Setting up Datalink In-Game

[Floyd1212]

You do not have to rely on it being pre-setup in the ME to get it to work.

We were able to hop into a pub server and edit our IDs and call signs, and add each other to the database and get it working between a few of us.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t seem to work very well from the front seat yet, but the PLT can send and request all the info we have tried. 

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, Floyd1212 said:

You do not have to rely on it being pre-setup in the ME to get it to work.

We were able to hop into a pub server and edit our IDs and call signs, and add each other to the database and get it working between a few of us.

Keep in mind, it doesn’t seem to work very well from the front seat yet, but the PLT can send and request all the info we have tried. 

Thanks for that.  Boo, means it's operator error  

[Guest]

3 hours ago, NeedzWD40 said:

Can you show the process you're utilizing to set your datalink variables?

Hi NeedzWD40,

so this is what we're doing (pics not in order sorry):

UFD showing IDM set to FM2 with correct name and Preset #

\\

We click on the white Send button (trying to send a PP in this case)

Set myself up (my wingman is B12 with the Orig ID of 2).  He has me set as B11 with ID of 1. 

Added him as TEAM & PRIMARY

Set MY TM Preset to FM2, SC, 30.5 megs.

Hopefully it'll be something embarrassingly obvious  !!

Thanks for checking this if you get the time.

'52

[Floyd1212]

In that last screenshot, it looks like you still have Preset 1 set to VHF? Instead, you could just edit Preset 4 which is already configured for FM2.

I haven’t tried to change which radio is assigned to which preset, so I’m not sure what the correct procedure is there.

Also, are there other aircraft in the mission that might also be on ID 1 & 2?

[NeedzWD40]

1 hour ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Thanks for checking this if you get the time.

Your images look correct, but I had trouble following so I'm testing with AI stand-ins:

1. Edit originator and callsign. In my case, "A" and "APACH" used.

2. Edit preset 1 name and CS. "BUDDY" and "BUDS" used in my case.

3. Edit FM2 frequency to 30.5.

4. Set primary to FM2 SC.

5. Edit first member with CS of "B11" and SUB of "1". Edit second member with CS of "B12" and SUB of "2".

6. Set both B11 and B12 to TEAM and PRI.

7. Back to COM main page, select L1/Preset 1 "BUDDY". Select FM2 from top row, then select "SC" from TUNE FM2.

8. Select FM2 radio with IDM rocker on EUFD. Ensure EUFD indicates "BUDS" and "L1".

9. As I only have AI to work with: Go to TSD, select RPT, select PP, shift MSG from SEND to RQST, ensure B11 and B12 are boxed, then select SEND FM2 L1 on bottom right. This should work for players as well as it worked for me and a friend before.

10. "PP REPORT" indicated in EUFD advisories.

11. B11 and B12 icons appear on TSD.

I've done this in multiplayer from both seats so it should be working, but there could be some other conditions missing that I'm unaware of in the scenario. Originating IDs can be 1-39 and A-Z, callsigns 5 characters, accepted from the set on the KU.

Edited October 31, 2023 by NeedzWD40

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Floyd1212 said:

In that last screenshot, it looks like you still have Preset 1 set to VHF? Instead, you could just edit Preset 4 which is already configured for FM2.

I haven’t tried to change which radio is assigned to which preset, so I’m not sure what the correct procedure is there.

Also, are there other aircraft in the mission that might also be on ID 1 & 2?

Hi Floyd1212,

no other A/C in our situation.  I think VHF was in white in that shot as it was still selected for voice calls (but IDM is down to FM2).

I tried last night on a server that had the DL setup for us in the mission.  Requested a PP and did not get a NAK, so maybe still more for me to work on. 

17 hours ago, NeedzWD40 said:

Your images look correct, but I had trouble following so I'm testing with AI stand-ins:

1. Edit originator and callsign. In my case, "A" and "APACH" used.

2. Edit preset 1 name and CS. "BUDDY" and "BUDS" used in my case.

3. Edit FM2 frequency to 30.5.

4. Set primary to FM2 SC.

5. Edit first member with CS of "B11" and SUB of "1". Edit second member with CS of "B12" and SUB of "2".

6. Set both B11 and B12 to TEAM and PRI.

7. Back to COM main page, select L1/Preset 1 "BUDDY". Select FM2 from top row, then select "SC" from TUNE FM2.

8. Select FM2 radio with IDM rocker on EUFD. Ensure EUFD indicates "BUDS" and "L1".

9. As I only have AI to work with: Go to TSD, select RPT, select PP, shift MSG from SEND to RQST, ensure B11 and B12 are boxed, then select SEND FM2 L1 on bottom right. This should work for players as well as it worked for me and a friend before.

10. "PP REPORT" indicated in EUFD advisories.

11. B11 and B12 icons appear on TSD.

I've done this in multiplayer from both seats so it should be working, but there could be some other conditions missing that I'm unaware of in the scenario. Originating IDs can be 1-39 and A-Z, callsigns 5 characters, accepted from the set on the KU.

