Non-communicative AI wingmen ("Defend Camp Yankee", other missions)

[Bahger]

I must be missing something here because I hear my flight reporting but they will not acknowledge, or comply, when I give them orders.

 

Realistic radios, all radios switched to "Transmit", UHF to "Both", no problems communicating with Tower on AM, JTAC on FM.

 

Here's the deal: The "Defend Camp Yankee" brief gives 124.00 AM as the freq for "Bore" flight (player is flight lead) but, while I can hear their comms, they cannot seem to hear me, although they fly obediently in trail. Plus, I was under the impression that flight comms were on UHF, but there is no response when attempting to communicate orders using either the UHF or VHF AM mic switch. No UHF freq is supplied for the flight in the briefing, so I had assumed it was the default. No UHF comms with #2.

 

The odd thing is, I had this problem in another mission, too. What am I missing here? Something simple, probably.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Madman777]

Works for me with setting on Manual. Instead of selecting AM, or FM, select MAN. That might do it.

[kingpinda]

I don't know if i understand correctly but the only radio you can setup to use the 124.00 am freq is the top radio.

 

So thats the VHF AM.

 

Thumb of rule you can use is that top VHF AM radio is to use freq in the 1xx.00 range.

 

UHF in the 2xx.00 range

 

and VHF FM in the xx.00 range

 

Not precisely sure what range all radio's have but above seems to be about right.

 

There is no overlap in freq to my knowledge.

 

Make sure the radio's are set to sent and receive. TK I think it is shown in game. You might have set it to that though. I don't know.

[Bahger]

I'm pretty sure I'm not setting the radios incorrectly. AM and FM settings are set by default to MAN (AM and FM settings on the selector switch are for Guard only) and I switch all radios to TK (Transmit) and UHF to BOTH as part of my startup flow. I tune the radios in, and, as I said, I have no problem communicating with either the Tower (on AM) or JTAC (on FM). I do not understand whether flight comms are supposed to be on 124.00 AM (as briefed in "Defend Camp Yankee") or, as wingmen usually are, on UHF (but no freq is briefed in this mission and the default appears not to work). Odd.

[GGTharos]

Post a short track please.

[Furious]

251 seems to be a favorite...try that

[Bahger]

Thanks guys. Furious, I think you nailed it. The UHF radio is set to 225.00 so, because the briefing contains no information about UHF flight frequencies, I assumed this default would be the freq for my flight.

 

It's 251.

 

I proved this with my #2 and assume it applies to the whole 4-ship. Now why would a mission designer, particularly one responsible for an "official" mission, omit this freq in the brief when he notes all the other frequencies?

 

Also, I wonder why I'm hearing flight comms on 124.00 AM (the briefed freq. for Bore flight) yet I can only transmit to flight members on UHF 251? What exactly is the relationship here between VHF AM and UHF for flight comms within my 4-ship? Any ideas?

[Furious]

It seems you can hear all radios, but only transmit on the right one.

 

As for the frequencies, I'm also quite annoyed that frequencies have not been revised since the betas- and sometimes all of them are vhfam...

 

251 was a guess. Happened to me the other day, and for some reason that number came into my head..must've been from somewhere(!?), puched it in and voila!

 

Anyway, glad i could help

[Wayc00lio]

124 is the guard freq - you'll hear all flights transmitting on guard on this freq including your own flight. If you transmit on this freq then ALL flights tuned in will hear you and your flight will prob ignore your requests because you are not talking to them directly (I presume this is the way the sim is set up). To talk to your flight directly and therefore issue orders you need to tune into the flight freq, which presumably is 251 in this case.

[Bahger]

Thanks Wayc00lio, very useful information. Funny how mission designers omit to brief flight freqs, especially when they are not the default.

 

(Nice Tornado in your sig, brings back memories of another truly great ground-pounding sim of yesteryear...)

[Wayc00lio]

NP Bahger :-) Gotta love the Tonka eh!!!

 

Shame the freqs were omitted but at least you found the correct one in the end. I use the guard freq when not needing to contact anyone else to keep up my SA, it's handy then to have the flight freq on another radio to issue orders while still hearing the rest of the air war on the top radio.

[nomdeplume]

The AI flights can only operate on a single frequency. There is no way of having an AI 'listen to' more than one frequency, or to transmit on one more than one frequency, or to transmit on one frequency and listen on another.

 

Most flights can't be communicated with, so the inherit limitations of the system don't really apply to them (although it would nice to be able to have the AI broadcast over more than one frequency).

 

AWACS, Tankers and your wingmen will only "hear" you if you transmit the message on whatever frequency they are set to use in the mission editor.

 

With the editor, you can make the AI switch frequency (and callsign) as often as you like, but it will always only be using one frequency at any given time. So the "guard frequency" is a bit of a misnomer... it only "works" if all flights in the mission are configured to use that freq. Your wingmen can't hear you on the "guard frequency" unless your flight has been set in the ME to use that.

 

IIRC, 251 is the default frequency assigned to player flights in the editor, so it's a good thing to try if you can't seem to communicate with your wingies. I think 124 is the default for AI flights.

[JaseGill]

By the way, guard is 243.00 or 121.5.

That's universal and every ATC unit in the world listens to one (usually 121.5) or both.

The military use 243 generally.

They're also the frequencies used by ground based Distress and Diversion Cells to triangulate an aircraft transmitting on that frequency.

In this context 124 is Company. All interested units listen in on Company for pertinent mission critical calls except now I guess Company is actually an encoded channel and not supported in the Sim as the encoded radio isn't used.

J.