Range knob question
-
I’ve not really worked with this on a Cougar so I’m not sure if it’s working correctly. I have a TM WH and have mapped the SimRangeKnobUp and SimRangeKnobDown to my red China Hat switch on my throttle. My left MFD is FCR and right MFD is HSD. FCR is SOI. SimRangeKnobUp/Down bumps the range on the FCR 20/40/80/160. Making the HSD SOI, the SimRangeKnobUp/Down does not change the range of the HSD display. Is this correct?
Thanks!
-
The circle of RTFM continues. Range knob is from 20 years ago choosing what gun sight range to when radar ranging was unavailable, 700’ or 1500’. With modern funnel sight it no longer does that.
Instead it adjusts the fine control radar gain in GM/GMT/SEA (GAIN rocker being the coarse control) and the digital zoom (1.0x-4.0x) on TGP.
FCR/HSD range is changed by simply bumping the cursors against the top or bottom of the format.
-
I probably should’ve said that for some reason, the China Hat controls doesn’t seem to be working in the game for me. It will work on the Setup -> Controllers -> Advanced page but it will not work once in 3D so I never really wrapped my head around how it works. Can you give me a page ref for the manual, Frederf?
What I’ve found is just p.29 on the Dash-1 and it wasn’t really very clear there as well. So I did RTFM… it just didn’t make sense! :wfish:
I’ll need to play with this a bit more in the sim to understand how it works, but it definitely doesn’t adjust the range of the HSD, correct? Just asking to confirm this as I’m not sure if I mapped the controls correctly or what.
-
The circle of RTFM continues. Range knob is from 20 years ago choosing what gun sight range to when radar ranging was unavailable, 700’ or 1500’. With modern funnel sight it no longer does that.
Instead it adjusts the fine control radar gain in GM/GMT/SEA (GAIN rocker being the coarse control) and the digital zoom (1.0x-4.0x) on TGP.
FCR/HSD range is changed by simply bumping the cursors against the top or bottom of the format.
So it does
TO BMS1F-16CM_ Pg27
TO BMS1F-16CM-34-1-1 1.9.3.3 PG90Just finished set it on the hog throttle. On a 4way hat with Bar scan and Azimuth.
-
Ice,
As a TM WH user the attached is my setup:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w6g79o2ddz7vbt2/Polaris_BMS%20HOTAS%20Layou.pdf?dl=0
(With Kolbe’s dx generator).My solution for your issue:
1. First and foremost couple the HSD to the FCR.
Right MFD, HSD page, OSB1 for centering the display for better SA with the equivalent ratio of the FCR.
Right MFD, HSD page, OSB2 for coupling the HSD to the FCR.2.SimRangeKnobUp/ Down:
Found out it affects the A-A FCR (and coupled HSD) and the TGP zooming (1-4), but it doesn’t affect A-G FCR.
Therefore I replaced it with SimRadarRangeStepUp/ Down which affects both the A-A and A-G FCR…assigned to TMS Up/ Down, shifted layer.
Since it doesn’t affect the TGP I use the SimRangeKnobUp/ Down callback only for zooming the TGP and it’s assigned to Speadbreak Forward/ Aft, shifted layer.Hope it helps.
-
I probably should’ve said that for some reason, the China Hat controls doesn’t seem to be working in the game for me. It will work on the Setup -> Controllers -> Advanced page but it will not work once in 3D so I never really wrapped my head around how it works. Can you give me a page ref for the manual, Frederf? What I’ve found is just p.29 on the Dash-1 and it wasn’t really very clear there as well. So I did RTFM… it just didn’t make sense! :wfish:
I was so on autopilot I didn’t even realize it was you Ice. Thinking that the range knob has something to do with how many nautical miles the FCR or HSD displays is just one of those things that every noob falls for. It’s like how do I turn on nosewheel steering or how do I lower the flaps: just one of those permanent ignorance phases that everyone goes though.
Yeah so the range knob. The name is historical but that’s grandpa story time. The range knob does two things in BMS’s F-16 models and neither has anything to do with changing range scales of anything. The first thing it does is probably the least important. When in a ground-mapping FCR mode (GM/SEA/GMT) you’ll notice that the gain rocker in the upper left of the MFD will make the radar picture gain higher (hills get brighter/dimmer). The range knob when FCR is SOI does the same thing but to a lesser authority (~20%). It’s a hands-on select to fine tune the ground mapping radar gain. And no this isn’t in the BMS -34 but it should be. It’s not used too much in BMS practically by most pilots because the radar is simplified vs. RL.
