Radar Loosing Lock Constantly after 2.7 update?

[CommandT]

Hey folks, what's going on with the Hornet's radar lately? I haven't done any BVR in it for months till yesterday. Now BVR is an absolute chore - radar looses lock literally all the time now. I don't think I've once managed to maintain lock, crank, maneuver etc. I'm assuming this is some sort of bug? Surely can't be right? Maybe it's a bit better in STT, not sure, but RWS is total garbage. Tried various PRF settings - no effect. 

Edited May 10, 2021 by CommandT

[Wizard1393]

I have to agree, but for me it's been even before 2.7. Started a patch or two before 2.7. People complained about it then but it was apparently shut down with "correct-as-is" iirc,

as in, it was deemed too powerful/stable before. For me it's almost impossible to keep a stable tws bug on a target >20nm away. Even if its hot on you and prf is on INT or HI.

 

EDIT: Here's the thread I was referring to

Edited May 10, 2021 by chrisofsweden
Added info

[CommandT]

1 hour ago, chrisofsweden said:

I have to agree, but for me it's been even before 2.7. Started a patch or two before 2.7. People complained about it then but it was apparently shut down with "correct-as-is" iirc,

as in, it was deemed too powerful/stable before. For me it's almost impossible to keep a stable tws bug on a target >20nm away. Even if its hot on you and prf is on INT or HI.

 

EDIT: Here's the thread I was referring to

 

Ah I see they go into quite a lot of detail there. I'm no expert but a real fighter pilot (not an F-18 guy) told me it shouldn't be like that. All I know is that this horrible AA radar is putting me off doing Hornet missions grrr. 

[RallyNH]

This makes me feel a bit better, I was starting to think I was crazy with how the radar is loosing tracks / locks.  I have a test mission I fly with the F/A-18 and the F-14,  yesterday I was in the Hornet over Syria roughly 20,000 feet, my Datalink started showing the pair of MiG-23s at around 60 miles (they scramble out of An Nasiriyah).  In RWS after adjusting the elevation I picked them up around 45 miles, 20 degrees to the right, and switched to TWS I then spent from 40 miles to 17 trying to get a L&S and DT2 to stay, the radar would almost as soon as I designate loose one track or the other.  I finally got both designated at around 15 miles, fired my Aim-120Cs only to have both tracks drop and the missiles sail off to the last know location.  I'm no expert so maybe this is correct in a look-down scenario, it just doesn't seem right.  I agree with CommandT, my struggles with the Hornets AA Radar is why I normally fly the F-14A instead.

[Harker]

This makes me feel a bit better, I was starting to think I was crazy with how the radar is loosing tracks / locks.  I have a test mission I fly with the F/A-18 and the F-14,  yesterday I was in the Hornet over Syria roughly 20,000 feet, my Datalink started showing the pair of MiG-23s at around 60 miles (they scramble out of An Nasiriyah).  In RWS after adjusting the elevation I picked them up around 45 miles, 20 degrees to the right, and switched to TWS I then spent from 40 miles to 17 trying to get a L&S and DT2 to stay, the radar would almost as soon as I designate loose one track or the other.  I finally got both designated at around 15 miles, fired my Aim-120Cs only to have both tracks drop and the missiles sail off to the last know location.  I'm no expert so maybe this is correct in a look-down scenario, it just doesn't seem right.  I agree with CommandT, my struggles with the Hornets AA Radar is why I normally fly the F-14A instead.

When switching to AMRAAMs, go in the radar data menu and increase the aging option on the top right from 4 to 16 or 32.

It's likely that you were losing the tracks because of the very short memory time.

[daemon1808]

At least you get a lock.... I can't get contact most of the time until 50 miles or less even knowing the exact position of the enemies and having the radar looking in that same location.

In this video you can see a lot of contacts in the IFF at 35000 ft coming directly for me, and the radar is unable to see them until 50 miles or less. (sorry for the quality, but it was played live on VR and it is imposible to save a track that is not corrupted)

 

https://app.box.com/s/n934nnxarhxqzvqtqqm2cjkr91ey1mjt

 

Once they are 40 miles or less, I have the same issue as you. The contacts blink out of existence constantly even when you are 20 miles and pointing them with the aircraft nose (literally).

 

I though is was me, but I believe that the f18 radar is brokem from some time.

 

[Harker]

Can u be just a tiny bit more specific where to find that? Im very new to this aircraft.

