radar/visibility problems
 

so i loaded up SH4 today and continued my patrol. i was on the surface to enable surface radar to max range and selected sweep. i had TC at 256x when all of a sudden i get a lookout report of a cargo ship not 500 metres away, i almost crashed into the thing.

what were my radar guys doin??? is this a known issue? also, visibility was reported as excellent with clear skies (daytime) yet there a fog which meant i could barely see 500 metres!

im usin the lastest RFB along with the real environment mod.

If you were personally monitoring / operating the radar the radar crew wasent doing anything.

nah i wasnt personally monitoring anything apart from the map. ive only came backt o SH4 after a good long while away but i remember there were issues with the radar not switching on properly.

what else would cause the radar not to detect a ship? and why was the visibilty so poor even though it was a clear blue sky and visibility was reported as excellent?

could it be a problem with the real environment mod i wonder.

Was the radar on? It doesn't turn itself back on after you surface, and its efficiency is greatly enhanced by switching it on and toggling continuous sweeps :-D

yeah it was defo switched on and on sweep mode. i seem to recall that a certain button configuration had to be used so that the radar would stay on when not at the radar station.

or was that fixed with patch 1.5?

After you've left the radar station, select the radar menu, and make sure the hand and continuous sweeps are selcted.

Otherwise, no clue what the problem might be.

I had had problems at times turning on the radar... the toggle switch deal has been tricky for me.

Question: If you don't have a radar is the console still there? I seem to recall when I started the career it said I did not have a surface radar... and no option to buy one (starting at Pearl).

What was the weather like? I have had really bad weather affect radar performance.

The radar console will show all the time even if you don't have surface radar.
It doesn't become available till some time around June 1942 I think???????
Your boat load out screen should tell you if you have it.

As far as the fog goes I guess you can't believe everything you hear.
Might be some thing with the environment mod.

Magic

i wasnt aware weather affected radar? ive just put it down to **** happens syndrome. it hasnt happened since although i havent detected anymore ships so ive no real of knowin.

Thanks Magic.... I thought so!

I have only suspected this,but it has happened in very heavy weather. Very high seas and heavy rain.