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Radar elevation operation in relation to expected target?


madeiner

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Sometimes i find i want to check a zone (that i can see in the game world, such as a valley) with my radar, but i'm not sure how to point the radar antenna to cover that zone that i phisically see.

 

In this image correct?

Do i point the antenna at the red/yellow caret to scan the red/yellow zone respectively, regardless of my altitude or distance?

Screen_180531_181345.thumb.png.588fdc365eb2d30c814c2fba0e63d593.png

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if you have an enemy you see with your eyeball you shouldnt go heads down, just go into one of the visual aacq modes and point your nose at it.

 

if its a bvr contact you can make some estimate of its altitude (you're 9kft, you can bet on a scan of an altitude slice from 0 - 9kft would include them)

at bvr ranges your radar should be able to cover a generous enough vertical area that range estimates can be off by a good bit and you'll still get them in your beam

 

get used to thinking about your target in terms of its actual altitude instead of angular relation to you because that makes coordinating with other elements easier


Edited by probad
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Sometimes i find i want to check a zone (that i can see in the game world, such as a valley) with my radar, but i'm not sure how to point the radar antenna to cover that zone that i phisically see.

 

In this image correct?

Do i point the antenna at the red/yellow caret to scan the red/yellow zone respectively, regardless of my altitude or distance?

 

Do not use the radar elevation caret as a guide, much less correlate it to the HUD pitch ladder.

 

Use the radar Bearing / Range indicator (bottom left, reads BRA) and the cursor (TDC) altitude range.

 

Move cursor until the bearing / range is good and move the antenna until the cursor altitude min/max overlaps the patch of sky you want to cover.

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Do not use the radar elevation caret as a guide, much less correlate it to the HUD pitch ladder.

 

Use the radar Bearing / Range indicator (bottom left, reads BRA) and the cursor (TDC) altitude range.

 

Move cursor until the bearing / range is good and move the antenna until the cursor altitude min/max overlaps the patch of sky you want to cover.

 

 

Sure, but this doesn't work when you want to scan a visual area, for example when you suspect the enemy is in "that valley over there" and you are at 20k feet. I can't estimate the range correctly most of the times, and i end up finding the target too late.

 

Some other times, i want to know if someone is taking off from an airport. I don't know the exact distance out and i'm too high to estimate the angle correctly. Do i point the antenna 20 degrees down or 30? That makes a lot of difference

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I dunno, I don't think elevation *angle* is all that helpful. That angle will change constantly unless you're diving, he's climbing, and you're pointed at each other. In which case you don't need to change your radar elevation. In all other circumstances, you will.

 

You need to know altitude, not angle. Move the TDC gate around the screen, look at the top and bottom numbers, that'll give you a good idea of the altitudes you're scanning at various distances.

 

Angels 20 strikes me as kind of an awkward height. You aren't exactly sneaking around, but you aren't exactly taking the high ground either. If you think about it, it's a lot easier to set your radar up if you're on the deck, or at 40,000

Ryzen 5600X (stock), GBX570, 32Gb RAM, AMD 6900XT (reference), G2, WInwing Orion HOTAS, T-flight rudder

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If you are close enough to need to be that precise, I think your solution is the ACM modes. Specifically, I’d use the JHMCS with LACQ mode, which will lock up to 10 miles and follow wherever you look. So you could turn it on and visually sweep the valley.

 

Outside of 10 miles, your beam gets wide enough to use the altitude carets on the radar page to get a good scan.

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Sure, but this doesn't work when you want to scan a visual area

 

Sure it works. I've never seen anyone using the technique you are describing either in sim or IRL.

 

Some other times, i want to know if someone is taking off from an airport. I don't know the exact distance out and i'm too high to estimate the angle correctly. Do i point the antenna 20 degrees down or 30? That makes a lot of difference

 

That's exactly your problem. You SHOULD know the distance to not have to estimate any angles.

 

Perhaps because you should not focusing on clear a "valley over there". You should clear airspace in front of you, and divide that airspace into zones of priority. Your priority is not let anyone come inside 10nm without you knowing it long before. Therefore you should be aware of your distance to a certain point in the space at all times, and scan around and beyond that point in order to know in advance whether you should engage or not. You should maximize the amount of information you have on the battlespace, and that includes scanning around the zone you are interested in. To help achieve that, you can use Bullseye or other waypoints as a reference, or even make waypoints yourself.

 

And you should not tunnel vision on scanning only the ground, outside the guy at 40k feet is gonna get you. What you should do is always alternate between scanning low and high, or divide this task amongst your wingman.

 

It's hard for me to write down since its became second nature after doing this for 10+ years in various flight sims. Feel free to hit me so we can hop in an online server so we can work it out more easily.


Edited by SFJackBauer
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