Understanding Radar

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Hello,
I just got the first radar equipment for my type VIIB(Metox? FuMB? I think?) its the first radar and not radar detector. and I was wondering...
1. How does it work?

2. I read the community manual via newbie guide and is it still true about the false sense of security when turning the radar off? I am playing GWX1.3 and SH3 CMDR. The guide says to manually turn it off, by doing it yourself in the radio shack, and then you should be fine. I'd hate to think that its turned off only to be jumped by something nasty.

thanks for any help.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Hello,
I just got the first radar equipment for my type VIIB(Metox? FuMB? I think?) its the first radar and not radar detector. and I was wondering...
1. How does it work?

2. I read the community manual via newbie guide and is it still true about the false sense of security when turning the radar off? I am playing GWX1.3 and SH3 CMDR. The guide says to manually turn it off, by doing it yourself in the radio shack, and then you should be fine. I'd hate to think that its turned off only to be jumped by something nasty.

thanks for any help.

Hi Mate,

'Metox' is a radar detector and is a passive, signal receiving only device... not to be confused with 'active' radar sets that are shorter ranged and provide the user with more information about a contact.

Radar detectors, also referred to as 'radar warning receivers' or 'RWR' are always on when you are surfaced if your U-boat is equipped with them. You do not need to turn them on or off, and they do not give away your position. This is why they are referred to also as passive sensors. They leave no signature that is detectable by the enemy. Hydrophones and radio direction finders (RDF) are other passive sensors. (RDF loops on player sub conning towers are basically eye candy only.)

Radar detectors such as the Metox can give you the bearing to a contact (more accurately enemy radar sending units) ... but should not give you an accurate distance to that unit. (Lack of range determination accuracy via radar warning recievers will be better represented in GWX version 1.04 when it is released.)

Active radar units such as the FUMO 29, FUMO 30 etc... produce and send radar signals that can in turn be detected by the enemy, giving away your position. (Should be used sparingly for that reason.) Player active radar sets are typically shorter-ranged than Allied active radar units. Allied radar technology was more sophisticated in WWII and is represented as such in SH3/GWX.

Just for further reference, 'ASDIC' units on Allied escorts are also 'active sensors.'

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I have the active radar that is a bunch of little boxes around the conning tower.
Do you know how it is used? Right now it looks like two vertical green lines in a scope with range marks on it(I think). I dont know what a contact would look like, nor would I know how to decipher its bearing/range.

Also, concerning question #2 in my original post, is it still true that using the Radio man icon to turn off the radio might not work? in which case the community manual says that you must turn it off manually, ie. going to the radio station itself and physically turning it off?

Thank you for the info concerning the differences between radars. It seems that I shouldnt have picked up the radar set after all?
any help appreciated! thanks

edit: I'm playing GWX1.3 loaded via SH3 Commander.