Auto Acquisition help

[Mike_CK]

I’m having problems getting a consistent lock when I put it in “cage” mode, put the enemy aircraft inside the pipper and hit the “nose wheel steering/auto acquisition” button. It seems to lock up when I do it the first time head on. But once the turning starts, I seem to be unable to get it to lock despite the fact that the enemy is only 1-2 miles ahead. 
 

Manual seems to suggest you have to hold down the button but  Is there a minimum range or other reason why I would have difficulties locking a plane? 
maybe if I’m too close the Pipper won’t have that range countdown circle on the outside that I usually rely on to tell me it’s locked maybe?

Just seems odd that it works fine head on so I thought maybe it’s a Doppler thing???

Edited May 29, 2024 by Mike_CK

[SgtPappy]

20 minutes ago, Mike_CK said:

I’m having problems getting a consistent lock when I put it in “cage” mode, put the enemy aircraft inside the pipper and hit the “nose wheel steering/auto acquisition” button. It seems to lock up when I do it the first time head on. But once the turning starts, I seem to be unable to get it to lock despite the fact that the enemy is only 1-2 miles ahead. 
 

Manual seems to suggest you have to hold down the button but  Is there a minimum range or other reason why I would have difficulties locking a plane? 
maybe if I’m too close the Pipper won’t have that range countdown circle on the outside that I usually rely on to tell me it’s locked maybe?

Just seems odd that it works fine head on so I thought maybe it’s a Doppler thing???

 

Have you also made sure that your weapon pinky switch is set to HEAT while you're in AAQ mode?

The pinky switch will determine if your radar automatically scans more left, center or right.

After you obtain lock, you may switch to whatever pinky switch position you want.

[Mike_CK]

Uhhh. No. It was on “radar”. But it was on Radar the times it worked too. Am I understanding correctly that when in “Radar”, the radar is looking somewhere other than where I think ig is and - therefore - I should switch to heat (which presumably makes the radar look where the pipper is), lock him and then go to Radar?

[diego999]

27 minutes ago, Mike_CK said:

Uhhh. No. It was on “radar”. But it was on Radar the times it worked too. Am I understanding correctly that when in “Radar”, the radar is looking somewhere other than where I think ig is and - therefore - I should switch to heat (which presumably makes the radar look where the pipper is), lock him and then go to Radar?

 

Yes. On HEAT the radar is looking at the center. With RADAR is looking to the right, with GUN is looking to the left.

 

 

[Mike_CK]

I re-read the manual section and it stated that in cage/ auto acquisition the radar looks 45 degrees above to 9 degree below the horizon (not above or below nose) due to limitations.

so it may be also that the aircraft I was trying to lock was more than 9 degrees below the horizon since I was coming down on him

[Kageseigi]

1 hour ago, diego999 said:

 

Yes. On HEAT the radar is looking at the center. With RADAR is looking to the right, with GUN is looking to the left.

 

 

Does anyone know if the Left/Right overlaps with the Center any? If so, how much overlap is there? Say, I am level with a target inside any part of my pipper, would any alignment pick the target up?

1 hour ago, Mike_CK said:

I re-read the manual section and it stated that in cage/ auto acquisition the radar looks 45 degrees above to 9 degree below the horizon (not above or below nose) due to limitations.

so it may be also that the aircraft I was trying to lock was more than 9 degrees below the horizon since I was coming down on him

If the radar is aligns with the horizon, then is center the best alignment when you're level, right when you are turning right in lag pursuit, and left when you're turning left in lag pursuit?

[USA_Recon]

2 hours ago, diego999 said:

 

Yes. On HEAT the radar is looking at the center. With RADAR is looking to the right, with GUN is looking to the left.

 

 

I’m a tad confused here. So NWS first then use the weapon selector ? But then you’re using the wrong weapon ? 

[Zabuzard]

It is confusing indeed. The pinky hat (RADAR/HEAT/GUN) has the double function of selecting the scan corridor for CAA (LEFT/CENTER/RIGHT).

If you want to use CAA and fire Sparrows centered, you first have to go to HEAT (ignore the growling sidewinder tone), obtain your lock with your now centered CAA and after you obtained a solid lock, you can switch back to RADAR. Then wait the four seconds and shoot

Edited May 29, 2024 by Zabuzard

[diego999]

17 hours ago, Kageseigi said:

Does anyone know if the Left/Right overlaps with the Center any? If so, how much overlap is there? Say, I am level with a target inside any part of my pipper, would any alignment pick the target up?

If the radar is aligns with the horizon, then is center the best alignment when you're level, right when you are turning right in lag pursuit, and left when you're turning left in lag pursuit?

It's explained on the picture from the manual. It looks 8° degrees to each side and it overlaps 1°.

From what I understand it's like a primitive vertical scan mode that searches in a fixed line in front and above your nose. So if you're turning it still scans above your nose, whichever direction it is pointed at, not above the horizon. It's not stabilized. 

Edited May 29, 2024 by diego999

[mytai01]

That's a crazy function...

[GumidekCZ]

Have anybody same problem as me, that this Auto Acquisition is constantly locking ground or some imaginary ghosts, simply anything else then target in front of me?
I dont have a track now - I will add it tonight.

Edited June 4, 2024 by GumidekCZ

[Zabuzard]

The upcoming patch has some improvements on that matter.

(It won't get entirely rid of it though, CAA was known to be prone to bad locks in certain situations)

[GumidekCZ]

4 hours ago, Zabuzard said:

The upcoming patch has some improvements on that matter.

(It won't get entirely rid of it though, CAA was known to be prone to bad locks in certain situations)

Thanks,
Poor CAA performance may be also the reason, why I cant found ANY YT vid with CAA ACM mode explained and shown in practice.
I hope that next update will fix this to be realistic, but still usable at some good conditions.