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Various ka50 questions i have.


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Hello, bought the ka50 a week or so ago, learned a good bit of the systems and am now trying to excel in actual combat (event tho its ai) by doing the campaign. But right now i have almost no situational awareness, sometimes i just have no idea what to do. The second campaign, the georgian oil war. How am i supposed to know if the tank i locked on to is friendly or not with certainty? Also the auto hover doesnt seem to work very well, it pitches forward and then backward and repeats this forever afaik. Why? Also i have to hold left rudder constantly to keep the same heading. Is that because of wind perphaps? Is that also why autohover acts weird? When i lock the tank with laser doesnt it get a laser warning? If it does what would a tank IRL do when lased? lots of questions i know. Here are some more if ur kind to answer me. When the laser switch is on but i only point the shkval to a target but i dont try to lock it, is the laser then on? And when i lock and it ranges and i get a lock, is the laser still on or does it shutoff after ranging. And when i fire i see for example 15sec but the vihkr hits when 6 or 7 seconds are left, is the laser still on for those last 6 to 7 seconds? Haha im obsessed with all the details. Thx for the time u took to answer. And whats with the shkval contrast? I start the mission and the shkval is very bright/washed out/too high gamma and so i lower contrast and get nice colors but the contrast seems to be darker in the x7 zoom? And when i look up a hill and see 90% procent hill and 10% sky then the hill will be super dark? Do i really have to fiddle with the contrast so much?


Edited by BranchPrediction
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Hello, bought the ka50 a week or so ago, learned a good bit of the systems and am now trying to excel in actual combat (event tho its ai) by doing the campaign. But right now i have almost no situational awareness, sometimes i just have no idea what to do.

 

ABRIS is your friend. It has your map, your flight path and even briefed air defense locations etc. I recommend to get to the basics how to create, edit and delete waypoints.

 

And then combine it with the datalink (top left panel) as you can range targets with Shkval and then mark it to ABRIS with that datalink panel for future information.

 

 

When i lock the tank with laser doesnt it get a laser warning? If it does what would a tank IRL do when lased? lots of questions i know.

 

Only when you range target does it get a lazing warning. As that is powerful laser beam. Same thing is with TGP and all laser designators that paints the target area for ranging. But it ain't simulated in DCS at all.

 

The Shkval itself doesn't reveal it in guidance. So if you don't range target, they don't know about incoming missile.

Reason is that Shkhval guides Vikhr missiles with a low power shaped beam. It use wide beam, about 7 meters in diameter calculated to stay such at the Vikhr position. (Knowing Vikhr speed and time of launch, beam width is controlled so in time it gets narrower) And the Vikhr is just about to hit the target when the target laser detectors has enough energy to detect the laser and then Vikhr hits.

 

 

Here are some more if ur kind to answer me. When the laser switch is on but i only point the shkval to a target but i dont try to lock it, is the laser then on?

 

Laser is standby, but not emitting. It will emit laser energy only when you range (lock target, by releasing lock button and not pressing it) or when it is designating target for laser guided missiles and bombs like Kh-25ML, but you need to set Shkval to designator mode (left of the Shkval TV).

 

And when i lock and it ranges and i get a lock, is the laser still on or does it shutoff after ranging.

 

It fires laser for a second or so and calculates a median of the ranged values. If you have designator mode, it will fire as long as told. Heating up the laser emitter.

 

And when i fire i see for example 15sec but the vihkr hits when 6 or 7 seconds are left, is the laser still on for those last 6 to 7 seconds?

 

Yes, laser is On for those extra seconds as Shkval doesnt track missile anyways, it only calculates the range and the Vikhr speed and generates the time how long guidance beam is required to be emitting.

But that is in DCS, while in reality it should keep beaming until unlocked, as target might move further or you start to get further after launch or stop if at speed when launching. And for air targets the target defineatly would change range so guidance must go until stopped or heat generated too high.

