Yes it's pretty useful for quick tracking. Actually what you do is you multiply the mast height by the number by the line which it appears and that is the range in m.

So you have mastheight 25 at the 40 line, range = 25*40=1000m.

The scale and numbers are set for low power, and low power just isn't as useful in the game as it was in real life, so it couold mayeb do with being resized for high power. (even so, you can use it in high power - you just have to multiply the resulting range by 4, so in high power the target reaching the same point on the scale would show a range of 4000m)

joe

The UZO is always zoomed-in so I was going to make a new scale using a base mast height of 10m, but I could use 1m instead to get the simpler formula you just used... :hmm:

Thinking out loud here... you need ship ID for mast height, and you don't want to be getting close enough to a convoy to be able to ID ships while still on the surface, in daylight, trying to determine their course! So this device would only be used for getting the ranges for the firing solutions during the actual attack... but that sounds OK to me.

Well not really, not if you know the general mast heights by heart. Basically all the common ships have mastheights of roughly the same two or three values - and that's enough for the accuracy purposes that this tool is providing. Just gives you a quick orientation of what's around you.

There are ways to find out speed and course of a target/convoy by just taking bearings to it. Take a look at page 56/57 of the following "The Radar Navigation and Maneuvering Board Manual". It's a modern US publication so I expect 'history-players' to turn this down. But it's just simple geometry even the old greeks could find out. It's all about viewing the target in light of it's relative motion around your sub (you need to take 3 bearings on each of 2 different course/speed legs to get all you need). And then correcting this relative motion vector based on your own course/speeds to find target/convoy speed and rough range. But this is a patience game potentially taking game-hours. Alot may not like that, and may not even understand how it works. And i'm still working out how to use it from a uboot point of view. It shouldn't be much of a problem while on the surface with visual contact, but hydrophone is alot trickier.

The page mentioned above is in chapter 6 (which are mostly exercises), but chapter 3 explain's 'how and why' of the whole theory (20MB zip containing .pdf's):
http://www.nga.mil/MSISiteContent/St...NM/pub1310.zip

This may also explain how the theory behind the maneuvering board works, although it is meant for (US) radaroperators, and seems to be older:

http://hnsa.org/doc/radar/part5.htm

There are several threads on the topic of what is generally known as TMA. The big advantage that nuclear subs have over WW2 boats is teh ability to sustain a high speed underwater and therefore be able to perform the complete track and intercept in any tactical situation without surfacing.

On the other hand, if you do not expedite your attack with a WW2 boat you will miss many targets by trying to complete a full tma.

In addition without modern sonar equipment you cannot be sure of the nationalilty of the target without visual confirmation

Nonetheless towards the end of ww2 early forms of tma were in use, enough to give you the target relative course. Check out the plotting/nav section of this indispensible manual

http://www.hnsa.org/doc/attack/index.htm

I like the method outlined by Mittelwaechter too (but i see you know it)

But most satisfying of all is the system described by me which doesn't even require you to stop, but does at least require visuals for the last few seconds. you can get the pdf guide i wrote for it on my filefront

joe

@pisces: re maneuvering board a.k.a. DMA 5090 MOBOARD.

They have been around in the USN before radar was introduced; however, see "War in the Boats: My WWII Submarine Battles By William J. Ruhe" p.180 where the MoBoard's use in battle conditions is discussed. I'm not sure what the Kreigsmarine was using, but I'm sure whatever they used was just as sexy.

It's just a visual algebraic plotting solution using vectors. It's perfectly authentic to use the 5090 for plotting targets. I've always used my own, homemade versions since SH1.

cheers,

If you mean that WW2 boats are slow, and I need to be quick to do it good you are right. The speed difference is quite a handicap. But what I had in mind is listening on hydrophone submerged, and sprinting surfaced, then listening again. Which is difficult as you need to maintain propper average speeds. Or you could be sprinting while maintaining extreme visual range. Until the advent of radar. Or do you get bearings from those radar reports also? Apart from that it comes down to choosing smart speeds and courses that narrows the possible target speed and course down as much as possible. But I admit, I'm nowhere done training yet.

Hmm, thinking about it for what OLC wanted, convoy trailing, hydrophone bearings to a convoy are almost impossible to make. Far to wide. Can't do it without radar or visual I fear.

Looks like I really need to find the time to read that through. It looks alot more descriptive of procedures than what was in that captured and translated Kriegmarine handbook.

I've got some comments about it. But I'm sending a private message about this because I don't want to hijack this thread. Found an error in your method.

It's a thousand posts long, I think that makes it impossible to hijack. ;) Besides this is interesting for me and on-topic IMO.

1.2.2 released. :cool:

*hides*

Typical!
 

Typical... within hours of release, I have a small breakthrough.

I've discovered a property of colour called luminosity and a way to calculate it. This finally explains why I could never get the colours of the marking lines right - basically a silly assumption on my part. Long story short, I'll be releasing a minor update with marking lines which I hope people will agree are much easier to see.

don1reed are you reading this? ;)

1.2.2 re-released
 

The new colours are done. I've replaced 1.2.2 at FF, rather than releasing a 1.2.3 version, and I'm replacing 1.2.2 at BTS as I type this. If you already downloaded 1.2.2, please download it again to get the new marking lines - sorry for the inconvenience.

You dang straight I am! :up:

...as far as I'm concerned, GWX, Jagd, & OLC Gui are to SH3 as what the Isle of Palms is to Dubai.

Cheers

So true! Thanks OLC!

OLC check your first message again. One of the questions are truncated.