Is your HYDROPHONE busted too?

[Quagmire]

I noticed this after I installed v1.3 and TMaru. When I go to the hydrophone station and I man it myself I cannot hear ships (merchants that have motors running) that are right in front of me. I know they are there because I can see them clearly through the scope. However when I point the hydrophone in their direction, no sound and no green light.

What is even more strange is that when I ask the sonar operator to track the nearest target he does! He is able to track the ship that has no sound. No green light either but he happily tracks it.

This obviously does not help when scanning for ships below peri depth.

Please help. Thanks!

[Ducimus]

If you think its bugged, disable the mod, and delete
\Data\Library\USSubParts\Sensors_sub_US.sim from the mod and enjoy your hydrophone contacts while on the surface.

I'll be adjusting the file later to a less aggressive fix, its on my list of things to do.

[Fearless]

I'm too busy being on the bridge watching the waves splash all around me to not even think about the hydrophone :)

[Frederf]

I get the same behaviour too: No hydrophones above 40' but the SO will often track targets anyway despite surfaced. TM1.4

[switch.dota]

I usually get that in horrible weather. I'm locked onto a target 2000m away your I can't hear it on hydros. I need to manually ping the bearing and only then do I get a lock.

[Frederf]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the normal sound frequency stuff is the two "balls" below the hull and is responsible for passive listening. The complete sonar/hydrophone set includes the "T-bar" fore deck device which allows ultra-sonic (higher than human hearing frequency range) operations such as pinging.

If anything the ping shouldn't work until that "T-bar" is submerged but the passive hydrophone part should work pretty much 24/7.

I take issue with calling the high frequency sonar system "supersonic" as this means faster than sound. I believe ultrasonic is more appropriate.

[greyrider]

i dont think itS TM, i dont run TM, and i have the same problem.

worse, when listening to approaching convoys, at the center of the sound, it sounds very static, and framerate drop to about 2 fps, once i get off the center of the sound, it goes away, and FR goes back up.

i am in tokio bay right now, about 8 miles south of the city, im there to phote recon the harbor. i was discovered and was attacked by six warships, one coming from each city in the bay.

i took some bulkhead damage, but im still able to be at 247 feet with no problem., but both scopes have been blown off, cant use them to photo, will have to use tbt, when i get to tokio.

but during the DC bombardment,and thier searching, which has lasted for more than 12 hours, sometimes asking SO for closest warship, give me a beaqring of a warship at long range, when one of them is going over my head at the moment.

also when asking SO for closest warship, will give me a bearing, i go to that bearing, and theres nothing there.

before my scopes were destroyed, i observed a gun boat coming close, and no propeller sounds with it.

WIERD

[SteamWake]

Hydrophones were much less effective if not useless while surfaced.

Sheese.

[Quagmire]

Duci,

Sorry man. I wasn't blaming TM. I should have mentioned that this happens in 1.3 stock as well.

In fact, right now I am outside of Tokyo bay and I am having the same result that Greyrider is reporting. There is a gunboat at 85 deg bearing and a merchant at 10 deg bearing. Both are within a 4000 yd radius (easily seen through peri) and both are non existant on the hydrophone. I am at 60 ft peri depth. They are plowing through the waves so I should hear them.:ping:

I think the devs broke the hydrophone when they removed the ability for the sonar man to detect sampans. :roll: :roll:

Anyone know of a fix?

[STEED]

Hydrophones!!! What are the heck are they? :roll: :lol:

[SteamWake]

Hydrophones!!! What are the heck are they? :roll: :lol:

Its a phone you use to call water of course ! :lol:

[Capt. Shark Bait]

something i've noticed of late. the light would be green, i ping it and get a "no sound contact". this is quite frequent and i think it's post 1.3:-?

[Frederf]

something i've noticed of late. the light would be green, i ping it and get a "no sound contact". this is quite frequent and i think it's post 1.3:-?

I get a green light, no engine noise, and no text (merchant/warship/unknown) pretty often. It means I've detected something with a broken engine, no engine (like liferaft/downed-pilot).

As far as the SO Report Contact function working when you cannot manually listen to the hydrophones, makybe the SO is just spewing back the last contact report saved in memory and it's not at all accurate?

[LukeFF]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the normal sound frequency stuff is the two "balls" below the hull and is responsible for passive listening. The complete sonar/hydrophone set includes the "T-bar" fore deck device which allows ultra-sonic (higher than human hearing frequency range) operations such as pinging.