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Lol, now you know why we BS pilots want Igla's. It's hard enough just to get the thing to turn and maneuver. :lol:

 

 

As for Auto hover,

 

 

Turn on Auto hover. Altitude hold will also turn on. Slow down to very slow and get to about where you want to hover. HOLD DOWN the trimmer button, and wrestle the copter into as good as a hover as you can, over the spot where you want to hover. Release the trimmer button. Auto hover should kick in with 20% control of the cyclic stick. If you want to change your altitude in hover, move the collective to get to the height you want, then hit F on your keyboard (collective brake). This should set the new altitude in auto-hover.

 

 

Remember, this is a heli. It's kind of like grabbing a tornado and trying to control it. So don't expect it to do exactly what you want with a touch of your finger. You get used to it! :smilewink:

 

Also i have to hold left rudder constantly to keep the same heading. Is that because of wind perphaps? Is that also why autohover acts weird?

 

Yes, and Yes. Strong winds can very much affect the helicopter. You need to trim. Hold down the trimmer, and maneuver until the heli is doing what you want ( direction, etc. ). Release the trimmer. Now the heli knows what you want to do, and the flight control computer will try to keep it going that direction. If you ever want to turn off the flight control computer for fast maneuvering, etc. without having to fight it, you can turn on Flight Director mode. This releases the 20% control by the FCC, and only vibration dampening is kept on.

 

How am i supposed to know if the tank i locked on to is friendly or not with certainty?

 

Lol, your eyes! One good way to tell if it's enemy or not is, is it shooting at you? You just need to learn the various tanks, APC's, etc, and their silhouettes. Also, zooming in your Shkval as far as it will go (21x?, I think?) helps a lot as well. Not sure about your contrast problems, I never fiddle with the contrast. You should just realize the shkval is nothing that great (and probably realistically modeled).

 

When your in combat on the battlefield at low level, things get fast and tight. Without VR, situational awareness is very hard while trying to maneuver. Spin your head around with your mouse, and look out the windows as much as you can, to keep knowledge of the battleground. Of course, that's VERY hard while trying to fly at the same time. Triple monitors and head tracking help. (Wish I had them!)

 

 

Watch out for other attack heli's. The Cobra's will usually launch TOW-2 at you, and they are hard to dodge. At close range, they will gun you down with extreme precision. It is also very hard to lock heli's with the shkval unless they are very close to you. Fighters are near IMPOSSIBLE to lock, because of their speed. And vhikers usually don't do well against them for the same reason.


Edited by 3WA
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WRT the auto-hover.

From memory (years since I read it), the manual says don't engage the auto-hover at more than 20km/h.

I'm pretty sure the recommended procedure is to get as close to (in) a stable hover as possible, then engage the auto hover.

Once you get below 20km/h or so the a line will appear on the HUD showing your speed and direction. Use that to get corrections before hitting auto-hover.

 

 

If you always have to put left rudder in, check your controls to make sure everything's centred.

 

Simple test - If it's wind, and heading North you need left rudder to correct, you should need right rudder if you turn to head South. If you still need left rudder - it's your controls.

 

Also remember - if you're flying N at 40 km/h with a 30 km/h crosswind from the E, the aircraft will naturally want to point at 37 degrees East of North, & to align North you'll have to counter an apparent wind of 50 km/h from 37 degrees

 

If you go into a hover, the aircraft will just want to point East.

Cheers.

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Your rudder problem might be you fighting the autopilot.

 

With the Heading channel active it will attempt to keep your nose on whatever you had it trimmed to last. If you're in a hover and actively sweeping across the battlefield for targets you can use the Auto-Turn button which trys to put your Shkval target on your nose. Or you can turn off the Heading channel off altogether.

 

The KA-50's autopilot system takes a lot of getting used to and it can feel like you're constantly having to fight it.

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damn i wrote some stuff but something happend and now ive to write again. Thanks for the answers, yeah im pretty sure its wind since controls are centered IRL and in game and correctly trimming a heading it still wont hold, that is without route mode or a nav point. auto turn helps but the 20 percent authority isnt enuff. so i have to hold left rudder constantly, which is hard on a ps4 controller, lolz. gotta buy a hotas and trackir. question: when doing a acampaign i can check the F10 map and see all the unhiden targets. isnt that tottally unrealistic? and before doing a mission i can check the mission planner and see all of my targets. should i refrain from using both for realism? and can i aslo check that F10 map in multiplayer?

