Making Markers Clarification

Help me understand:

1. I slew to the target with TGP

2. TMS short right

3. Change waypoint to mark points

4. TMS aft long to make them act as SPI

5. use up/down switch to change mark points

6. Use chinahat forward to focus mark point(spi)

7. Use mav TMS up to aim

8. fire

I managed to do with this ONCE, but now I can't... what am I doing wrong?

I see nothing wrong per se with the order of button presses you wrote down. But it seems like you're following a script without understanding what's actually happening, and then a single misstep will throw you off balance.

This whole SOI and SPI thing isn't perfectly self explanatory, but once you actually understand it, it's really cool and allows you to juggle sensors quickly.

Possibly one of the aspects most pilots don't realize at first is the SPI Generator. The SPI Generator is always noted on the lower left corner of your HUD. by default, that's "STPT", your current Steerpoint, and using "Slave all to SPI" with STPT as SPI Generator will do just that, slave all your sensors (TGP, TAD, MAV) to the current steerpoint.

Also quite common is setting TGP as SPI Generator and slaving all other sensors to the TGP.

Anyway, in order to help you with your current problem, a track would be really helpful. Also, please note down the DCS version you're using; sometimes there are problems in one version that aren't present in another.

1) Slew TGP to target and use "TMS Right Short" to create a mark point over it.

2) Keep doing the same until you mark all of your stationary targets.

3) Switch your STEER PT dial to MARK so you can cycle through them.

4) Press "HOTAS Coolie Switch UP Short" to set HUD as SOI. Select the desired markpoint with "DMS UP/DOWN Short".

5) Set MAV as SOI by pressing "HOTAS Coolie Switch LEFT/RIGHT Long" depending on the MFCD you are using for MAV.

6) Press "CHINA HAT FORWARD Long" to slave all sensors to SPI.

7) Press "TMS UP Short" to force the MAV seeker to try and lock to what its looking at.

1) Slew TGP to target and use "TMS Right Short" to create a mark point over it.

 

2) Keep doing the same until you mark all of your stationary targets.

 

3) Switch your STEER PT dial to MARK so you can cycle through them.

 

4) Press "HOTAS Coolie Switch UP Short" to set HUD as SOI. Select the desired markpoint with "DMS UP/DOWN Short".

 

5) Set MAV as SOI by pressing "HOTAS Coolie Switch LEFT/RIGHT Long" depending on the MFCD you are using for MAV.

 

6) Press "CHINA HAT FORWARD Long" to slave all sensors to SPI.

 

7) Press "TMS UP Short" to force the MAV seeker to try and lock to what its looking at.

I am having difficulty doing this also,new to A-10C.

Can you explain more on step 3? I don't know what STEER PT dial is..

I am having difficulty doing this also,new to A-10C.

 

Can you explain more on step 3? I don't know what STEER PT dial is..

On the CDU console, there are two grey knobs under the keypad. The left one is the STEER PT (point) dial. Should say things like Flight Plan, Mark, Mission, etc.

During normal flight it should be at Flight Plan - this means you can only select waypoints which were input at the beginning of the flight. If you were to enter a new waypoint of your own during the flight, you would then need to turn the dial to Mission to be able to select that new waypoint as your current steerpoint.

When you make a 'markpoint', you need to turn the dial to Mark. Then, when going through your waypoints you will notice that some are called A, B, C and so on. These are your markpoints in the order they were created.

I am having difficulty doing this also,new to A-10C.

 

Can you explain more on step 3? I don't know what STEER PT dial is..

It's the rotary knob on the bottom left corner of the auxiliary avionics panel.

You can find more information about it in the a-10c flight manual under the section called "Auxiliary Avionics Panel (AAP)". Flight manual is located inside (installation directory > Mods > aircraft > A-10C > Doc).

Also if you are starting to learn this, you should get in the habit of making accurate mark points, you want to turn on the laser and hit the ground underneath the target.

You see a good example here the reason to use the laser. Watch how far off the mark points are, the A-10 has no knowledge of the targets, only the terrain it's sitting on.

This one below I'm dropping 4 GBU38 on 4 different Targets in one pass. I use the latch (ON) command here (Then mark point low down on each target). Using the latch on keeps the laser on when you press the Nose Wheel Steering (NWS) Button, press it again to turn it off, you can see the L flashing.

kylekatarn720 and David_OC posts helped :) I figured how it works.

I just need to practice a bit more.

I tend to loose distance when doing all this and approach my targets too fast.

Need to be better I think.

Take your time when you are practicing. If it seems like you cant make it in time and fly over target while doing all of that, just increase the distance to target and try again.

At the beginning, learning how to do it right is the main issue rather than doing it quickly. So just take your time and learn the process.

And like Yurgon said, its really important to understand how it all works, otherwise you are just memorizing which buttons to press in what order. Spend some time with the flight manual, it will help a lot.

kylekatarn720 and David_OC posts helped :) I figured how it works.

 

I just need to practice a bit more.

 

I tend to loose distance when doing all this and approach my targets too fast.

 

Need to be better I think.

Know the ranges of your weapons and the range(s) of what you're attacking. If you have to establish an intermediate IP in order to orbit and mark the really dangerous hardware, do it. Better to take an extra few minutes and be sure you have targets prioritized than to just fly in and get zapped by something you didn't see.

I tend to loose distance when doing all this and approach my targets too fast.

Like the others said, no need to rush it.

Set up a nice orbit with good visibility on the target area, while staying out of the enemy's range. Take all the time you need to get your switchology figured out, and then when you roll in on the target, you can focus 100% on ingress, attack and egress. :thumbup:

Like the others said, no need to rush it.

 

Set up a nice orbit with good visibility on the target area, while staying out of the enemy's range. Take all the time you need to get your switchology figured out, and then when you roll in on the target, you can focus 100% on ingress, attack and egress. :thumbup:

:thumbup::thumbup::joystick::joystick:

Late to the party, but here's my take on it, as well, in case it may help someone.

^^^ Worthwhile Video ^^^

His CDU Tutorial is also excellent!

^^^ Worthwhile Video ^^^

 

His CDU Tutorial is also excellent!

Hey, thanks! I watched it again recently and think I could make a shorter version, too. The video runs a bit long but I wanted to be through. I have a Spark Notes version on the back burner, so hopefully I can get it done "soon."