[CORRECT AS IS NOW ]Problems with TPOD control

TPOD control is messed up. Current build is 2.5.6.49798

TRK attached. Throughout this training mission, I could not tell where the blipping eff, the TPOD was looking at. Even centered it was displaying solid color image.

There is really messed up functionality, or lack of it, in DCS: Hornet LiteningII.

I noticed that if JDAM is placed in TOO mode, TPOD will not uncage or will not recenter. But if JDAM is in PP (preplanned), then it does not accept target data, and flies whereever after release. If target is designated and stabilized in TPOD view, and JDAM is switched from PP to TOO (tgt of opp), TPOD looses target and does what ever! At other times. exactly when I am uncertain, TPOD will not uncage , nor can be centered. So what is going on!

Unresponsive_TPOD_FA18C.trk

There's seems to be a bug with the pod and JDAM/JSOW in TOO mode, it always seems to have a designation point visible where there shouldn't be one, you can see the point when you're lined up on the runway and the arrow pointing towards it in the HUD. Seems as if the pod is always trying to point to that imaginary location, even if a TGT position does not exist. Using JDAM/JSOW in PP mode seems to avoid that problem to some extent.

Also looks like at one point you pressed the Cage/Uncage button, which erroneously commands the pod to stow itself (top of the display usually reads -180° L in that condition), whereas it should be commanding Laser Spot Search. This particular issue is known.

Some of the issues have been discussed over in this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=275295

What I am seeing, assuming my interpretation is correct, is that TOO , parks or stowes, the sensor. As the little diamond is bottom / center in FLIR view . Sensor is stowed. WHich I verify by quick check in F2 external view.

AFAIK , JDAM and JSOW, need to be in TOO mode, for them to guide onto target designated by TPOD. PrePlan , weapon, needs pre-set target points or targets set in F10.

So both weapons need to be left in PP mode, otherwise,TPOD cant be used. But, weapon needs to be in TOO mode, prior to release. Releasing weapon in PP mode, with TPOD stable on target, results in a dud-guidance. With TPOD stabilized on target , putting JDAM or JSOW into TOO mode, resets sensor and stowes it. A kind of Catch-22.

Thankfully MavF sensor works fine. Even if it takes three minutes to be ready for use, after MavF is selected. By selected I mean pressed twice to enter Maveric IR sensor view. Which only works after gear is stowed. So warming it up (and cooling seeker), cant be accelerated by activating it during aircraft start-up.

What I am seeing, assuming my interpretation is correct, is that TOO , parks or stowes, the sensor. As the little diamond is bottom / center in FLIR view . Sensor is stowed. WHich I verify by quick check in F2 external view.

AFAIK , JDAM and JSOW, need to be in TOO mode, for them to guide onto target designated by TPOD. PrePlan , weapon, needs pre-set target points or targets set in F10.

So both weapons need to be left in PP mode, otherwise,TPOD cant be used. But, weapon needs to be in TOO mode, prior to release. Releasing weapon in PP mode, with TPOD stable on target, results in a dud-guidance. With TPOD stabilized on target , putting JDAM or JSOW into TOO mode, resets sensor and stowes it. A kind of Catch-22.

Thankfully MavF sensor works fine. Even if it takes three minutes to be ready for use, after MavF is selected. By selected I mean pressed twice to enter Maveric IR sensor view. Which only works after gear is stowed. So warming it up (and cooling seeker), cant be accelerated by activating it during aircraft start-up.

The only way I could use GPS weapons in TOO was by leaving them in PP, designating a target with the pod or WPDSG then switching the weapon to TOO. (of course all of fuses set beforehand) - one by one.

And... the pod was useless after all weapons were fired since there was no way to go back to PP mode.

If you have at least one GPS bomb left (in PP) then you can use the pod, designate, undesignate, even if you cage it you can still bring it back to snowplow/VVSL.

Anyways... It's borked up:noexpression:

Problem is also with MavE and lasing. Just getting TPOD onto target and staying there is absurdly difficult. I don't even know how to describe it.

With POD centered, TDC DEPRESS, to stabilize sensor on target, sends gd caret flying in all directions. I don't understand what it is doing. The ARM LASER, keep getting kicked to OFF, just by recentering the sensor , requiring a reset of laser ARM. Huh? What logic is this?

I have to make a new TRK, as the one for this thread exceeds 5mb limit.

You have to reset the goshdarned pod, and then reset the LTD/R . The amount of switches and steps to engage a target with TPOD and guided weapon is absurdly high. It cant be that complex in real world. It would be slow, and pilot would loose SA.

We have good procedure in A-10C and in AV-8B as a measure. ED has screwed up in this instance in F/A-18C.

Currently, in ATRK and PTRK modes, slew is disabled, but TDC depress will activate the offset aiming cursor, which is shown by a smaller crosshair that appears in the center of the seeker after TDC is depressed. Slewing the offset aiming cursor to a new position, and depressing TDC will move the TGT position to that new location, which the pod will snap to once the pod is back in inertial track mode (toggle out of ATRK or PTRK). This process will only work correctly if you do not have any JDAMs/JSOWs loaded in TOO mode.

