investigating A10C2 - VHF Radio Presets

[Leg2ion]

Apologies if reporting a previously acknowledged issue - but couldn't find anything recent on this?

 

Currently cannot use VHF AM or FM presets. From what I gather the (same for VHF AM and FM) process is - Function Selector dial to 'Man', pre-set wheel to '1', dial in frequency, press load; dial in new frequency, pre-set wheel to '2' and so on. Then set Function Selector to 'Pre' and should be able to use the pre-set wheel to select the different 'loaded' frequencies. 

 

I work through the frequencies - verifying contact with each station as I dial them in and load them, then when I switch to pre-load it appears to drop all frequencies. Occasionally it might hold onto the latest frequency dialled in, or if I de-select AM then re-select it re-enables comms with Nellis.

 

Am on the Nevada test range, and am trying to pre-set Tanopah, Creech, Groom Lake and Nellis.

 

As an aside was in the Persian Gulf map - dialled in the frequency for Abu Dhabi, detailed inbound and received a reply from Batumi?

 

UHF presets are working fine.

[dorianR666]

setting VHF presets repeatedly didnt work for me either, though in my case its possibly user error.

i havent tried UHF

 

ED will ask you for trackfile though.

[Leg2ion]

Something I'll have to figure out how to do once asked. Maybe waiting (ignoring it) for the Arc210 upgrade - which I think is replacing the Arc186?

[Yurgon]

6 hours ago, Leg2ion said:

Currently cannot use VHF AM or FM presets.

 

Same here, well spotted!

 

I followed the manual precisely, and I also tried to set the Frequency Selection Dial to PRE before setting the preset (it works okay that way with the UHF radio), but in either case, the presets did not seem to be properly stored.

 

I verified with Simple Radio Standalone, which displays the currently selected frequency (regardless of preset or manual selection), and it also shows that the presets don't get properly saved. It did show, however, that some frequencies appeared to be loaded going forward on the channel selector, but once I went backward, they were gone, and going forward to the same preset again also didn't restore that frequency.

[Leg2ion]

Just been 'back in' for an hour or so.

 

Set up a simple navex in the Caucasus between 4 airbases, frequencies of 131, 133, 134 and 132 (to make it easy). Tried setting them in Pre-set slots 1-4 - no joy. Rolled the wheel up to pre-set slot 20, and worked backwards. Worked 'a little bit better' but still 1, sometimes 2 stations would be dropped. 

 

So had 131 set to 17, 133 set to 18, 134 set to 19 and 132 at 20. Mixed results, would select to transmit on 20, then move to select to transmit on 19 and transmit to same airfield as 20.

 

What I did notice, if I did actually send a message then the function selector moves back from 'pre' to 'main', so in order to reselect another pre-set frequency would have to change function again back to 'pre'.

 

Process that appears to work is set function to main, set pre-set, set frequency, load, change pre-set, set frequency, load and so on. Once all frequencies are in set function to pre. And hope it keeps all the pre-sets - more often than not dropping them.

 

UHF appears a lot simpler. Set to Preload, dial in frequency and preset channel. Press load and repeat. Done...

Edited March 26, 2021 by Leg2ion

[BIGNEWY]

Hi

 

we will look into it, please when reporting issues add a short track replay showing the issue it makes it easier for our testing teams

 

thank you

[Leg2ion]

Apologies - will look into recording a track and posting it shortly!

[Leg2ion]

Hopefully the attached works? 

 

Set a free flight mission in the Caucasus in A10C II. Initially set the following:

 

VHF AM Channel 1 - Batumi - 131.

VHF AM Channel 2 - Kobuleti - 133

VHF AM Channel 3 - Kutaisi - 134

VHF AM Channel 4 - Senaki - 132

 

Function selector back to Pre. No Frequencies held on any preset channels 1-4.

 

Dialled the preset wheel up to 20.

 

VHF AM Channel 20 - Batumi - 131.

VHF AM Channel 19 - Senaki - 132

VHF AM Channel 18 - Kobuleti - 133

VHF AM Channel 17 - Kutaisi - 134

 

Channel 20 didn't hold - the other 3 did. If actually broadcasting the function selector moves back from pre to man.

 

2nd track - went mid range - using channels 11-14.

 

VHF AM Channel 11 - Batumi - 131

VHF AM Channel 12 - Senaki - 132

VHF AM Channel 13 - Kobuleti - 133

VHF AM Channel 14 - Kutaisi - 134

 

All loaded, left on 14 - Kutaisi verified, 13 - Kobuleti verified, 12 - Senaki dropped. 11 - Batumi verified. Reloaded Senaki to 12 - verified. Selected 14 - Senaki shown and not Kutaisi.

 

Similar experience on VHF FM.

 

Radios2.trk Radios.trk

[Leg2ion]

And hopefully this is a track of flying in the Persian Gulf - dialling in to Abu Dhabi International on 119.20 VHF AM, and transmitting to Batumi along with a reply from Batumi.  Abu Dhabi - Batumi.trk

Edited April 1, 2021 by Leg2ion

[joendian]

Hi,

 

Another bug that I think may be related: two keyboard or joystick assignable controls doesn't work properly.

