Finding ships heading?

[black1]

what is the best method to find a ships heading so i can dial it in the stadimeter and angle on bow, usually i wing it by eyeing it out , but after watching werners videos i see there is a better way to find the heading to get angle on bow. Couls omeone explain it well for me , thank you. I know sonar man gives bearing but what about heading?

[black1]

Ummm. anyone?

[Wasserbombkopf]

Get range and bearing, mark that spot on the nav map. Get 2nd range and bearing after waiting. Mark that on the map. Draw a line between the 2, that is the ships heading.

[manucapo]

if you would like to be really crazy about it (actually at the distance you should fire 1500.) determining heading by eye should be enough but if you want to make those 1000000 mile shots.
there is a way to find out the heading but im not sure how reliable that is
in the game or in real life but you would get a heading this way


if you know the ship range, and you know its heading you can figure out its position
in the map
lets say the ship is at 20.000 yards (any random number) and at a bearing of 10
so plot in the map a line of bearing 10 from your sub , and then use the compas to and make a circle of radius 20.000 yards, where this lines meet you should have an aproximation of where the ship is , you could do this 3 times and then join the 3 with a line (if its not exact, aproximate it to the midlle) and you should have a heading ,
i dont rember how exact does the game give data , like range and heading, but if it is exact enough you should be able to figure it out

of course this is very time waste full, but it should do ok if you are trying to make one of those long range shots

try it out maybe im just saying one way you could do it in "A PERFECT WORLD" but game worlds are usualy more perfect than ours (because they follow strict rules) so maybe give it a try if you have some time

i know its not the answer you wanted , but its all i could think off
and if im talking bull**** please tell me

also if you time the time between the two readings you make you should be able to determine speed this way so you should have all you need for a torpedo shot

[howler93]

I just do a radar sweep, mark target position on the nav map, wait awhile and repeat. Draw a line between the two (or three or four) marks and use the compass tool to determine their heading. Using the TM mod though, I've found that most of my targets usually end up with a zig zag course. I hate lining up the perfect solution and approach only to have them zig right before launching my fish! :damn:

Happy Hunting,
Howler :arrgh!:

[Factor]

or zig right after you unload the fish.

[howler93]

or zig right after you unload the fish.

:rotfl:

I'm actually worrying about this one a bit, as the 1.4 patch mentions better reaction to steam torps!

[fireship4]

Well the one everyone seems to have missed is the one in the videos hes asked about.

1. Take range and bearing and send both to the TDC with the red button on the stadimeter (the circular thing in the top right).

2. Wait a bit (probably at least 3 minutes).

3. Repeat first step.

4. Find the tab on the stadimeter which has button at the top with a little clock on it. Click it and your men will estimate target course and speed from the plot that they have drawn on their map between the two range/bearing marks. Prress the red button and the speed will be sent to the TDC. You now will have to send the AOB (and therefore the course) to the TDC yourself.

5. Look on the left of the screen and make sure the target info screen shows the bit with two circles one above the other. One of them will show what the TDC has as the target course. Look on the right of the screen back at the stadimeter and select the AOB tab. Take a guess and send the AOB to the TDC. Now look back at the left and check if the taget course in the TDC is now anywhere near what the WO called out when they made the estimates. Keep tweaking the AOB until the target course matches what was called out.

6. Re-take the range/bearing with the periscope and send it to the TDC. This is important to do last as the TDC will have been calculating the position of the ship using even the incorrect AOBs you tried so its off course until you re-take range/bearing.

7. You should now have a correct track. Make sure the red PK button is on. This factors your own speed and course into the plot and compensates.

8. Always retake range/bearing last. Wait 'till you're close (0.5nm maybe) before you fire and a 90 deg. shot (where the side of the enemy is directly in front of your boat - this is shown in one of the two circles) is best. Look on the left and in one of the cirlcles will be an arrow showing the course the torpedo will be fired at to hit the target. Get this at 0 deg. (exactly in-front of your sub) and the torpedo will not have to turn. This will mean less error too.

###EDIT###
Updated points 4 and 8 a little. Also to clarify TDC means "Torpedo Data Computer".

Also Please see my next post below.

Go win the war.

[black1]

Thank you fireship, i appreciate it.

[fireship4]

No problem. I've just read in another thread that you may need to keep the PK off until after you have used the "estimate course and speed button", so maybe do this until it is confirmed by the thread poster. If you're interested the thred is called "calculating range".

[black1]

Fireship on question 5 talking about the 2 rings which ring is what, inner is ? and outer is ?...Thanks mate

[fireship4]

Well from memory I dont know exactly, there are two rings one above and one below on the PK tab on the left of the screen. Each also has a scondary circle inside, but I can't be sure of what each is as my PC f'ed itself just in time for 1.4.

Looking in the manual at a screenshot, it seems the inner ring shows relative bearing of the ship or sub (ie bearing from the front of your ship) and the outer ring shows true bearing (ie 90 is due east). Can't be sure. Also you can point at different parts of the rings like the little plastic notch, maybe the arrows and maybe other bits to see what they mean for example calculated course torpedo will need to follow to hit target. So one ring... One ring to...

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.