You got it in reverse:

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/fleetsub/sonar/chap1.htm#1A

[Ducimus]

Duci,

Sorry man. I wasn't blaming TM. I should have mentioned that this happens in 1.3 stock as well.


No worries. Alot run TM, and havent played stock as much, so it usually goes"such n such is broken after running TM". If it occurs in stock, FEW people say so. Since i mucked with the sensor, i have to assume the worst, despite the fact that i tested it with, and without my adjustments to make sure submerged performance was what is should be. After being "reminded" about it, a few times, i get testy.

For what its worth, i noticed the same behvaior with a US liberty ship. Doublechecking .. acutally TRIPLEchecking my sensor adjustment is on my list of things to do, but ive been frying bigger fish, so havent gotten to it yet.

[Powerthighs]

I've seen the same thing in stock 1.3. Occasionally the sonar operator will track a ship and I can see it but not hear it when pointing the hydrophones. I've also had the opposite happen, where I can hear it in the hydrophones but the sonar guy won't track it.

[SteamWake]

and this is all while at periscope depth ?

[Ducimus]

Yeah, as far as i can tell, i dunno, i suspect theres something bug related with wooden sampans.


Theres 3 kinds of hydrohones.
Hydrophone_ball (used by S boats)
Hydrophone_ball2 (located on bottom of all other boats)
Hydrophone_Head? (rotating head on deck forward of bridge)

Now how the game uses Hydro_ball2 and Hydro_head, ive no idea. Does it use both? Or just one or the other? I know what their SUPPOSED to do in RL, but RL and Ingame/incode are always different. I think ill go back and check the min/max range and bearing on those two later.

[chopped50ford]

im not seeing issues like these. I use my sonar quite a bit with some accuracy to bearings and distances.

[Frederf]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the normal sound frequency stuff is the two "balls" below the hull and is responsible for passive listening. The complete sonar/hydrophone set includes the "T-bar" fore deck device which allows ultra-sonic (higher than human hearing frequency range) operations such as pinging.
You got it in reverse:

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/fleetsub/sonar/chap1.htm#1A

Ok then it all makes sense! I shouldn't be able to hear the sonic gear until I get the T-bar below the water level. That means no hydrophones on the surface and it's realistic! No bug, no foul. I'm gunna have to read all that manual now you know ;)

What would be the sensor functionality with the sonic gear in air and the supersonic gear under water? Nil? Some?

[SteamWake]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the normal sound frequency stuff is the two "balls" below the hull and is responsible for passive listening. The complete sonar/hydrophone set includes the "T-bar" fore deck device which allows ultra-sonic (higher than human hearing frequency range) operations such as pinging.
You got it in reverse:

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/fleetsub/sonar/chap1.htm#1A

Ok then it all makes sense! I shouldn't be able to hear the sonic gear until I get the T-bar below the water level. That means no hydrophones on the surface and it's realistic! No bug, no foul. I'm gunna have to read all that manual now you know ;)

What would be the sensor functionality with the sonic gear in air and the supersonic gear under water? Nil? Some?

Well not only "while surfaced" the sonar would become swamped with white noise when near the surface (periscope depth). Waves crashing, bubbles, shrimp screwing, fish farting etc. making it more difficult to pick the sound of a ship out from all the backbround noise.

[silentrunner]

I don't know about the sonar not detecting ships but I can't get the wheel to move does anyone know how to fix this?

[SteamWake]

I don't know about the sonar not detecting ships but I can't get the wheel to move does anyone know how to fix this?

Home and end keys on your keyboard turn the wheel. Not exactly intuitive but thats the ticket.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

[Frederf]

I don't know about the sonar not detecting ships but I can't get the wheel to move does anyone know how to fix this?
Home and end keys on your keyboard turn the wheel. Not exactly intuitive but thats the ticket.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

Mousewheel also works for fine adjustments. Same exact setup Home/End/Mousewheel on the radar PPI/A_scope

[buteobuteo]

I was tracking a merchant with hydrophones,raised my perscope to get a visual could not see it, so I went back to listen but I could hear nothing.After around 10 mins I got a visual,but still could not hear it with hydrophones,although the SO kept giving bearing and esimated speed.
I disabled what mods I had but still had the same problem with stock 1.3. I sank it then moved on eventually getting another contact, this time the hydrophones worked perfectly. It has happened a couple of times and it seems random.