 

"VHF AM Preset Channel Decrease" inconditionnaly sets the channel to '1'

and "VHF AM Preset Channel Increase" inconditionnaly sets it to '2' (whatever  the channel number was)

 

Same for VHF FM.

(For the records, the corresponding DCS-BIOS controls has the same odd behaviour).

It used to work :-)

[SJBMX]

I'm expecting (read: hoping) them to fix all this and add more preset options into the mission editor when they add the ARC-210.

[Leg2ion]

Also noticed the UHF panel - despite being able to set pre-sets - will flick from 'pre-set' to 'man' when transmitting - and remain there - so if you don't notice it and roll the wheel you don't actually change the frequency.

 

Not sure of this is how it is supposed to work? Is the idea you would set 'pre', dial in and load all your frequencies, then to operate select 'pre', dial up a pre-set then reselect to 'man', then if you wished to re-select a different pre-set change back to 'pre', dial it up, then flick back to 'man' to use?

Edited April 6, 2021 by Leg2ion

[DimSim]

I'm not sure if this is the same issue being discussed, but I want to set Presets from the cockpit at start of mission, NOT from mission editor.

 

Following the guide, I do this (with VHF radio)

1) Select MAN

2) Set frequency

3) Set Preset slot

4) Click 'Load' button (To save!   Tooltip shows 'Load' but no click or visual affect occurs.)

(Later)

5) Select PRE

6) Select Preset slot

7) Attempt to transmit

 

But the preset does not appear to be saved, so I must manually enter frequencies throughout flight as campaign missions don't have any presets configured.

Edited April 21, 2021 by DimSim

[Leg2ion]

Yep - same issue - 'tis being investigated.

 

Works a little bit better if you use pre-sets at the top of the wheel - so dial it up to 20 and work backwards - but still not brilliant and frequencies still get dropped.

[AstonMartinDBS]

On 3/31/2021 at 10:24 PM, Leg2ion said:

And hopefully this is a track of flying in the Persian Gulf - dialling in to Abu Dhabi International on 119.20 VHF AM, and transmitting to Batumi along with a reply from Batumi

This is another (known and already reported) issue, when you fly several maps within one DCS session...

 

[Stuka]

8 hours ago, DimSim said:

I'm not sure if this is the same issue being discussed, but I want to set Presets from the cockpit at start of mission, NOT from mission editor.

 

Following the guide, I do this (with VHF radio)

1) Select MAN

2) Set frequency

3) Set Preset slot

4) Click 'Load' button (To save!   Tooltip shows 'Load' but no click or visual affect occurs.)

(Later)

5) Select PRE

6) Select Preset slot

7) Attempt to transmit

 

But the preset does not appear to be saved, so I must manually enter frequencies throughout flight as campaign missions don't have any presets configured.

 

Your first step is wrong.  You have to be in the PRESET mode from the beginning.

So:

1. Set MODE dial to PRESET
2. Select preset slot that you want to program (preset channel selector)
3. Use the dial selectors to set the desired frequency
4. click LOAD to program the set frequency in the selected preset.

With the Status button, next to the Frequency Status Indicator Window, you can see what a certain preset is: press it, and the programmed frequency will show for a couple of seconds on the window. (given that it was not still set to it)

 

[Stuka]

On 4/6/2021 at 11:50 AM, Leg2ion said:

Also noticed the UHF panel - despite being able to set pre-sets - will flick from 'pre-set' to 'man' when transmitting - and remain there - so if you don't notice it and roll the wheel you don't actually change the frequency.

 

Not sure of this is how it is supposed to work? Is the idea you would set 'pre', dial in and load all your frequencies, then to operate select 'pre', dial up a pre-set then reselect to 'man', then if you wished to re-select a different pre-set change back to 'pre', dial it up, then flick back to 'man' to use?

 

 

I cannot reproduce this. When I try it, the radio stays on the set mode.

Please attach a track if you still see this behavior. 

[Yurgon]

54 minutes ago, Stuka said:

Your first step is wrong.  You have to be in the PRESET mode from the beginning.

[...]

With the Status button, next to the Frequency Status Indicator Window, you can see what a certain preset is

 

He was referring to the AN/ARC-186 VHF radios, not the AN/ARC-164 UHF radio. The ARC-186 doesn't have the Status button.

 

The procedure he gave is also the one that the current manual for the A-10C II describes for the VHF FM radio (should be the same for the VHF AM, but that part is now missing in the manual because of an ARC-210 stub).

 

When I just tested this in 2.7, I observed the same behavior with both VHF radios as described earlier in this thread, regardless whether I set the Frequency Selection Dial to MAN or PRE for setting presets: recalling presets does not work, and/or presets appear to be off by one or two presets.