RDR ATTK page, lower right, you have the DATA option, which takes you to the DATA sublevel. Then, the track aging option I'm talking about is on the top right. It's just a number. It defaults to 4 for the AMRAAM. Press the OSB on top of it, to change it. You can then exit the DATA sublevel by unboxing DATA.

After you set up your parameters the way you want them, you can go RWS and select SET, on the right. It'll make them the new default for that A/A weapon.

I personally like to select 80 NM, 4 bar, 16 or 32 aging.

[skywalker22]

28 minutes ago, Harker said:

RDR ATTK page, lower right, you have the DATA option, which takes you to the DATA sublevel. Then, the track aging option I'm talking about is on the top right. It's just a number. It defaults to 4 for the AMRAAM. Press the OSB on top of it, to change it. You can then exit the DATA sublevel by unboxing DATA.

After you set up your parameters the way you want them, you can go RWS and select SET, on the right. It'll make them the new default for that A/A weapon.

I personally like to select 80 NM, 4 bar, 16 or 32 aging.

Thanks a lot mate. Will try it out

Edited May 10, 2021 by mitja_bonca

[RallyNH]

6 hours ago, Harker said:

When switching to AMRAAMs, go in the radar data menu and increase the aging option on the top right from 4 to 16 or 32.

It's likely that you were losing the tracks because of the very short memory time.
 

Thanks for the tip! It will be interesting to see what happens when I run the same scenario again.

[Oceandar]

Hey folks, what's going on with the Hornet's radar lately? I haven't done any BVR in it for months till yesterday. Now BVR is an absolute chore - radar looses lock literally all the time now. I don't think I've once managed to maintain lock, crank, maneuver etc. I'm assuming this is some sort of bug? Surely can't be right? Maybe it's a bit better in STT, not sure, but RWS is total garbage. Tried various PRF settings - no effect. 

I agree.

I also hope ED would take a look on tws auto. The elevation most of time way off. This is just sad compared to Viper radar which it like having an AESA radar lol.

[skywalker22]

12 hours ago, Harker said:

RDR ATTK page, lower right, you have the DATA option, which takes you to the DATA sublevel. Then, the track aging option I'm talking about is on the top right. It's just a number. It defaults to 4 for the AMRAAM. Press the OSB on top of it, to change it. You can then exit the DATA sublevel by unboxing DATA.

After you set up your parameters the way you want them, you can go RWS and select SET, on the right. It'll make them the new default for that A/A weapon.

I personally like to select 80 NM, 4 bar, 16 or 32 aging.

I tried that a couple of times yesterday, and I didn`t loose the lock at all. Awesome stuff.

[jojo]

TWS Auto bug is acknowledged.

 

 

[Harker]

I tried that a couple of times yesterday, and I didn`t loose the lock at all. Awesome stuff.

Glad to see that it helped. But be advised, a track file does not necessarily correspond to the target's real location. A track file is generated by the MC, based on raw hit information, and extrapolated between raw hits.

So, if you're losing a track with the 4 seconds setting, it means that it didn't get an update for 4 seconds and got dropped. If you have 32 seconds, it'll keep the track for longer, but it'll still be updated slowly. Worst case scenario, you can have something like 30 seconds since the radar actually got a raw hit back from the target, but still have the track file maintained, although that track now likely refers to a target that isn't there anymore (unless they fly straight and level).

Anecdotally, I've sometimes tried entering STT on aged tracks and couldn't, because my radar couldn't find anything there anymore.

Maintaining tracks for longer is helpful, since it allows for better situational awareness, but it can lead to situations where the track does not correspond to the target. You should always check your track quality by observing the brick (raw hit) trail in RWS or TWS with HITS boxed. If you want to have good quality, ensure a fast update date by either going into TWS with tight settings or even better, STT.

[Jak525]

Harker has explained trackfiles and the workaround for the current implementation great, but just an obligatory note that this current implementation is incorrect/eventually up for a fix. The ageout setting should only control how long raw hits stay displayed, visually, but has no affect on trackfiles. A trackfile is maintained until the radar declares memory, a function of frame and not time. E.g., radar completes entire frame of bars (sweeps each bar once), never sees the target. At that point memory is entered for that track. It flashes (not fades, only hits should appear to fade) for some time and is then completely deleted. This has no connection at all to the age out time the you can set on the DATA sublevel.

 

Since the hit setting is purely time based and can be as long as 32s, the hits might be displayed for a bit even after the trackfile is deleted and the HAFU is removed, if the behavior was correct.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Jak525