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Assign Frequency Presets for Helicopters in Mission Editor (Mod)


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  • Have you been in your Ka-50 or Mi-8 and wished that the frequencies on the R-828 were useful?
  • As a mission builder, would you like to assign presets for the R-828, R-863, ARK-22, and ARC-51 so that everybody could tune into the same frequency?
  • Finally, would you like to change your radio presets without having to manually edit Lua files in your DCS World folder?

If you answered yes to any of these questions (or for that matter know any mission builder who answered yes), then this mod is for you! :thumbup:

 

 

What started as a function request on the Mi-8 subforum has become a full-fledged mod that is now available in the DCS User Files. Imp wrote some code that quickly inspired development across other helicopters/devices by tarres, Flagrum and Home Fries. Now we have on-the-fly adjustable presets for the following helicopters/radios:

 

  • Mi-8: R-828 and R-863 radios
  • Ka-50: R-828 radio and ARK-22 ADF
  • UH-1: ARC-51 UHF Radio (20 presets)

 

Here's how it works (Mission Builder):

 

  1. The mission builder installs the mod, and the presets are available for edit in the mission editor. I have set the starting values to the default values for each device (exception: R-863 which has no defaults, so I used a frequency list by Cibit).
  2. The mission builder sets the frequencies desired for each preset on each applicable radio.
  3. Upon saving the mission, the presets are stored in the mission itself. No need to manually edit frequencies in DCS World Lua files!

 

 

How it Works (Player):

 

  1. Players/Clients with helicopters need to have the mod installed (master mod and whatever helicopter modules they have). This is necessary for the updated Lua code.
  2. The updated Lua code assigns the default presets, but checks for presets in the mission file and assigns those presets on the fly if they exist. If no presets exist in the mission editor (i.e. mission created without the mod), then the default presets remain.

This way, there is no risk in keeping the mod installed. The default presets will be loaded with any unmodded mission, and any client that does not have the mod loaded with a modded mission will just get the default frequencies. There are no known crash issues or compatibility issues with this mod (other than people who don't have the mod not tuning the frequencies).

 

One note: saving a modded mission with an unmodded mission editor will remove any frequency preset values, making it a "normal" mission.

 

The mod is JSGME compatible and comes in four components: a master component and all three helicopters. Only enable the helicopter mods for modules that you own.

 

Here's hoping that this feature becomes part of a future build of DCS World. In the meantime, make it part of your own DCS World! :joystick:


Edited by Home Fries
ARK-22 limitations removed
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I'm not sure, Tarres; enabling the helicopters was primarily just use of "end" commands in the ME luas. That said, if the presets are editable in the mission but not readable in the aircraft, then adding the code to the UHF radio lua should be possible.

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  • Do not apply the following airfield beacons in the mission editor, as they conflict with other airfields and cannot currently be resolved in the LUA files:
    • Smolenskaya - 662khz
    • Kosovoslk - 995khz
    • Grozny-East - 830khz
    • Kalaus - 735khz
    • Gali - 525khz
    • Senaki Inner - 129khz (below ARK-22 frequency threshold)

     

What is exactly the issue here? Iirc the ARK should work fine, only the corresponding entry on the beacon placard will not be resolved to a airfield name, but list just the frequency.

 

edit:

re-checked it in the cockpit ... ok, the first matching airfield is listed on the placard - is it that what you meant?


Edited by Flagrum
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@Home Fries & @Tarres

 

I've fiddled around with the ARK-22 code.

 

This is what I've done so far:

1. ME radio tab for ARK-22: changed wording of the labels, corrected wrong default preset for #8/inner.

 

2. Corrected an issue where a preset freq. in the ME was not always loaded correctly into the ARK-22 in the helo. (If one subchannel was a runway marker beacon, the other subchannel automatically was set to the other runway beacon, no matter what was set in the ME)

 

3. The inscription of the placard now works as follows:

 

The ARK-22 presets are split into two subchannels (inner/outer) per channel (1-8). This way, the beacon pairs at the end of the runways can be easily selected in the cockpit. Nevertheless, it is possible to use the ARK-22 for other types of beacons.

 

In the cockpit, the placard on the right lists all presets. Each selectable ARK preset is divided into two entries, one for the inner beacon, one for the outer beacon. If a different beacon type is used as preset, this "I"/"O" indication is a bit misleading. Therefore I added an additional hint (a "*" in front of the beacon name) to allow to distinguish between those.

 

Therefore this basic rule applies: if the beacon name is of the form "* beacon" it is NOT an inner or outer runway beacon as the placard indicator would suggest. It is rather either an general airdome beacon, a NDB or any other radio transmitter. The "I"/"O" indication is more a subchannel identification in the cockpit than necessarily a description of the beacon type itself.

 

This will probably become much clearer once you see the example in the attachment:

attachment.php?attachmentid=114597&stc=1&d=1425928942

 

Remarks for the examples:

channel 1

525 KHz as outer beacon = Mozdok Outer

525 KHz as inner beacon: no inner beacon exists with that freq., but there is NDB Gali

 

channel 2

(here I reversed the freq. for outer and inner of channel 3)

830 Khz as outer: no outer beacon with that freq. exists, but NDB Grozy does

408 KHz as inner: no inner beacon exists, no airdome beacon and no NDB. Therefore only the frequency is shown

 

channel 3

408 as outer beacon = Krymsk outer

830 as inner beacon = Krymsk inner

(just listed here as complement to example for channel 2)

 

channel 4

430 as outer beacon: no inner or outer beacons exist, but airdome beacon Batumi does

666 as inner beacon: random example, similar to channel 2/inner

 

channel 5-7

original ARK presets

 

channel 8

original presets (yes, those always were NDBs)

 

 

What do you guys think? Is this intelligibly and coherent? Are all your cases covered, Torres?