Currently, the LTD/R switch will disengage if the laser is fired under AUTO mode for LGBs or automatic Laser Maverick deployment to prevent laser burnout. Not sure if the switch is supposed to physically disengage or if it's only supposed to stop the laser electronically, but it's WIP. You can bypass the automatic disengage by dropping LGBs in CCIP mode and manually lasing with [TRIG].

Either of the above points may change after the next update, so take it with a grain of salt.

You don't even have to be armed with GPS weapons. The whole control scheme is borked. Hitting un/cage ends up stowing the pod, and undesignate points you forward as far as it will go.

Currently, in ATRK and PTRK modes, slew is disabled, but TDC depress will activate the offset aiming cursor, which is shown by a smaller crosshair that appears in the center of the seeker after TDC is depressed. Slewing the offset aiming cursor to a new position, and depressing TDC will move the TGT position to that new location, which the pod will snap to once the pod is back in inertial track mode (toggle out of ATRK or PTRK). This process will only work correctly if you do not have any JDAMs/JSOWs loaded in TOO mode.

 

Currently, the LTD/R switch will disengage if the laser is fired under AUTO mode for LGBs or automatic Laser Maverick deployment to prevent laser burnout. Not sure if the switch is supposed to physically disengage or if it's only supposed to stop the laser electronically, but it's WIP. You can bypass the automatic disengage by dropping LGBs in CCIP mode and manually lasing with [TRIG].

 

Either of the above points may change after the next update, so take it with a grain of salt.

The what , the where and the how. Sorry buddy, I lost you after 1st ssentence.

When the pod is in Area Track mode, ATRK will appear in the top-left of the FLIR page, likewise for Point Track mode, it will show as PTRK. When the pod is not in either Area or Point track modes, it is in Inertial Track mode (top-left corner will be blank, in U.S. versions of the LITENING, Inertial Track mode is usually denoted by INR near the reticle). The tracking mode of the pod can be changed by pressing Sensor Control Switch (SCS) in the direction of the DDI the FLIR page is displayed on after TDC Priority has been assigned to it (currently the FLIR page can be pulled up on the MPCD, this is not correct, it should only be available on the DDIs).

In Inertial Track mode, you can slew the pod all day long and designate to your heart's content. However, if the pod is in Area or Point Track modes, slewing is disabled, and the Offset Aiming cursor becomes available. If in ATRK or PTRK mode, you can press TDC Depress, and a smaller crosshair will appear inside the tracking gate at the center of the display. This is the offset cursor, and can be freely slewed around the pod's field of view. You can use this offset cursor to designate a new TGT position with TDC Depress, and switching the pod back into Inertial Track mode will snap the pod to the new position.

Note, that using the offset cursor should currently not be used to try and designate targets for JDAM or JSOW, as the jet has no way to obtain the slant range to the offset position, which will lead to erroneous target coordinates until the pod can actually look directly at it.

There is an acknowledged bug currently that having a JDAM or JSOW loaded in TOO mode creates an erroneous TGT point (diamond) that causes the pod to get messed up (VVSLV will no longer be available and the pod won't seem to be able to exit ATRK or PTRK modes). https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=4358556&postcount=8

If you have an LGB set to drop in AUTO, the computer will automatically command the targeting pod to lase at a calculated time based on the time-to-impact (TTI) as long as the LTD/R switch is armed. A few seconds after TTI reaches 0, the computer commands the jet to stop lasing by moving the LTD/R switch to SAFE automatically in order to disengage the laser and prevent it from burning out. I don't know if it's supposed to disengage the switch mechanically, or simply tell the pod to stop lasing electronically. At the moment the switch is physically disengaged and will require placing back to ARM to attack again.

However, if your LGBs are programmed to drop in CCIP instead, you can lase manually with the Trigger (TRIG) option, and the LTD/R switch will not move back to SAFE until you unbox the TRIG option. I don't know if unboxing TRIG is supposed to make the LTD/R switch go back to SAFE.

Pod is still WIP, hopefully we'll see fixes next week.

Makes my head spin. Flew around in a small training mission trying to designate moving vehicles with the TPOD. Had to put the cursor in front of them, wait for the car to drive underneath the cursor, and then quickly change to point-track.

Hopefully one can move the cursor again after next patch, kind of like the IR Mavericks

really… its nosense complex workload... i hope in a fix or at least an option in DCS to make it "old style" .

really… its nosense complex workload... i hope in a fix or at least an option in DCS to make it "old style" .

It's really not that complicated, you just need to learn it.

Slewable in point track

It seems that I don't have the new pod, because I have the stable version, but I think that the TGP must be slewable in point track, It don't work on my version either. I really don't now why, or the point, that you should do the TGP unslewable in any track. Do you?

It seems that I don't have the new pod, because I have the stable version, but I think that the TGP must be slewable in point track, It don't work on my version either. I really don't now why, or the point, that you should do the TGP unslewable in any track. Do you?

Because the point of the track modes is so that it doesnt move, if you want to move the pod use INR