fixed [REPORTED]Radar altitude

In-game it seems like radar altitude measures the distance from a line going directly down from your plane. If you bank that line moves rapidly across the ground further away from you showing the radar altitude increasing, although you are still on the same altitude. I might be wrong here but that is what i have noticed. Of course in the real plane radar altitude is the altitude directly from your plane down to the ground. If you bank it will still be directly down and if you bank to the radar altitudes edge it will show 000 as your altitude.

Of course in the real plane radar altitude is the altitude directly from your plane down to the ground. If you bank it will still be directly down and if you bank to the radar altitudes edge it will show 000 as your altitude.

How does it read the ground "directly down" if you bank? Considering the antennas are two square antennas below the nose.

This are the radar altitude antennas

AFAIK, the rear antenna will read the signal from the front antenna, the time will determine the distance.

How does it read the ground "directly down" if you bank? Considering the antennas are two square antennas below the nose.

This are the radar altitude antennas

[ATTACH]237130[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

AFAIK, the rear antenna will read the signal from the front antenna, the time will determine the distance.

The radar should pick up signals bounced from the ground. If the signals send out at an angle they wont return to the plane. That is why you only get the range directly down. And also the reason for why when you bank too much it goes from the correct altitude to 0,000.

Multiply the radar altitude by the cosine of your bank angle? Just speculation, but doesn’t seem that hard to do.

Radar emissions are no laser pointer.

The radar distance warner of your car will also work at a slight angle. It's now just a matter of taking the quickest echo as closest distance, guessing that the ground is closest directly below given a near flat surface.

Unless the F-16 has some magic, it should have a relatively narrow beam perpendicular to the axis of the aircraft. As mentioned above, when you bank - that distance increases. Bank past a certain point on flat terrain, and you no longer get a reading. What you have to look out for is low flying in a hilly area. Take a valley for example, your rad-alt might say 500' if you are above the valley floor, but the hill to one side is only 100' from your wing-tip. If you then bank level with the slope, your rad-alt should show that lower height, not the height to the valley floor. If you bank the other way, towards the slope, the rad-alt will show more than the original 500', even though the ground directly below you is only 100' away at best. 'taint rocket science.

As I understand it, the APN-232 radar altimeter has a pretty wide cone of 65 degrees bank and 45 degrees pitch.

The system reports the closest return within that entire area, so it's really more of a radar than an altimeter.

Given a flat terrain, this would report the correct altitude up to the 65/45 limits of the cone.

In-game it seems like radar altitude measures the distance from a line going directly down from your plane. If you bank that line moves rapidly across the ground further away from you showing the radar altitude increasing, although you are still on the same altitude.

Isn't that normal behavior? The radar altimeter equipment isn't on a gimbal keeping it pointed straight down towards the earth, is it? Across all ED and 3rd party modules, the described behavior is the same.

Radar altimeters radiate in a rather wide pattern, say 60-90 degrees at half power falloff. The received bounce from the ground doesn't come back as a single spike but a signal which is processed. The lower the aircraft the stronger the signal return off axis allowing the terrain to be sensed off the peak sensitivity direction. At high altitudes the return off-axis is too weak (even with the transmit power ramped up automatically) to get a usable return.

Brochure: https://www.raincrosshosting.com/navcom/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/CARA-Brochure.pdf