AOB

[Darkranger85]

Ok, call me a newb but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out AOB. I'm using the compass thing on the ruler to figure his bearing but I just cant seem to wrap my mind around how to turn his bearing into AOB.

Like I've said, this is probably a stupid question but I tend to pick up games that require math and such slowly so I really need a noobs guide. :-(

SUBSIM Angle on Bow Guide Noob Guide (https://www.subsim.com/tips/wolfpack/aob.htm)

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[tedhealy]

3 ways I go about it

1. Guesstimate by observing.

2. Know the target's course and location and plot it on the map. Use the angle tool, start somewhere ahead of the target's course and click. Draw back to the target, click at the target, then drag the line out to your sub. Read the angle, that's the AOB.

3. If you know the target's course, you can acutally dial that without even thking too much about AOB. Look at the top dial on the TDC. Look at the little 0 at the front of the ship. Line that 0 up with the target's true course on the outer ring by altering the AOB angle dial on the right. You've just set the AOB.


AOB is just if you were standing on the bow of the target ship, what is the relative bearing to your sub?

[Darkranger85]

ok I used the angle tool and drew a line to about the middle of the enemy ship and then to my sub and got a reading of about 27 degrees.

But the AOB input device has the numbers 1 - 18 and the negatives of that. So what is 27 degrees?

Also on a side note, I am assuming that you use the compass thing to draw a line from the back of the ship up through the bow and you get the bearing of that ship. Is that correct or am I way off on that?

[tedhealy]

That is in 10's, so 1 is 10, 2 is 20 and so on up to 18 which is 180. So if you came up with 27 on the map, you'd set it at a little under 3 for 30. Now is your sub to the right or left of the target ship? That is if you were on the bow of the enemy ship, would you look to the right or left to find your sub? If it's right, that's starboard and you set the AOB dial to the S side. If your sub is to the left, that's port and you set the AOB dial to the P side.

In your second part, I assume you are talking about the ship's course, not bearing. What I do is use the mark tool to put an x where the ship is, wait a little bit, then make another x where the ship is. Draw a line between the two marks and you have the ship's course.

Try watching the video tutorials that are stickied at the top of this forum on the TDC+PK, they should help.

[tedhealy]

Here are the links to the vids

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=677410&postcount=82

[Darkranger85]

Thank you that was very helpful I'm actually starting to get it now. One more question is, what do you do if the ship you are attacking isnt standing still? He knows you are there and is zig zagging back and forth and so you cant really get a good AOB cause its always changing.

[Darkranger85]

Also if I may add another issue I'm having. I'm trying to use teh stadometer to get my targets range. I drag the image down so that the bottom of the image ship touches the mast of the real ship.

But when I look at the attack map the range is WAY to far out. Like, beyond a small margin of error its like hundreds of feet off.

[tedhealy]

Indeed. Zig zagging (or constant helming is what you usually see ships doing in game) ships are hard to hit. You have to either come up with their average course and speed, or try to hit 'em at a specific part of their course. Either way, you probably should launch a salvo of 2 or more torpedoes to cover for any error. Use the TDC torpedo settings to change the firing angle, maybe send one a degree or two to the right of the ship and another a degree or two to the left of the ship.

Best bit of advice is don't let them see you to begin with so you don't have to shoot at a constantly turning target, also kill 'em with your first salvo of torpeodoes.

Not sure what to tell you on your stadimeter issue, works fine for me. Perhaps you aren't touching the very top of the mast to the water line on the ghost image.

There is a mod out there that changes where you bring the image down to. Instead of the top of the mast, it's usually a funnel which you can see better at larger distances. Maybe that mod would help.

[Darkranger85]

No, I'm deffinatly doing it right. And to get the mark even close to right I have to put the bottom of the ghost image like WAYYY above the real image.

I have the PE mod, I dont suppose that would have effected it. Somehow I'm guessing not but its the only mod I can think of that makes major changes.

As for the mod that changes where you have to drag it to, do you happen to know if it would be compatible with PE?

[Fincuan]

This might sound like a dumb question, but did you identify the target before using the stadimeter? I mean browsing through the recognition manual until you've got the correct page, then locking your target and "ticking it" from the rec manual? If you're not doing this, then the mast height, which is critical to accurate stadimeter readings, will be wrong resulting in wrong readings. Don't worry though, my money is on Rockin Robbins showing up any moment and trying to convert you to the Dick O'Kane method, now that we mentioned the word "stadimeter". He just hates that device :lol:

[Darkranger85]

I've looked at that method and it makes my eyes glaze over just looking at it lol. And yes, I did ID the target.

[Rockin Robbins]

Stadimeter??!!:hulk::eek:

[Rockin Robbins]

Obviously that means my explanation of Dick O'Kane isn't up to snuff yet, because Dick O'Kane is a LOT simpler than conventional targeting. Therefore, something isn't right about my explanations (there are two of them in WernerSobe's Advanced TDC/PK Targeting thread). Do you think illustrations would help or is the language just impossible to understand? Pointers honestly solicited here. I want this to be easy.:up:

[Nisgeis]

Do you think illustrations would help or is the language just impossible to understand? Pointers honestly solicited here. I want this to be easy.:up:

Some people get more information from text descriptions and others get more information from pictures, it just depends how your brain processes information. I'm of the latter type. I can work through a step by step guide, but then I have to imagine it and then look at the picture in my head, if that makes sense. So to me, with my spacial awareness, a picture holds much more information about the tactics than a description does, or at least is much more readily accessible.

[tedhealy]

Obviously that means my explanation of Dick O'Kane isn't up to snuff yet, because Dick O'Kane is a LOT simpler than conventional targeting. Therefore, something isn't right about my explanations (there are two of them in WernerSobe's Advanced TDC/PK Targeting thread). Do you think illustrations would help or is the language just impossible to understand? Pointers honestly solicited here. I want this to be easy.:up:
The O'Kane method is very good, but doesn't fit every situation. Personally I think knowing the basics of manual targeting and being able to come up with a good firing solution in any situation should be learned first. Know how the TDC works, know how adjusting the 3 variables, range/bearing, AOB, and speed alter where the torpedo is going. Be able to recognize when your solution is lagging or ahead of the target and know why it is and how to fix it. Once you know the "fundamentals" as it were, then learning the O'Kane method is a very good idea.