[Ducimus]

Just FYI, there most definatly is something up with the hydrophones, but its inconsistant on WHEN it decides to act weird.

For instace, i crash dive. Sonarman can hear stuff, i can't. I know where the ship is, but when i use the hydrophones, i can't hear it. Sonarman hears it fine. I shoot a torpedo.. i can hear that, i can hear them impact and when they do their end of run explosions, but i cannot hear the orginal target.To add more to the mystery, If i surface, and then dive again, hydrophones will work fine.

[ElAurens]

Aren't computers grand?

:lol:

[Frederf]

I was getting a similar deal in the shallow waters of Truk. SO would report nearest contact but couldn't follow anything to save his life. And I couldn't hear any engines except for my own even when I knew there was a DD steaming away inside 'phones range.

[THE_MASK]

Why for the love of god would you use the hydrophones while at periscope depth if you can see the ship with your own eyes thru the periscope :doh: .

[SteamWake]

Why for the love of god would you use the hydrophones while at periscope depth if you can see the ship with your own eyes thru the periscope :doh: .

Because you can hear further than you can see.

[Blood_splat]

Well last night I was tracking a ship and it just disappeared off the sonar. I don't know what happened, but it could have been my sound settings.

[Quagmire]

Why for the love of god would you use the hydrophones while at periscope depth if you can see the ship with your own eyes thru the periscope :doh: .

So you can track the bearing of the ship without having the periscope raised silly. They can see it you know...

Just FYI, there most definatly is something up with the hydrophones, but its inconsistant on WHEN it decides to act weird.

THANK YOU Ducimus for believing me about this hydrophone problem. So many have told me that I was crazy or just having sound card troubles. I know a man of your talent will have this fixed in no time.

I'll bet the devs broke it when they "fixed" the hydrophones so that it lights the green lamp and no longer detects sampans.

.

[Ducimus]

I have no proof, but my gut feeling its something associated with whatever code change ubi did to make it so certain ships don't show up as a hydrophone contact (lifeboats, sailing ships and the like). Seems to resolve itself when you surface and then dive again later on, but thats not always feasible. I think its going to be a rare occurance, and until someone figures out how to repeat it, we'll be scratching our heads at this one for awhile .

[RockNut]

I have no proof, but my gut feeling its something associated with whatever code change ubi did to make it so certain ships don't show up as a hydrophone contact (lifeboats, sailing ships and the like). Seems to resolve itself when you surface and then dive again later on, but thats not always feasible. I think its going to be a rare occurance, and until someone figures out how to repeat it, we'll be scratching our heads at this one for awhile .

So we get to consider this as an undocumented feature? Simulated sonar malfunction that can only be fixed on the surface? Brilliant! Just because it wasn't intentional doesn't mean it can't be realistic...

[Fearless]

Why for the love of god would you use the hydrophones while at periscope depth if you can see the ship with your own eyes thru the periscope :doh: .

So you can track the bearing of the ship without having the periscope raised silly. They can see it you know...

Just FYI, there most definatly is something up with the hydrophones, but its inconsistant on WHEN it decides to act weird.

THANK YOU Ducimus for believing me about this hydrophone problem. So many have told me that I was crazy or just having sound card troubles. I know a man of your talent will have this fixed in no time.

I'll bet the devs broke it when they "fixed" the hydrophones so that it lights the green lamp and no longer detects sampans.



Yep and if one reads what has changed in v1.3, it'll tell you just that.
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
3. Small, irrelevant, units don't show up on the map or clutter the sensors
4. The radar and hydrophone won't detect units that don't have a signature of that kind (sampans, rowboats, etc)

[SteamWake]

I for one can live with the occasional dropped contact in lieu of having rubber boats and sailboats being logged as sonar contacts :doh:

[Ducimus]

I for one can live with the occasional dropped contact in lieu of having rubber boats and sailboats being logged as sonar contacts :doh:

Ditto. Besides, AI sonar man hears them just fine, and with radar, you really don't need to rely on being able to hear long distance contacts yourself anyway.

[Ilpalazzo]

I'm using TM mod and I have gotten this problem a few times. I just assumed the game was being, well, sh4. Didn't think much of it as it is random and uncommon.

[The Joker]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but I just experienced this bug. I setup a test mission with a cargo ship that passes in front of my sub at 5 kts. (I was following WernerSobe's excellent advanced firing solution video tutorial.) I set up the mission with stormy weather and tried it out.

