and I just set mode 3A digits to squawk. What are all the selections for? 4930K @ 4.5, 32g ram, TitanPascal
jaylw314 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Note the last line in the description from page 147 Edited January 13, 2023 by jaylw314 1
Yurgon Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 In Multiplayer, LotATC and SimpleRadioStandalone can actually read the squawk data from the IFF panel and display that. In Singleplayer, there's practically no use for it whatsoever. Very quick guide on IFF operation: Set the 2-digit MODE 1 code to whatever suits your needs. When you're supposed to squawk a 4-digit code, that refers to the 4 digits on MODE 3/A, so set them accordingly. Top left, CODE goes to A (don't ask me why; that's how it was taught in the Iron Flag campaign and I really don't know what A or B are good for anyway). Top right, MASTER goes to NORM, and you're all good to go, your MODE 1 and MODE 3/A should now show up on LotATC, or if you're on Singleplayer, you can assume that friendlies won't accidentally shoot you down because -- besides them knowing your coalition by magic anyway -- they'll get an IFF response during interrogations. 1
Gasman6 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Greetings, Practically speaking, you don't need to ever touch this dial. Unless you are flying on a MP server that has the ability to care about this kind of thing, it is a purely cosmetic function that has no practical use. The full explanation is that this is your transponder mode setting. On most airfields, you would "squawk standby" on the ground and "squawk normal" once you are cleared for takeoff. There are some exceptions where you would squawk normal even on the ground, but that is dependent on the airfield and the ground surveillance equipment in use by the local ATC. Your squawk code is your transponder code which communicates to ATC vital information such as your aircraft type, altitude, and speed. If there is an associated flight plan, controllers will know this information as well and have a "strip" with your aircraft type, callsign, flight plan, and squawk code assigned. The modes "low" and "emergency" are special uses that are not typically present on civilian airplanes, but from my guestimation, have some bearing with military usage and datalink. The "emergency" squawk mode is peculiar to me, since there are a few universally recognized emergency squawk codes that indicate various states, like a general emergency or even a hijacking. There is also a specific squawk code for signalling lost communications, like an unspecified radio failure. My assumption is that setting it to "emergency" in the real world would generate a generic emergency squawk code that would signal air traffic controllers that you are in some sort of distress. The two digit mode is strictly for military use. The four digit combination is what is in use by civilian air traffic control. In the USA, for example, a standard squawk code for a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight would be 1200. Your average single prop high wing Cessna that you might see meandering overhead, if you live in the USA, is probably squawking 1200 and isn't "talking" to anyone (assuming you do not live under special airspace that requires "radar contact"). Without getting too long winded and overcomplicating it, you don't need to worry about it. But if you really want to understand, there are resources out there that you can learn from. It is mostly dependent on where in the world you live, since different countries and continental unions have different standards according to treaty and doctrine. Edited January 13, 2023 by Gasman6 2 Cordially yours, Gasman
Gasman6 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 2 hours ago, Yurgon said: Set the 2-digit MODE 1 code to whatever suits your needs. When you're supposed to squawk a 4-digit code, that refers to the 4 digits on MODE 3/A, so set them accordingly. Top left, CODE goes to A (don't ask me why; that's how it was taught in the Iron Flag campaign and I really don't know what A or B are good for anyway). Top right, MASTER goes to NORM, and you're all good to go, your MODE 1 and MODE 3/A should now show up on LotATC, or if you're on Singleplayer, you can assume that friendlies won't accidentally shoot you down because -- besides them knowing your coalition by magic anyway -- they'll get an IFF response during interrogations. This might help you understand the differences: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.215 1 Cordially yours, Gasman
Yurgon Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) 8 hours ago, Gasman6 said: This might help you understand the differences: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.215 Between CODE A and CODE B? The linked resource mentions neither of these, and by the way it is written, it seems dubious to assume that any of the resources linked therein would. That does not look like a technical description of the workings of IFF and transponders from a pilot's perspective and is more geared toward lawyers and regulators, by the looks of it and by the terminology used. Edited January 13, 2023 by Yurgon
Gasman6 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) 57 minutes ago, Yurgon said: Between CODE A and CODE B? The linked resource mentions neither of these, and by the way it is written, it seems dubious to assume that any of the resources linked therein would. That does not look like a technical description of the workings of IFF and transponders from a pilot's perspective and is more geared toward lawyers and regulators, by the looks of it and by the terminology used. You're right. I'm also not sure what the CODE switch does. This is another feature that is not present in civil aviation Mode C transponders. Unfortunately, due to the classified nature of some of these components, I doubt we will ever have a full explanation of what all of it does. Edited January 13, 2023 by Gasman6 1 Cordially yours, Gasman
jaylw314 Posted January 13, 2023 Posted January 13, 2023 (edited) Random bits of info I've gleaned: Mode 1 is a 2 digit (octal) code Mode 2 & 3 are 4 digit (octal) codes Mode 3/A gives no altitude info, Mode 3/C sends altitude info Mode 4 is encrypted. Presumably, you only have two preset Mode 4 codes, A & B which the code dial selects. Apparently these codes go bye-bye on power loss, so you set it to HOLD before shutting down if you are keeping the codes There's also Mode S that can only be controlled by the MFCD COMM page No idea when Mode 1, 2 and 4 are used. Mode 3 & S are universally used in civilian aircraft, EMER sets the Mode 3 code to 7700 and the Mode 1 & 2 to codes on the MFCD IFF page that we don't have. Among other things, ejecting also automatically sets it to EMER (handy). Edit: typo, Modes 2 & 3 are 4 digits, not 5 digits Edited January 17, 2023 by jaylw314 2
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