Frickin' Laserbeams

[gmohr]

Hi all!

 

A couple questions regarding lazing in DCS.

 

1) Is the laser located in the TGP?

2) If so, why is it masked (flashing M) when I can still use the optics to see my target? Does the laser have a smaller range of gimble motion or something?

3) If dropping an LGB, if I come off the target hard after release, I can get a masking situation. I assume that's detrimental to my bomb's accuracy, is that right?

 

Thanks!

George

Edited July 8, 2011 by gmohr

[EtherealN]

1) Yes.

2) The flashing M means the pod is about to be masked - not that it is masked.

3) Masking is detrimental, yes. Turns your bomb into a dumb bomb, basically. If you are able to de-mask quickly and give the bomb a spot to look at again, it'll usually be fine, though.

[cichlidfan]

Rather than start another...

 

Regarding lasers from JTAC. How far away, or rather how close, should I be able to detect them?

 

EDIT: Is a slightly oblique approach better for detection?

Edited July 8, 2011 by cichlidfan

[MTFDarkEagle]

You should be able to pick it up from quite a distance.

Are you having trouble?

[cichlidfan]

You should be able to pick it up from quite a distance.

Are you having trouble?

 

Not really, just curious, today I way trying to pick one up and I might have been 25 miles out. I reset and retried a couple of times before I got it and I was just curious if I was just too far out and needed to close a bit before even bothering to have the JTAC turn it on.

 

Still learning and I have screwed up by not giving myself enough time.

 

I am having JTAC mark a moving convoy and when I get to the target it has gone some distance from the datalink point. This means I have to scan with the TGP for a bit before I am ready to tell them to turn on the laser.

 

Sometimes I end up too close by the time all that happens so I have been trying from farther out. I want enough time to experiment with giving JTAC the "SHIFT" command to see how it works.

[gmohr]

1) Yes.

2) The flashing M means the pod is about to be masked - not that it is masked.

3) Masking is detrimental, yes. Turns your bomb into a dumb bomb, basically. If you are able to de-mask quickly and give the bomb a spot to look at again, it'll usually be fine, though.

 

Thanks!

[dbeaty]

Quick question, in the profiles, LGB's default to no auto lase. I was thinking that auto lase at 8 secs was a good thing and make sense in the heat of battle, it takes a while to change the profile mid flight. Wouldn't a data cartridge have an auto-lase as the default and let the pilot disengage that if ground troopers were providing lasing?

[cichlidfan]

Quick question, in the profiles, LGB's default to no auto lase. I was thinking that auto lase at 8 secs was a good thing and make sense in the heat of battle, it takes a while to change the profile mid flight. Wouldn't a data cartridge have an auto-lase as the default and let the pilot disengage that if ground troopers were providing lasing?

 

I set mine to autolase first thing, 12 seconds though. If lasing is being provided I just turn mine off.:noexpression:

[Sarge55]

I sort out my profiles while waiting for the INS to align. Usually all set by the time it's good to go.

[jeffyd123]

i thought the max laser detection distance was ~ 10 miles....

[Frostiken]

Hi all!

 

A couple questions regarding lazing in DCS.

 

1) Is the laser located in the TGP?

2) If so, why is it masked (flashing M) when I can still use the optics to see my target? Does the laser have a smaller range of gimble motion or something?

3) If dropping an LGB, if I come off the target hard after release, I can get a masking situation. I assume that's detrimental to my bomb's accuracy, is that right?

 

Thanks!

George

 

1) If you look at the pod itself, there's two lenses. The center one may or may not have a yellowish hue, but that's the FLIR aperture. The one displaced to the side is the laser transmitter.

 

2) As mentioned, the flashing M means you're about to be masked. Masking should be determined by things like your loadout as programmed into the DSMS but I don't know if it really is in the sim. Masking exists so that you cannot shoot a high-intensity IR laser into your own airframe, or worse, your own munitions as it would risk detonation. Masking zones are always going to be a little bigger than the actual masked materials.

 

3) No, actually. You should only use the laser on PGMs when it's about 8 seconds before impact. You can completely ignore the bomb until then, and perform whatever maneuvers you wish. As long as the bomb can see the laser when you fire it it's fine. Do not worry about masking the TPod until you're in the sweet zone. If you use the laser too early, the GBU will try to 'cut the corner' of its trajectory arc and will always fall short.

 

4) Best thing to do is use the auto-lase with a setting of 8 seconds.

[Phuz]

I prefer the 'latch' function on the tgp ctrl page, just press [ins] when ready to begin and fly away.