 

If you think this will work, I will clean up my code a bit and hand it over to Home Fries.

ark-22.thumb.jpg.89ce563b2ba8e7b8d639afb801d2bd3c.jpg

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Two additional things worth mentioning, I think:

1. See the examples for channel 2 and 3 again:

#2 inner is set to 408 KHz and #3 outer is also set to the same frequency and on the map only one beacon exists with that frequency. Still #3 outer is labeled with the airdrome name KRYMSK and #2 inner is not. Why is that so? Answer: the combination of frequency + beacon type has priority over just the frequency.

Basically think about it this way: the ARK-22 purpose is to aid the approach to the runway (therefore the two subchannels). Therefore, the closer a beacon is to the runway, the higher priority for it to appear as label on the placard. Sounds logical? I think so ... but can still be a bit confusing at a first glance, right?

 

2. All this only concerns the placard. The function of the device is not affected at all - with all it's potential quirks.

Example: while testing, I sat in my helo at Sukhumi, about 40 nm away from Gali. But I got only indications for Mozdok, no matter if I selected (according to the placard) "Mozdok Outer" or "* Gali" (both share the freq. 525 KHz). What was wrong? So I took off and flew towards Gali. And yes, you already guessed it, at about 20 nm out of Gali, the needle started to turn - from Mozdok to Gali ... for both subchannels (as expected, ofc).

So, don't let yourself get confused by the labels - keep in mind that only the frequency behind that label is, what really counts.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Regardless of what modules you own, you should see frequency tabs for all 3 helicopters. Make sure you have the "Master" mod enabled for it to work in the mission editor (or the "Master - Cargo & Helipads Compatible" version if you use upuaut's Cargo and Helipads mod).

 

Also, do you use JSGME, or did you copy the files directly to your DCS World folder? I recommend using JSGME so that you can easily disable/re-enable after a DCS patch.

 

Please let me know exactly how you have it set up, including which components you installed and how you installed them. Then I can better help you troubleshoot the issue.

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Yes, I use JSGME. I have several mods, but to troubleshoot I disabled all of them except for "GUI - Adjustable Frequency Presets for Flyable Helicopters (Master)", which I re-enabled just to be sure nothing was overwritten. Without enabling the "Ka-50 - Adjustable Frequency Presets (Module)" mod, I was able to change the radio frequencies of the Ka-50 when set to Client, but the same was not true for either the UH-1H or the Mi-8MTV2.

 

To reiterate, I disabled all my mods in JSGME, then enable "GUI - Adjustable Frequency Presets for Flyable Helicopters (Master)" and nothing else.

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To reiterate, I disabled all my mods in JSGME, then enable "GUI - Adjustable Frequency Presets for Flyable Helicopters (Master)" and nothing else.

 

Looks like you're doing it right. Just verify that you have the following files in the master mod's Scripts\database\helicopters folder:

 

  • AB-212ASW.lua
  • Ka-50.lua
  • Mi-8MT.lua

If missing files aren't the issue, I don't know what to say. I was unable to duplicate the bug with a basic DCS install unmodded except for the master mod.

 

EDIT: One detail: on the Ka-50, the frequency tab is the tab furthest to the right. The frequency tab on the Mi-8 and UH-1 is the second furthest from the right.


Edited by Home Fries
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Looks like you're doing it right. Just verify that you have the following files in the master mod's Scripts\database\helicopters folder:

 

  • AB-212ASW.lua
  • Ka-50.lua
  • Mi-8MT.lua

Nope, no issue with missing files.

mods%20loaded_zpsakkjnady.jpg

radio1_zpsyrg6ho3d.jpg

radio2_zpslbiupkvk.jpg

radio3_zps3604ugx5.jpg

 

I'll have to ask a couple friends to see if they are having the same issue.

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Those screenshots are interesting. The UH-1 and Mi-8 both display as client, but the text for the helo is not yellow like the Ka-50.

 

In order for the frequency preset menu to display, the helicopters have to be clients (like you have), so I wonder if not having the module is causing this issue.

 

I will test this on my laptop tomorrow to see if I can duplicate your results.

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Xeno,

 

Unfortunately, it appears that you need to have the module installed in order to get the extra tabs. This is a shortcoming of the Mission Editor, and AFAIK cannot be corrected on my end (besides, all of my lua edits in the Master Mod were module agnostic).

 

I tested this on my laptop with the Ka-50 and UH-1 installed, and the special tabs wouldn't show for the Mi-8 (nor could the Mi-8 be selected as "player"). I then uninstalled the Ka-50 and when I went back into the ME I couldn't even create fix points or target waypoints for the PVI-800.

 

This has apparently been the case for some time. Hopefully it is fixed in DCSW 2.0. Heck, hopefully this mod is somehow incorporated into DCSW 2.0 and made obsolete. :D

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