The other function it does is when TGP is SOI it changes the optical zoom smoothly through the 1x-4x range. That is mentioned in the -34 (1.9.3.3).
If you want to have the FCR/HSD range change scale there is the simple mechanics of bumping the cursor against the top or bottom of the MFD format or pressing the appropriate OSB on the MFD frame. In GM/SEA/GMT there is an auto function which changes range for you dynamically provided it is in AUTO and not MAN. There exist callbacks to change this FCR/HSD range but they are fictional game shortcuts that a real F-16 pilot doesn’t have.
I’ll need to play with this a bit more in the sim to understand how it works, but it definitely doesn’t adjust the range of the HSD, correct? Just asking to confirm this as I’m not sure if I mapped the controls correctly or what.
You’ll get it. F-16 is the devil’s own detail collection. Try zooming the TGP and making the hills brighter in GM and the range knob can be tested.
-
Totally forgot about using the China Hat in the TGP. It DOES work in that instance.
I’ve never played with the GAIN switch on A-G radar modes so… hey! I learned something new! Is this discussed in-depth in any of the manuals? What little I could find, it was just glossed over in a sentence or two. Yet another one of those that I’ll have to try out to understand…
POLARIS1, thanks for your help. I do couple the HSD and the FCR sometimes, but I was just wondering why SimRangeKnobUp/Down works for FCR but not for HSD when they are not coupled and one or the other was SOI.
I was so on autopilot I didn’t even realize it was you Ice.
No worries mate, just wanted you to know that I did try to look it up and what little I found just went over my head. Like I said, I had only a little time on a Cougar and I thought it didn’t work on the WH (forgot about the TGP)
Thinking that the range knob has something to do with how many nautical miles the FCR or HSD displays is just one of those things that every noob falls for.
Well, I don’t THINK the range knob has something to do with the range of the FCR, I frikkin’ KNOW that it has something to do with the range of the FCR!
Just tested again today and with the SimRangeKnobUp/Down mapped as key presses on my HOTAS, it DOES bump up the range of the FCR as well as zoom in/out for the TGP. Even with the HSD as SOI, the callbacks would still bump the range of the FCR.Is that correct? Is that wrong? I dunno. But what I’m saying is that if that is wrong behavior, it is what is modelled in the game. So the name and the in-game behavior does not help this noob at all!
FCR/HSD range is changed by simply bumping the cursors against the top or bottom of the format.
That’s how I’ve been doing it for ages and I thought there is some other control for it.
When in a ground-mapping FCR mode (GM/SEA/GMT) you’ll notice that the gain rocker in the upper left of the MFD will make the radar picture gain higher (hills get brighter/dimmer). The range knob when FCR is SOI does the same thing but to a lesser authority (~20%). It’s a hands-on select to fine tune the ground mapping radar gain. And no this isn’t in the BMS -34 but it should be. It’s not used too much in BMS practically by most pilots because the radar is simplified vs. RL.
Tried that… but I guess I need to go to a more hilly region to fully appreciate it. Maybe the KOTAR range. I have never fiddled with the GAIN rocker before, never really needed to. But I guess that’s due to how the radar is in the game, easily showing targets but not too much granularity.
The other function it does is when TGP is SOI it changes the optical zoom smoothly through the 1x-4x range. That is mentioned in the -34 (1.9.3.3).
Yes, it did do it smoothly when assigned as an axis. I don’t like how it snaps when assigned as a key press. I’ll be re-assigning it to the axis function.
Thanks for the help!
-
There is a known bug about the keyboard callbacks for SimRangeKnobUp / Down. They always change FCR ranges in AA while they should not. The DX axis does not have the issue.
You can actually check it easily with left MFD on FCR and right on TGP, SOI. If you use the callbacks you will see radar range is changing as well as TGP zoom in/out.
-
You can actually check it easily with left MFD on FCR and right on TGP, SOI. If you use the callbacks you will see radar range is changing as well as TGP zoom in/out.
Yes, I’ve tried this and did notice it. Bug eh? Thanks for clearing that up!
-
There is another way to change FCR/HSD range other than bumping the range with the cursors, Ice. Its the OSBs 19 and 20, which decrease and increase range respectively.