 

Also check out the IR beam next time you are flying at night, you can't see the beam but when you turn on the NVIS you can. Its pretty cool and would make for some awesome Multiplayer target coordination.

[cichlidfan]

1)

4) Best thing to do is use the auto-lase with a setting of 8 seconds.

 

I have seen numbers as high as fourteen tossed around and eight is the lowest. I would assume that anythng less would not give the bomb time to adjust trajectory.

 

On the timing subject. What difference does it make when you press weapon release relative to when the solution cue hits the sweet spot for dropping a single weapon. I can see where it would matter with a ripple when some bombs will actually drop before the aim point is reached but for a single I don't.

[cichlidfan]

As long as it's before solution cue intersects the pipper it can be a second or an hour. For a multiple release solution does the solution cue represent the first release or the center of stick?

 

That first makes sense to me, that is why I wonder why everything has you pressing it so early.

 

As for the second, it seems like it is the center of the stick from what my actual drops seem to indicate. Not that I have done that huge number of them but...so far.

[andyfoot]

I like to use the laser beam at night to point to my target when using NVG (after searching for it on the TGT Pod, then locking it up) then going Guns to take out whatever is at the end of the beam, try it!!

[pandawelch]

Another question about the TGP laser...

 

If you lock up a target and want to lase it to find out exactly where it is, do you just turn laser on/off? Will the TGP switch to the laser data instead of the correlated ground position?

 

Cheers

[Fish]

Still learning and I have screwed up by not giving myself enough time.

 

Give yourself enough time for fence checks, before calling in to JTAC. For GBU's Set autolase 'off', set laser latch 'on'. Attach from high alt up to 15k. If target is mobile, change TGP to 'POINT' mode. Turn laser on 8-10 seconds before impact. :smilewink:

[cichlidfan]

The TGP POI information is enhanced by effective laser rangefinding for as long as that rangefinding is active.

 

Assuming the laser is on the only time laser ranging won't be used is if you have your TGP set to IR only, if it is set to BTH or LSR you are good to go.

 

Just to the left of the range number is either a T or L, if you are locked on to something, if it is L then the laser is being used for ranging.

[cichlidfan]

Give yourself enough time for fence checks, before calling in to JTAC. For GBU's Set autolase 'off', set laser latch 'on'. Attach from high alt up to 15k. If target is mobile, change TGP to 'POINT' mode. Turn laser on 8-10 seconds before impact. :smilewink:

 

 

Just curious to your reason for not using Autolase? The rest I pretty much get I just have to get my processes down. More practice.:pilotfly:

 

I must say though that using the ME to create some of my practice environments is a great way to ease your way into mission editing. Plus it's pretty cool when you set something up and it actually works when you fly it!:D

[cichlidfan]

Well all 3 lasers in the TGP are IR wavelength. The pointer doesn't do rangefinding. The combat designator or eye-safe designator do.

 

Also LOL

 

That makes sense and I had seen that masking discussion as well. Unfortunately, I know nothing about the RL aspects of this stuff so I may have misread or misinterpreted the manual, assumng this is not an error (pg 333).

 

 

5. Range and source. This field displays the slant range from the aircraft to the TGP line of sight and is an indication of how that range is being derived.

 

 All ranges will be computed by the laser if the laser is active and OSB 7 is set to LSR or BTH and the Laser switch on the AHCP is set to ARM. In such a situation, the field will read ― (x)‖where ―‖is slant range to the target in nautical miles.

 

 If laser ranging is not available and the TGP is tracking a target, then the field will be displayed as ― (x)‖where ―‖is the slant range to the TGP line of sight point.

[Grimes]

Since this is a thread about lasers, what causes the TGP to have no laser data loaded in? Would starting with a non-TGP payload and switching to one that has a TGP cause this? (With properly loading the DSMS)

[mvsgas]

Since this is a thread about lasers, what causes the TGP to have no laser data loaded in? Would starting with a non-TGP payload and switching to one that has a TGP cause this? (With properly loading the DSMS)

Not sure what do you mean? Laser was not working? No laser code?

[Grimes]

Laser code and LSS code were completely blank.

[Tholozor]

If the TGP is reloaded with no laser code or search code, just reenter them. That happens to me sometimes, where switching loadouts clears out the TGP laser codes.

[Fish]

Just curious to your reason for not using Autolase?

 

Bombs don't do so well if guided from release at high altitude. Best released with CCRP, that makes them pretty accurate anyhow, And last 10 seconds or so lasing fine tunes them. With autolase 'on' you get the laser automatically fired on release, so bomb gets 'Lased' through out its flight.