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If I remember right, if you go into options, there are check boxes for how much the F10 map will show. You can make it where it shows only what your sides intelligence has picked up.

 

 

And yeah, the 20% control is WAY too little, most of the time. Especially when it comes to strong wind. It's really only meant for calm, summer days.


Edited by 3WA
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"I'm pretty sure the recommended procedure is to get as close to (in) a stable hover as possible, then engage the auto hover."

 

I believe that's correct.

 

That said... I don't use Auto-Hover any more. Maybe sometimes when a ways from the AO and I need to hide somewhere to get my bearings or something, or plan an approach to the AO after "seeing" it...

 

But the AH will get you killed. The AI can be smart. They'll range you and you'll get an "Under Attack" warning from the LWS. Move and reset it. After that though... if they think your range didn't change much they won't range you again :)... They'll just go all HEAT round all over your ass :).

 

So... Don't sit still :). A slow strafe is your friend :).

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Regarding the 20% rudder not being enough...

 

It's 20% from the trimmed position...

 

So you can select the rudder trim option in the KA-50 settings and use the rudder to get what you need, then release trim and it will work if the rudder has enough capability to hold the airframe in the current conditions.

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Actually it's not "rudder trim", it's trim. Rudder trim is a fantasy aspect put in by ED, and yeah, not on the real heli. I'd keep it off. Trim is a 20% pull on your force feedback joystick ( i.e. it changes the center to where ever it was when you released the trim button ). It is controlled by the coaxial blades. Now, the FCC can control it up to 20% of it's movement range. (So, as someone above said, if your in a strong wind, and want to hold your position, you can hold down the trim button, lean into the wind till you are holding your position, then let go of the trim button. Your stick will re-center to that position (even if it's like hard left or right). The Flight Control Computer will now move the stick up to 20% of available movement from that position in order to hold your position against the wind.) You get used to it. And if you want to turn it off quickly, you can hit the Flight Director button. Then hit it again later to turn the AP channels back on. I don't advise turning off all the AP channels manually, as that turns off dampening controls, like the one that keeps your nose from oscillating.

 

 

The one thing I have never tried, what if your stick is at maximum movement range, and you let go of the trimmer? While it may re-center, I don't think the autopilot will be able to go even 1% beyond that maximum movement range. So, in the heaviest winds, autopilot may not be able to hold position.


Edited by 3WA
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"And if you want to turn it off quickly, you can ..."

 

...depress the trimmer button on your stick.

 

Pressing the trimmer immediately disables alt, yaw & pitch AP channels and only leaves the stability augmentation. & you don't have to let go of the stick.

Cheers.

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yeah i use trim all the time, but i dont use rudder trim, even though thats what i would need to be countering the wind without having to constantly press it. i just dont like it and its akward not knowing to where ur rudder is actaully centred at. but whats this nose oscillating about? what does oscillating even mean, vibrating?

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Yeah, supposedly, without the AP channels on, you can get nose oscillation and various other weird vibrations. Oscillating means moving in a circle. Hold your elbow in position at one point in space, then move your whole hand in a small circle. That's oscillating. So, the middle of the helicopter would probably be the fixed point in space, while the nose would be going in a small circle ( and thus the back rudder would be too, in the opposite direction ). Probably caused by the torque from the rotors.

 

 

I remember someone was complaining about it in the UH-1 module, that it got excessive nose oscillation. I don't own that module, so I couldn't say. Never have really experienced it myself, in the Shark, but I always keep the AP channels on and use Flight Director. I'll have to try turning them all off one day, and see what happens.

 

 

If you really want some good tech info on the Shark though, you should post in the Russian forums. That's where all the developers and Shark connoisseurs hang out. They can tell you a lot more than I ever could.


Edited by 3WA
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