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Trav_R · 12-11-05, 07:13 AM

Some info on manual targeting. It doesn't have to be mind boggling. About 80% of the time, it's not necessary to do all of that calculation. You can calculate range easily once you ID the target right? Then the only other two things to calculate are AOB and speed. So, I'm gonna give you two easy ways to calculate AOB and speed that work well most of the time.

To easily calculate speed: ID the target, note its length in meters. Point your periscope crosshairs ahead of the target and leave them. When the ship's bow crosses your vertical crosshair, start the stopwatch. When the stern crosses, stop the stopwatch. Divide the traget's length by the amount of time it took. This gives you the target's speed in meters per second. Divide by .514 to get speed in knots. If you don't have a calculator handy (it makes things easier) you can use a nomograph, which can be downloaded at some of the mod sites around here. I generally do this a couple times to make sure I'm accurate. Now you have the speed.

For AOB: The easiest way, that doesn't require any super math skills is to check out the recognition manual. Once you've ID'd the ship, click on the button on the recognition manual that shows you the ship from different angles. Look at the picture that shows the target at 20 degrees AOB. Find something on that picture that will be easy to identify while looking through your scope. Usually, there will be something that's easy to spot. Sometimes the aft mast is just behind the superstructe. Sometimes the fore mast is almost to the end of the bridge. Just look, and find something that's easy to see. Then, when your target looks exactly like it does in the 20 degree AOB picture, manually set your TDC to 20 degrees AOB, either port or starboard depending on your target. Then put the TDC back to automatic, and as long as you and the target don't change course anymore, you're done with AOB.

With speed and AOB set, all you need now is a quick range update and you can hit anything. Of course, you'll still want to launch with a low gyro angle, because no matter how good your calculations are, with a high gyro angle you've still got a good chance to miss.

12-11-05, 07:13 AM	#8
Trav_R Ensign Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma, USA Posts: 227 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Some info on manual targeting. It doesn't have to be mind boggling. About 80% of the time, it's not necessary to do all of that calculation. You can calculate range easily once you ID the target right? Then the only other two things to calculate are AOB and speed. So, I'm gonna give you two easy ways to calculate AOB and speed that work well most of the time. To easily calculate speed: ID the target, note its length in meters. Point your periscope crosshairs ahead of the target and leave them. When the ship's bow crosses your vertical crosshair, start the stopwatch. When the stern crosses, stop the stopwatch. Divide the traget's length by the amount of time it took. This gives you the target's speed in meters per second. Divide by .514 to get speed in knots. If you don't have a calculator handy (it makes things easier) you can use a nomograph, which can be downloaded at some of the mod sites around here. I generally do this a couple times to make sure I'm accurate. Now you have the speed. For AOB: The easiest way, that doesn't require any super math skills is to check out the recognition manual. Once you've ID'd the ship, click on the button on the recognition manual that shows you the ship from different angles. Look at the picture that shows the target at 20 degrees AOB. Find something on that picture that will be easy to identify while looking through your scope. Usually, there will be something that's easy to spot. Sometimes the aft mast is just behind the superstructe. Sometimes the fore mast is almost to the end of the bridge. Just look, and find something that's easy to see. Then, when your target looks exactly like it does in the 20 degree AOB picture, manually set your TDC to 20 degrees AOB, either port or starboard depending on your target. Then put the TDC back to automatic, and as long as you and the target don't change course anymore, you're done with AOB. With speed and AOB set, all you need now is a quick range update and you can hit anything. Of course, you'll still want to launch with a low gyro angle, because no matter how good your calculations are, with a high gyro angle you've still got a good chance to miss.