Employing weapons when bandits hit "No Man's Land"

[SmoglessPanic]

I've had the Tomcat for a while and have been flying it more and more recently. I'm having problems employing weapons within visual range at that 12-18 mile range where Jester cannot lock the bandits and my pilot control modes don't quite gain a lock.

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Can Jester actually lock bandits at these intermediate ranges and I'm just not choosing the right option on his menu? When I ask Jester to lock enemy target a head he says he cannot, by the time I get a lock there is a missile in my face. When my friend RIO's for me I don't have this problem so I know I must be doing something wrong. 

 

I'm using an offline TTI map to spawn in threats, the threats that spawn within 30 miles give me the most trouble when using Sparrows. I'd appreciate any insight.

 

Thanks

[near_blind]

Off the top of my head. 

• Use RWS instead of TWS. You get a larger scan volume, you don't have to wait for the radar to build tracks and any 'hit' is going to be where a target is rather then where it was or where the computer thinks it is.
• Make sure you're not trying to lock DL contacts instead of own ship radar contacts
• Try and fly as steady as possible. Any introduced azimuth deviation will probably mess with Jester
• When in doubt, use PAL. PAL will reliably lock up most BVR threats at 15 miles. It'll find Floggers and Fishbeds at ~12NM. Against an AA-10C that's well behind the timeline and I'd probably start thing about defending. Against AA-10As and AA-7s, you should be competitive with a healthy crank. 

Also I know it's outside the bounds of the question, but 30 miles is pretty close to start an engagement. Even pushing that back to 40 gives you a much more comfortable timeline to sort and lock your target. 

[SmoglessPanic]

20 minutes ago, near_blind said:

Also I know it's outside the bounds of the question, but 30 miles is pretty close to start an engagement. Even pushing that back to 40 gives you a much more comfortable timeline to sort and lock your target. 

 

Yea, the server auto-spawns the threats, the hardest ones spawn practically right next to you. 

 

I appreciate the suggestions, I will give it a shot in RWS, keep the Tomcat steady, reconfirm what the DL contacts on the radar look like, and I will not wait until 10 miles to use PAL.

 

Thanks!!!!!

[draconus]

"Jester lock enemy target ahead" demands the target to be IFF confirmed bandit in front of you in your radar search cone. Use "lock target ahead" instead in fast situations when you know you're targeting a bandit.

[The_Tau]

Also good to know is that AIM-54 in Pulse STT (which is also a PAL lock mode) will be launched in Active mode, and with shorter LTE time, so you can start defending immediately after Fox 3