 

Long story short: 2.7 OpenBeta shows the same behavior that 2.5.6 Stable does for me, ARC-186 presets appear to be broken.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Yurgon

[Yurgon]

1 hour ago, Desert Fox said:

Works for me as in written in the manual and described by DimSim. [...]

(Tested via SRS overlay and everything was fine with saving freqs as preset)

 

I just recorded a track in 2.7. Since I don't know how it's going to play back for you guys, here's a text description:

 

UHF presets:

Preset 1: Kutaisi (263.000)

Preset 2: Senaki Kolkhi (261.000)

Test #1: Kutaisi responds on preset 1 

Test #2: Senaki-Kolkhi responds on preset 2 

Test #3: Kutaisi responds on preset 1 

 

VHF Presets (Frequency Selection Dial in MAN while setting up presets):

Preset 1: Kutaisi (134.000)

Preset 2: Senaki-Kolkhi (132.000)

Test #4: Kutaisi does not respond on preset 1 

Test #5: Senaki-Kolkhi responds on preset 1 

Test #6: Cycle presets (1 -> 2, 2 -> 1), Senaki-Kolkhi does not respond on preset 1 (correct but unexpected after Test #5) 

 

VHF Presets (Frequency Selection Dial in PRE while setting up presets):

Preset 1: Kutaisi (134.000)

Preset 2: Senaki-Kolkhi (132.000)

Test #7: Kutaisi does not respond on preset 1 

Test #8: Senaki-Kolkhi does not respond on preset 1  

 

Double checking manual frequency:

Test #9: Senaki-Kolkhi responds on 132.000 

 

I also checked the SRS overlay for what happened and it confirms for me that the VHF presets are all over the place. Sometimes they happen to be correct, but it appears to be out of randomness rather than anything else. Most of the time, according to SRS, the VHF presets are actually tuning the respective Emergency freqs VHF AM 121.500 and VHF FM 40.500.

 

Does the track show the same for you, or does it play differently?

 

DCS_2.7_OB_Caucasus_A-10C_II_VHF_vs_presets.trk

Edited April 21, 2021 by Yurgon
Formatting and Emojis screwed up

[Stuka]

yup, mix up from me on the UHF <> VHF radios.

On the presets, the VHF are all over the place.  Sometimes right by almost sheer luck.

 

There is a report existing on the VHF presets dial that is also doing weird stuff.  I've got a feeling it's all related.

 

 

Edited April 22, 2021 by Stuka

[Leg2ion]

On 4/21/2021 at 6:28 PM, AstonMartinDBS said:

This is another (known and already reported) issue, when you fly several maps within one DCS session...

Ah - ok. Will try it out as first mission when next I fire up DCS.

[Leg2ion]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:05 PM, Stuka said:

 

I cannot reproduce this. When I try it, the radio stays on the set mode.

Please attach a track if you still see this behavior. 

Ok - set 2 frequencies to 2 channels - UHF radio - hopefully this trk will let you see what I am getting - when I broadcast the selector moves from pre to amn..

Radio.trk

[Frederf]

• Your radio is changing on its own at transmit event only because you're using easy comms. That's normal.
• The radio gray/white text will not update in real time as you tune the radio. You must refresh the text menu (i.e. F11 then F5). That's normal.
• VHF presets must be loaded with the mode selector in MAN. That's normal.
• UHF presets must be loaded with the mode selector in PRE. That's normal.

The VHF preset system is mostly broken. If you define a preset and then don't change the preset wheel it works but if you change the preset wheel it doesn't return to that frequency when you go back.

Radio2EC.trk

[Leg2ion]

2 hours ago, Frederf said:

Your radio is changing on its own at transmit event only because you're using easy comms. That's normal.

Didn't know there was such a thing. Will investigate and select 'realistic'? Where is that setting? Did post about this about three weeks ago above. Understood the other three points - but nice to get confirmation.

 

3 hours ago, Frederf said:

The VHF preset system is mostly broken. If you define a preset and then don't change the preset wheel it works but if you change the preset wheel it doesn't return to that frequency when you go back.

Would say completely broken then, as if it transmits on a dialled in and loaded frequency by not moving the preset wheel you're not really pre-setting anything, just dialling in a frequency and loading it to transmit? Although I guess it is proving the load button works.

[Frederf]

Options > Gameplay > Difficulties > Easy Communication

 

There are three ways that difficulties get enforced: user preference, mission setting, and multiplayer server. For example if don't have Easy Communication box checked normally then it will be off unless the mission setting is to have it on. That is probably what happened to you, this particular mission had it on. That can be overridden by the option "Use These Difficulties For All Missions" in the lower right corner which most of the time I use because who knows what a mission will set otherwise. And lastly multiplayer servers will enforce their own which the user can't override.

 

I guess in theory one can put a manual frequency and a preset frequency to have access to two quickly by switching MAN-PRE. Obviously having only 1 preset available instead of 20 is a lot of functionality lost. The preset system on the VHF radios has worked fine for years and years. It only got broken a few patches ago and hasn't been fixed yet.