What does the button "send bearing to tdc" do?

[Platapus]

I am trying to learn a bit more about how the TDC works in SH4.

If you open up the data entry wheel on the upper right, there is the red button that if you mouse over is labeled "send range and bearing to TDC"

When this button is pushed, the TDC on the left updates with the bearing displayed on the lower dial. No problems understanding this.

However, on the lower left portion of the screen are the action buttons. When the periscope station is selected, the third button from the left is labeled, upon mouse over, "send bearing to TDC. Sends the bearing of the current target to the TDC.

This does not appear to be linked to the periscope. When there is no target selected, pushing this button enters some bearing but no the bearing of the periscope. What is also interesting is that if the periscope is stationary and you repeatably select this button, the bearing being entered rotates clockwise around the submarine.

well there are only two things rotating on the submarine: The Radar and the Hydrophone. Is this action button linked to either the radar or hydrophone? And with no target selected, it simply follows either the Radar or Hydrophone? If so, which one?

So my questions are

1. What does this button do?
2. When should I use this button and not the one on the data entry dial?

Nooblet minds want to know.

[BillBam]

Many good videos on manual TDC use here, check out the Dick O'Kane and WernerSobe videos especially.

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6421019045/m/9661024145

[Platapus]

That's a great site and everyone should have it bookmarked. Unfortunately the tutorials don't mention the lower left button at all. :(

[Armistead]

Could you clarify.. When you say lower left screen buttons, I just see the PK..then your basic icons on the bottom. On the stad you have the red send range..bottom of stad, range, aob and speed...

I'm lost to what lower left screen where you find a button that says send
bearing to TDC, unless you have a mod with a different setup...

[BillBam]

Your not talking about the HUD dispaly that is at the bottom of all screens and has the buttoms for all the different stations are you?

[Platapus]

Yes those 13 buttons in the lower left of the screen when you are at the periscope station, Specifically the third button from the right

[magic452]

All that button did for me was CTD so I quit using it but it should send the bearing of a sonar contact to the TDC much the way you would if you were at the sonar itself.
The send range does the same thing. I suppose that it will ping a target and send range. But I never found any use for them, don't know why they are there??????
I assume that you would have to have sonar "follow nearest contact" enabled first.

Magic

[BillBam]

From the sonar station you need to fix the hydophone on the target bearing then ping the target with the sonar. If you get a return ping click the send bear and send range buttons to send the info to the TDC.

[Armistead]

What hud or mod are you running or is it stock...

I use TMO and at the scope station don't have that button, the third from the right is the night scope. Maybe they're buttons in stock and why they were removed as they had no use...I have not a clue.

This is my hud, third button on the hud is night scope...I assume yours is different.


http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu235/Armistead1424/SH4Img2010-04-01_170740_330.jpg

[magic452]

I believe he is on the sonar station tool bar.
I just tried them out and could not get it to work properly.
Didn't CTD though just not a very helpful feature.

Magic

[Rockin Robbins]

He could be talking about the sonar station, or he could be talking about a modified command bar. How about posting a screenshot so we can see what you're talking about? If it's a modified command bar, it does the same thing as the button on the TDC input dial: sends range and bearing to the TDC.

[Platapus]

I am using RFB 2.0

Let me explain so that I am making myself clear on what buttons I am talking about.


In the lower left of the screen are two layers of buttons.

The upper layer selects the station (helm, periscope, sonar, etc) These buttons are static in that they don't change

Under these buttons is a layer of other buttons specific to the station selected.

If I select the helm station ,I get helm related buttons

Now when I select the periscope station button, underneath are the periscope station related buttons. These include the scope selection (attack/obs), the periscope raising and lower buttons and so forth. While at the periscope station (not the sonar station), the third button from the right (using RFB) is the "send bearing to TDC" button. That is the button I want to know about.

When I am in open water with no target selected, when I hit this button, a bearing is sent to the TDC. However, it does not appear to be linked to where my periscope is pointed. So it must be linked to "something else"

Probably either the radar or the hydrophone or both (or neither?).

If I don't touch anything but repeatably hit this button, the bearing being entered changed in a clockwise direction. So I am assume this button is linked to something that is rotating on my submarine.

As both the radar and the hydrophone are rotating, it would be logical that this button has something to do with the radar or hydrophone.

My question is how do I control this?

At first I thought I needed to have a target locked in the periscope, but that does not seem to have much influence.

I like the suggestion that this button is linked to the command "follow contact". I have not tried that yet, but will do so the next time I am near some friendly ships.

If this button is linked to the radar, I would like to know use it.


The whole reason I care about this, is that I am really trying to hone my SH4 TDC tracking capabilities. I had hoped that this button would allow me to enter the bearing of the periscope without entering in the range.

This is what I want to be able to do. Maybe I am just missing something.

1. Enter speed in to the TDC. This is straight forward and I have no problems

2. Ping a merchant ship to determine range. This works great from the sonar station.

3. Go to the periscope for a final bearing and AoB adjustment. This is where it gets hard. If I use the data entry wheel in the upper right, the only way to send the bearing is to send both the bearing and the range using the stadimeter. Well I don' want to use the Stad, as I already have a good range in step 2. But if I use the data entry wheel to send the bearing and range, the stad range "over writes" the previously entered sonar range.

The only work around I have found is to reverse steps 2 and 3 and take the sonar ping last. But that just does not seem right.

The real problem is that these steps, in real life, were done simultaneously by different crew members, while in the game they have to be done sequentially by the player.


Hence I was excited to discover a separate button on the lower left of the screen in the periscope station "send bearing to TDC" This is exactly what I wanted! Just to send the bearing only. But it does not seem to work with the periscope. :cry:

Any long and involved problem that probably most players don't care about. I am just trying to really hone my TDC attack skills.

What I am going to try next is when I start a new mission, I will hang around in the harbour a bit targeting stationary friendly ships (I hope that is possible) for practice.

[Platapus]

How about posting a screenshot so we can see what you're talking about?

Alas one of the many things I still don't know about submarine simulations is how to post screenshots here. :88):oops:

I have never posted any image to this site before. I think there is a sticky about this, I will read it

[Platapus]

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/7660/sh4screenshot.jpg

Hey! Look at me, Posting a screen shot, just like the big kids! :woot:

Anyway, the button where my cursor is, is the button I am interested in.

[Harmsway!]

My menu is the same although I haven't bothered using those buttons for input to the TDC. It appears that a target needs to be locked to use these because it says current target. Next time you have a ship in the scope hit the L key to lock the target. Then see if it changes the range.

I can tell you it changes the bearing by where the scope is pointing target or not. However not so with range. I don't see how it does the range without the stadimeter. I can't wait to try it out but I haven't seen a ship since I left port weeks ago.

[Harmsway!]

No I'm wrong, you are right, the bearing changes to something different each time I click the icon. I have yet to try it with a target lock to view.

[magic452]

I understand what you want to do, would be nice.

But as far as I can determine at least in TMO that button is not working at all.
I can find no way to have it give a constant reading that has any value.
It doesn't seem to work with the peri or sonar.
No matter what I try it gives a different value every time and none of them are in the ballpark.

It seems that the in game TDC won't work right without some kind of range input.

Magic

[Munchausen]

:cool: Platapus, I think that button sends a sonar bearing. But it doesn't seem to correspond to any specific target (including the one you might have locked in the TDC). Consequently, if you're in the middle of a convoy, you will get a different reading each time. And ... possibly ... the bearing sent might actually correspond to the azimuth of the sonar head at the moment you click on the button. So, if you sonar operator is in search mode, the bearing sent could be just about anything.