When the ship came within hydrophone range, my SO reported the contact and I switched to the hydrophone station. I pointed the phones in the direction of the ship but no green light and I couldn't hear anything. (Although, my SO could still track the target and I could ping it.)

I figured it was a weather problem, so I set it to a nice calm day and tried again. Same thing. :damn: I tried many different depths but still no dice. (I also tried surfacing and diving as Ducimus suggested.) Then I thought that maybe the ship was going too slow, so I set the ship's speed to 10 kts... Heard it loud and clear. :o So, it seems to be related to speed... Anyone know any more about this?

[brandtryan]

I'm now having this problem as well--with 1.4. Did anyone ever solve this?

[AVGWarhawk]

Every once in a while I get the vessel with the Russian caterpillar propulsion system. Never has it been a constant problem really. Does this happen all the time?

[brandtryan]

Every once in a while I get the vessel with the Russian caterpillar propulsion system. Never has it been a constant problem really. Does this happen all the time?

Well, I just started a campaign--and on the way to Midway to refuel from Pearl, I encountered a merchant, and the sonar worked.

However, upon reaching Midway--where my sonar man founds tons of new contacts (friendlies)--the sonar is not working--I get no sound when I turn to his reported contacts. I do get sound from my own screws though. :damn:

[AVGWarhawk]

Try this if you do not have it already. Go to the Reflections on the Water mod posted over in the mod forums. Download the sound mod (stand alone package) and install JSGME. See if that cures your ills. Better sounds anyway!

[brandtryan]

thanks for all the help, Warhawk--I'll give it a try.

[fireship4]

well in regards to not being able to hear the friendly contacts on sonar at midway, as far as i remember they aren't moving - no props no noise. I guess the SO being able to pick them up is a quirk of the game - could be attributed to hearing maintainance etc going on inside.

Hmm are there sounds ingame so you can hear maintainance on ships? Can we add this? Did ships ever do the equivalent of "rig for silent running".

[-Pv-]

One way to test if the 'phones are working is to aim them directly aft and if it lights up while you hear your own prop, it's working. You just need to get used to the more limited functionality.
-Pv-

[baxter]

AVGWarhawk said:
Try this if you do not have it already. Go to the Reflections on the Water mod posted over in the mod forums. Download the sound mod (stand alone package) and install JSGME. See if that cures your ills. Better sounds anyway!

I'm using the ROW sound mod and still having this problem. I'm glad I saw this thread...I just discovered this and was getting ready to test all of my mods to see if I could find the cause...now at least I know it's the stock game and not a mod. I guess I'll just live with it the way it is.:-?

[AVGWarhawk]

AVGWarhawk said:
Try this if you do not have it already. Go to the Reflections on the Water mod posted over in the mod forums. Download the sound mod (stand alone package) and install JSGME. See if that cures your ills. Better sounds anyway!

I'm using the ROW sound mod and still having this problem. I'm glad I saw this thread...I just discovered this and was getting ready to test all of my mods to see if I could find the cause...now at least I know it's the stock game and not a mod. I guess I'll just live with it the way it is.:-?

You don't have to live with it. Patch 1.2 I lost all kinds of sounds. I uninstalled the entire game and reinstalled. All sounds worked. 10 minutes of your time just miight cure the ills

[AVGWarhawk]

One way to test if the 'phones are working is to aim them directly aft and if it lights up while you hear your own prop, it's working. You just need to get used to the more limited functionality.
-Pv-

I did notice the sounds as harder to hear with the patch. ROW sound mod has a sound enhancer with it. Makes hearing a bit easier.

[Jib01]

Is the hydophone fixed in the 1.4 patch and TM 1.7.1 now ?? It has never worked with any addon.....

Regards
jib01/02
:damn: :damn: :damn:

[aanker]

Yeah, hydrophone problems on plain 1.4 stock version here. I had blue lines everywhere on the map at Midway and even moved within 600 yds of a moving contact but can't hear anything ... also no green light except for my own screws which light up and sound fine. With 1.3 I could sometimes hear contacts miles away. Going to try TM 1.7x and/or the new RFB and see what happens. Maybe first I'll try to find some Japanese shipping and see if they work on them. Strange.

Art

[Jib01]

At least you heard your own screw. Mine is silent all the time.

Jib01/02