 

Nice, thanks for that.  Hopefully able to try your procedure soon with my wingman.  Others seem to have it working also, so I can't be too far off now  

[Guest]

On 10/31/2023 at 6:27 PM, NeedzWD40 said:

Your images look correct, but I had trouble following so I'm testing with AI stand-ins:

1. Edit originator and callsign. In my case, "A" and "APACH" used.

2. Edit preset 1 name and CS. "BUDDY" and "BUDS" used in my case.

3. Edit FM2 frequency to 30.5.

4. Set primary to FM2 SC.

5. Edit first member with CS of "B11" and SUB of "1". Edit second member with CS of "B12" and SUB of "2".

6. Set both B11 and B12 to TEAM and PRI.

7. Back to COM main page, select L1/Preset 1 "BUDDY". Select FM2 from top row, then select "SC" from TUNE FM2.

8. Select FM2 radio with IDM rocker on EUFD. Ensure EUFD indicates "BUDS" and "L1".

9. As I only have AI to work with: Go to TSD, select RPT, select PP, shift MSG from SEND to RQST, ensure B11 and B12 are boxed, then select SEND FM2 L1 on bottom right. This should work for players as well as it worked for me and a friend before.

10. "PP REPORT" indicated in EUFD advisories.

11. B11 and B12 icons appear on TSD.

I've done this in multiplayer from both seats so it should be working, but there could be some other conditions missing that I'm unaware of in the scenario. Originating IDs can be 1-39 and A-Z, callsigns 5 characters, accepted from the set on the KU.

 

Neither of us can see the difference, but there must be one, as it's working now!!

Thanks so much NeedzWD40, this is cool  

[Guest]

Hi NeedzWD40,

apologies for the hijacked thread.  Presume ED haven't fixed that INU drift/RF Hellfire accuracy issue you mentioned earlier this year?

Cheers

'52

[NeedzWD40]

1 hour ago, Gunslinger52 said:

Presume ED haven't fixed that INU drift/RF Hellfire accuracy issue you mentioned earlier this year?

No, there's still a constant uncorrected error that builds up over time. 114Ls are generally fine if your INU is mostly fresh, figure a ballpark estimate of about 1 meter a minute of drift after alignment. It's a pain, but you can reset both INUs in-flight when you need absolute maximum precision. You'll get some errors in the system, like with rocket pylon elevation and a BAL LIMIT error from 114s, but they'll work perfectly fine after the INU heading has been updated. Don't do an INU reset if you're using attitude hold, however.

[Hotdognz]

Question for NeedzWD40

Would the CPG do this task of setting up the datalink or would it fall to the pilot.

Cheers

[Guest]

Thanks for the update.  Yes I do need to remember the INU reset!

Have a good weekend. 

'52

[NeedzWD40]

43 minutes ago, Hotdognz said:

Would the CPG do this task of setting up the datalink or would it fall to the pilot.

Setting up as in setting up flight members, callsigns, etc. or setting up as in selecting a datalink to receive data?

I'd expect the real SMEs to have a better answer, but:

If the former, then normally that's already preset by your DTC and you'd already have the info available and set for your mission circumstances. Ie, assuming you're working with a full ARB, you're already going to have each flight (and probably others outside your battalion) in your directory and presets assigned. Since you've got 4 radios on tap, that means you can technically work with 4 different flights without having to alter presets, just by using the rocker. Since each crewmember can independently send data, that means you might have the pilot updating HHC on position and FARM, while the CPG is updating the flight members on targets he's found with the FCR. It really depends on who's doing what and at what time; it would behoove the CPG to do certain datalink tasks while the pilot is flying them en route, while it'd be kind of a di- poor move for the pilot to expect the CPG to be getting FARM reports while he's trying to lase a target.

In the latter case, assuming no DTC is available, we're building on the fly, or however you want to call it, then it again comes down to whoever's not busy. More often than not, that's on the CPG's side during the initial startup. So if we assume that the CPG is busy with updating the wayroute due to mission changes mandated by an outside entity, then nothing says the pilot can't bring up the COMM page and alter a preset to work with newly assigned datalink members or data.

Since we're not working within the rigid confines of an older aircraft where crewmember responsibilities are more divided, it really comes down to context and situation.

[admiki]

On 10/31/2023 at 5:37 AM, Floyd1212 said:

In that last screenshot, it looks like you still have Preset 1 set to VHF? Instead, you could just edit Preset 4 which is already configured for FM2.

I haven’t tried to change which radio is assigned to which preset, so I’m not sure what the correct procedure is there.

Also, are there other aircraft in the mission that might also be on ID 1 & 2?

From what I can see, DCS preset will always show white radio as set in ME, no matter if you change it in game. You use preset to set your intended radio to that preset and that's it, it doesn't mean that preset will transmit just on white radio. I think it does not matter what preset page radio is white, as long as you are on same preset.

