radar woes

[Joe S]

I ran a mission which went throught several areas of intensive enemy air traffice, requireing frequent dives to avoid aircraft. It seems like for a while the radar would automaticlly come on upon re-surfacing. However, at one point I noticed that I wasnt getting radar warning of enemy planes and had to manually re-set the radar to continuous sweep every time we surfaced. Is there a way to set the radar (by mod or otherwise) so that it automaticlly comes on with continuous sweep when surfaced? Thanks! Joe S

[irish1958]

I am not sure; however, there is a command in the Commands file to toggle radar on/off. There is also a command to turn radar on.
I suggest copying the key to surface (Key0=0x53,C,"S") to the turn on radar blocks and see what happens.
There are several blocks involved, so you will need to test each one:
Cmd61
Cmd142
Cmd461
And, perhaps, all three would be needed, although I suspect that Cmd61 is the most important one.

[JREX53]

Joe S,

You are talking about 2 entirely different radar sets. There is an air detection radar, that comes on automatically, and only detects aircraft. Then there is the surface search radar which has the on/off toggle with the 2 radar scopes. Up to and including 1.4, I think, you had to turn on the surface search radar whenever you surfaced. In 1.5, U-Boat Add-On, the radar comes on automatically.

[Joe S]

I dont have the U-boat mod, so I must have version 1.4. I have the darn thing working quite well with a few sound mods and some keystroke mods, if I upgrade to 1.5 how much will that upset the current configuration of the game? If I can do it seemlessly I am interested. I really dont want to re-invent the wheel if I dont have to. Thanks! Joe

[tomoose]

Maybe I'm getting my versions mixed up but I'm fairlly sure I still have to turn on surface search radar after every dive. I've started a new career and don't have radar yet so I'm stretching my memory. I know I would actually look 'up' while on the bridge to check that the antenna was spinning and if not I would switch on.

Having said that, you are talking about aircraft traffic. The air search radar is definitely automatic regardless of version and comes on as soon as you surface and is sweeping 360. There is a mod which allows you to raise the air search antenna so you can check for air traffic while still submerged (I believe the modder utilized the unused snorkel effect for the US subs, regardless, it works). There is no 'manually setting' of this radar. There is no screen for that you will simply get a warning from your crew. If you are using time compression a lot then you will miss the warnings and come out of timewarp to find you are being attacked. This is excrutiatingly annoying if you are using stock 1.4 as there were waaaay too many aircraft popping up at ridiculous ranges while crossing the Pacific. Highly recommend you try TMO or RFB in conjunction with RSRD mods as the air traffic is much more realistic (and deadly).
:salute:

[Joe S]

anyone know how high we can to with time compression and still get the air search warnings? Thanks, Joe S

[Frederf]

You always get air warnings at all time compression settings, the difference is that at low TC the delay between warning and dropping you to 1x is minimal whereas high TC the delay can be a lot longer (several minutes) which can make a very important difference in distance.

[Joe S]

What do you think is a safe TC for the long haul back to base or the trip outward? Joe S

[Armistead]

I run about 3000-3400 while patrolling. I've never had a problem with the PC not slowing down, TC drops to 8 and get radar contact or plane spotted with plenty time to dive. I've timed it and TC cost me about 30 seconds game time, but that can be important without radar.

Using TMO and have been hit by bombs as far down as 200ft, so I always crash dive when I deal with planes. Usually play with contacts off, so don't have a clue how far they may be.
Usually at 5 miles and closer they can spot you..

The danger is early war where you may get sighted close. TC can cost you needed seconds without radar.

Many times people get killed using TC when radar is damaged or ruined, something to remember.

Can't remember stock

[Armistead]

I dont have the U-boat mod, so I must have version 1.4. I have the darn thing working quite well with a few sound mods and some keystroke mods, if I upgrade to 1.5 how much will that upset the current configuration of the game? If I can do it seemlessly I am interested. I really dont want to re-invent the wheel if I dont have to. Thanks! Joe

1.5 impoves the game 100%, plus you can use all the newer mods. Most older mods aren't supported...It's worth the few bucks and easy to do.
You'll need to start a new career and update mods, but that's also easy.

[Joe S]

OK, I guess I'm interested. Where can I find a list of the "improvements"? Thanks for your help! Joe