Difficulty getting laser designator to fire

[melchionda]

I got pretty proficient with the A10C but now since the A10CII I find myself running into all sorts of issues. One of them is how to employ the targeting pod laser. As long as the targeting pod is SOI is there any reason why the laser might not fire?  Before the A10CII release I remember being able to fire the laser designator pretty easily. Now it seems like there might be some conditions or settings that I am unaware of to get it to fire?  

 

For example:

- Do you need to have the target already locked up as a POINT track target to fire the laser?

- Does a specific weapon have to be selected?

[EasyEB]

One reason can be that the point you wish to fire the laser at is outside the masking zone. In DCS we unfortunately have an unrealistically narrow masking zone which does not adapt to what is currently loaded to the plane, which the real world pod does.

Edited January 8 by EasyEB

[Foka]

A-10C II's TGP is 100% this same as A-10C, so it's something you're doing makes it not work.

AFAIR the only change is now LATCH option is on by default.

 

There might be two things:

1. As EasyB said - if laser is masked, on TGP and HUD you'll have letter M and you can't fire it (even if you see target on camera)

2. With TGP SOI if you press DMS right short you can swith laser to pointer mode and it won't guide the deployed weapon.

[melchionda]

Thanks guys... You were right... it was the mask issue.  The reason I am seeing it now is that we didn't have laser guided rockets on the old A10 so I am attempting to do something different with the new A10 that I wasn't doing with the old one.  Essentially, I was trying to set up my "laze" while I was still in orbit around the target.  My plan was stay in orbit, laze... then turn in and fire the rocket.  I began to notice that I had a much better chance of getting a successful laze the closer the target was to bore sight and so therefore not masked.  

 

[Foka]

Remember about laser burn out time. You can't use it forever. AFAIR it's around 9 mins... Or 20? It's acumulative, so the laser doesn't "coo down" when it's off.

[frostycab]

Another point to bear in mind regarding the laser is when you apply power to the TGP. I got into the habit of just turning everything on during startup, and then rearming. I found that if I flipped the laser power on before the TGP was loaded then the laser would not fire. Cycling the laser power off and on again fixed the issue. I mistakenly assumed that when the TGP was connected to the aircraft the laser power would be applied when the ground crew plugged it in, but it seems like there's a flag in the software that isn't set to on until its state changes..

[Caldera]

FOKA,

 

On 1/11/2021 at 4:14 PM, Foka said:

Remember about laser burn out time. You can't use it forever. AFAIR it's around 9 mins... Or 20? It's acumulative, so the laser doesn't "coo down" when it's off.

 

What I am understanding, is that you get 9 minutes of contiguous use and about 20 minutes of total use?   What should happen if you leave it on for 10 minutes?  Would the ground crew actually install a new cell every flight?

 

Caldera

[Foka]

No. There is a limit of total burn time, I just can't remember how long it was.

[Caldera]

Foka

 

OK Thanks

 

I have never left it on that long anyways.  I will assume that it is like the Maverick EO.  Turn it off then back one to reset timer?

 

Caldera

[Foka]

No, you can't reset. When laser is burned  it's out of order for good. You have to land remove TGP and load a new one.

Edited January 18 by Foka