The way I look at presets is that you don't have to muck around with freqs and nets in flight. For example, you have 2 flights of 2 helicopters in your mission. You want to have one net for your own flight as PRESET1 and other for just you and other flight lead as PRESET 2(don't ask me for reasons, pulling it out of my head). You set your VHF to PRE1 and FM1 to PRE2. All frequencies can be the same, so all you can still talk to each other, but data sharing is separated.

Of course, I might be completely wrong about this, maybe bradmick can take a look at this and correct me if needed?

[hotrod525]

Sorry to necro this thread but i have a question,

I've setup many AH64 in a mission, they all have their unique DL ID number and callsign, i've setup the FM2 radio on everyship on the proper freq (ie 40.00FM2), ingame i could see every ship part of the network but somehow, me and a friend couldnot acheive to send any data.

As shown, the proper radio freq is set, the IDM rocker is on FM2, SID1 and SID2 (wich is me.) is part of the group etc. Ive read the comment about to calling yourself, this most likely not help but either way, he's chopper was setup the exact same way.

 

While we f-around with the system trying to figure why it didnot work we tried "Preset 2 L2" for the sake of it, my friend could send me things  but didnot receive any of mine,

So what am i doing wrong ? i'll edit the DLs to remove ownship but otherwise, i couldnot figure it out, i've tracks too but i feel this is more a "used induce error" rather than a bug of some sort.

 Datalink issue.trk

 

Edited December 10, 2023 by hotrod525

[NeedzWD40]

6 hours ago, hotrod525 said:

So what am i doing wrong ?

The setup looks correct but I couldn't really tell from the track what your procedure was. Can you describe your steps? If everything is already preset, then it should be as simple as using the RTS rocker to select the appropriate radio, bring up the preset menu, select the preset to tune it, and IDM rocker down to the radio you want to use. Did you try a simple PP request on the TSD?

[hotrod525]

11 hours ago, NeedzWD40 said:

The setup looks correct but I couldn't really tell from the track what your procedure was. Can you describe your steps? If everything is already preset, then it should be as simple as using the RTS rocker to select the appropriate radio, bring up the preset menu, select the preset to tune it, and IDM rocker down to the radio you want to use. Did you try a simple PP request on the TSD?

Yeah we tryed trought TSD and trought COM Page.

 

So ill recap, i ME the AH64 properly (i think), we start up the server, we get inside 64's startup etc, and then we tried to send message, FARM etc, didnot worked. So i thought that may be "FM2" radio wasnt a proper radio but it would not make sens to be able to choose a wrong radio in ME and we switched to Preset 2. On he's side it worked well, but not on mine, could not send anything out, just receive, we went trought all the page trying to figure it out and we couldnot.

Whenever i press RPT in TSD, i could see is ID in the list on the top row, select (box) him, then press SEND, i got a XMIT NAK UHF no matter the radio highlighted in white in the com page. He's POSIT, WP, TGT went in, but i could not share any of mine. I assume it's either i'll have to reconfigure the 64's or it is an end-user error. 

To add to this, i had several connection lost with the server, ill provide the 2 other tracks where he send me stuff.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1391nWeFPi9hPvf3cYYycbIpn8W9B0vTd?usp=sharing (had to put them on GDrive, they where too heavy for the forums, sorry)

#Thanks for your support @NeedzWD40

Edited December 11, 2023 by hotrod525

[NeedzWD40]

3 hours ago, hotrod525 said:

Whenever i press RPT in TSD, i could see is ID in the list on the top row, select (box) him, then press SEND, i got a XMIT NAK UHF no matter the radio highlighted in white in the com page.

The PP is normally done by changing the mode from SEND to RQST (bottom left on RPT>PP submenu). The VHF, UHF, FM1, and FM2 radios should all work. If you're receiving data but can't send it, then some step is missing with how you're sending data.

Here's a basic procedure to follow if using preset groups as set by the designer (no custom callsigns, IDs, or presets):

1. Select appropriate radio with the EUFD RCS rocker (or stick RCS depress).
2. Ensure that the appropriate radio is set with the appropriate preset. We'll assume FM2 on the first preset, so cycle down to the FM2 radio, hit the EUFD P button to bring up the preset menu, then use the WCA rocker to cycle through to the first preset. Press the EUFD enter/select button. FM2 should then be tuned to the frequency as set for FM2 on preset 1. Any other flight members will need to follow this step if their radios are not tuned to this frequency.
3. Use the EUFD IDM rocker to select the FM2 radio for the modem.
4. Basic test: Bring up the TSD>RPT>PP submenu. Change B1 (MSG) from SEND to RQST. Press the white SEND button on the bottom right. By default, all flight members assigned to the preset are boxed; any not present or unavailable will generate a NAK advisory. You will see icons on the TSD for the flight members that are present.
5. If step 4 works, then another simple test is transferring of points. Return to TSD main page, set phase to ATK, and bring up the point submenu. Select ADD and use the cursor to drop a point at a random position. Once the point is created, select XMIT from the left, then send it to the flight. Any present flight members should receive an advisory for IDM TGT, which will set the RECV button on the TSD. Pressing this will add the target to the COORD page.

If the above does not work, then refer back to a previous post I've made for setting up everything from scratch: