Help with IR Mavs

[Dustbag1969]

Hi,

I am OK with most weapons in the Harrier but I just cannot get the IR Mavs to lock. 

I have watched loads of videos and tried to follow the procedure.

When I switch from the TPOD to the Mav seeker it does slew to where the TPOD wad looking but then it doesn't lock and if I try to force a lock the maverick seeker jumps to a different location and I have to start again. If I try to slew the maverick sight box on the hud it is very erratic and some times it will move and sometimes it won't.

I am sure it will be something I am doing wrong but I cannot see what.

Any help appreciated 

[Dr_Pavelheer]

Are you within the 6-7nm or so? Maverick in Harrier locks automatically, when you click TDC it moves to velocity vector if I remember correctly

[zildac]

Hi,
I am OK with most weapons in the Harrier but I just cannot get the IR Mavs to lock. 
I have watched loads of videos and tried to follow the procedure.
When I switch from the TPOD to the Mav seeker it does slew to where the TPOD wad looking but then it doesn't lock and if I try to force a lock the maverick seeker jumps to a different location and I have to start again. If I try to slew the maverick sight box on the hud it is very erratic and some times it will move and sometimes it won't.
I am sure it will be something I am doing wrong but I cannot see what.
Any help appreciated 

Are you pressing sensor select forward so the tgp display changes from INS to IMAV?

[Ramsay]

3 hours ago, Dustbag1969 said:

When I switch from the TPOD to the Mav seeker it does slew to where the TPOD wad looking but then it doesn't lock and if I try to force a lock the maverick seeker jumps to a different location and I have to start again. If I try to slew the maverick sight box on the hud it is very erratic and some times it will move and sometimes it won't.

I am sure it will be something I am doing wrong but I cannot see what.

TL;DR:

To fire the IRMav - make sure you have used SSS UP to cycle to IRMV mode (Top left of MFD can say TPOD, INS, IRMV, etc.) before slewing, locking or firing the IRMav.

Detail:

There are some peculiarities when using the TPOD with IRMAV's as the TPOD video is treated as a weapon "feed", hence why selecting the TPOD deselects the IRMAV's, etc.

1. Master Arm ON, A/G Mode, TPOD on RH MFD, HSI or Stores page on LH MFD
2. SSS "double tap" to enter HTS (TPOD) mode if not already in it.
3. Slew TPOD cursor to target and designate (SSS left short changes FOV, SSS aft cycle point track, etc., SSS right short cycles hot/cold polarity)

4. Select/ensure IRMV is boxed on the LH MFD HSI or Stores page

5. Uncaging the IRMAV should give you the IRMAV video feed on the RH MFD but you will still be in TPOD control mode for slewing, etc.

6. Cycle SSS UP short, to enter IRMV mode (Note: you may need to adjust the MFD gain, contrast, etc. )

7. You can now slew/lock the IRMAV seeker with the TDC

 

8. After firing your first IRMav, the MFD Stores page is displayed - from here you can either

• uncage a second IRMav and slew it's seeker to a nearby target
OR
• use SSS "double tap" to reopen the TPOD page for damage assessment.

Note: Re-selecting the TPOD, deselects the IRMav(s) as a weapon, so they will need selecting on the Stores or HSI page again when you wish to employ one.

Tested DCS Multi-thread Open Beta 2.8.4.38947

Edited April 18, 2023 by Ramsay

[Dustbag1969]

I will follow those steps and hopefully it will work.

On stage 7 if my ir seeker is on the target and I am less ghan 7 miles is there a button to try and force a lock?

I have been pressing the TDC which as you have said slaves the seeker to the fpm so I won't do this anymore.

Thanks and I will give it another go

[Ramsay]

41 minutes ago, Dustbag1969 said:

On stage 7 if my ir seeker is on the target and I am less than 7 miles is there a button to try and force a lock?

I have been pressing the TDC which as you have said slaves the seeker to the fpm so I won't do this anymore.

How the seeker is slaved - depends on the mode and what (if anything) is already designated i.e. HSI Waypoint, TOO, TPOD point track, etc.

In IRMV mode, TDC depress commands the IR seeker to attempt a "lock", I don't think you were doing anything wrong but were perhaps in the wrong "mode" (can't be sure without a track file or video).

[Dustbag1969]

Thanks for all of the suggestions and I am pleased to report I finally managed to lock and fire the IR Mav so I am now happy with employing all of the weapons.

My next challenge is getting to grips with refuelling as the harrier seems to really go through fuel at a fast rate so I never have enough to complete my mission and get back.

Thanks again 

[Spurts]

On 4/19/2023 at 3:45 PM, Dustbag1969 said:

Thanks for all of the suggestions and I am pleased to report I finally managed to lock and fire the IR Mav so I am now happy with employing all of the weapons.

My next challenge is getting to grips with refuelling as the harrier seems to really go through fuel at a fast rate so I never have enough to complete my mission and get back.

Thanks again 

For the fuel I tend to do most my non-opt cruise flying at 85% RPM until I am in active combat.  Works well for me.

[Szprynmann]

On 4/19/2023 at 9:45 PM, Dustbag1969 said:

(...)

My next challenge is getting to grips with refuelling as the harrier seems to really go through fuel at a fast rate so I never have enough to complete my mission and get back.

(...)

I suggest checking VREST page, CRUISE subpage. It helps me to preserve fuel when possible.

[Spurts]

and That /\ is what I do for my cruise flying

[Bashibazouk]

Thanks Ramsay. That's really helpful. I've been having trouble with the IR Mavs for actual years. Your laying out the procedures in such an easy to understand way really helped me. I still couldn't lock the damn things and was still having all sorts of trouble and I'd got to the stage where I'd given up on the Harrier altogether.

But your clear instructions made me realise the problem wasn't me. So, what I did was:

1. Saved all my key commands/Hotas etc to external files. 

2. Deleted everything so there were no assignments on the controls page.

3. Reloaded my controls, which had been carefully curated over the years to use similar keys etc for similar actions on different planes.

4. Celebration time! Everything worked as it should. I'd been thinking of doing this for a while, but I'd always assumed it was a skill issue so hadn't got around to it.

4a. - OK, not everything works. The tutorials, for example, still don't work for some reason. But Campaigns and Missions that had been created more recently work like a charm.

It's been night and day. I used to think the Harrier was a weird floaty thing, the autopilot being worse than useless because I couldn't rely on it. If I looked away, despite being set, when I looked back the aircraft was in a death spiral heading for the drink. But now the plane is fun to fly, easy to control and I can set the autopilot and grab a coffee. When I come back it will be flying straight and level as I set it! This problem I've been having may be my HOTAS setup (T16,000, TWCS and associated pedals, so the cheapest usable setup really) but whatever. It works like a charm now.

I don't know exactly what the problem was, but deleting and reloading every control fixed it. If anyone else is having the same issue, I understand how ridiculously frustrating it is. The problems appear to be intermittent (there might be a certain combination of actions that cause things to go wrong, I don't know) and no matter how many times I reviewed the manual, checked videos, came to the forums, I'd still have some times when the IR Mavs just wouldn't work at all, they wouldn't lock, or they'd develop a mind of their own and the seeker would fly around like a crazy thing. The Harrier is hell of a lot of fun when it's working!