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Sniper297 · 04-14-15, 10:01 AM

"You are asking your 40's vintage TDC to do some of the same functions"

I was born in 1953, so I'm also old enough to remember when electronic calculators were the latest high tech. I was an aviation ASW tech in the late 70s so I understand the technology of mechanical tracking systems, and the WWII TDC could easily have had the same functions.

Near as I can tell from the documentation though, that feature was not in the TDC;

http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/tdc/index.htm#toc

Because it was instead in the mechanical plotter, which SH4 doesn't even hint at. TorpX mentioned distance to the track, which near as I can tell was also incorporated into the mechanical plotter. Hard to find info on the plotter - I worked on the PT-396 plotter from the P-3 Orion and the ASA-13 plotter from the SH-3 Sea King, both were top secret at the time so finding details on those is also difficult. They were 60s technology but both were mechanical, with a tracer moved under a rolling sheet of translucent plastic burning lines and target marks on the underside.

Here's the only picture I can find of the WWII sub plotter table;

Under the sheet of glass you can just see the mechanical arm which is moved by small motors based on inputs from the TDC, gyrocompass, and pit log. At top just left of center you can also see the bottom of a repeater dial linked to the sonar console up in the conning tower, this gadget is down in the control room.

Game doesn't even hint at this technology let alone simulate it, the auto map contact update is probably the closest we'll ever get. What would be great is if some genius modder could reprogram the ingame map to display targeting and tracking based on input from the player instead of choosing either automatic full perfect tracing or no tracing at all.

04-14-15, 10:01 AM	#3
Sniper297 The Old Man Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Philadelphia Shipyard Brig Posts: 1,386 Downloads: 160 Uploads: 19	"You are asking your 40's vintage TDC to do some of the same functions" I was born in 1953, so I'm also old enough to remember when electronic calculators were the latest high tech. I was an aviation ASW tech in the late 70s so I understand the technology of mechanical tracking systems, and the WWII TDC could easily have had the same functions. Near as I can tell from the documentation though, that feature was not in the TDC; http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/tdc/index.htm#toc Because it was instead in the mechanical plotter, which SH4 doesn't even hint at. TorpX mentioned distance to the track, which near as I can tell was also incorporated into the mechanical plotter. Hard to find info on the plotter - I worked on the PT-396 plotter from the P-3 Orion and the ASA-13 plotter from the SH-3 Sea King, both were top secret at the time so finding details on those is also difficult. They were 60s technology but both were mechanical, with a tracer moved under a rolling sheet of translucent plastic burning lines and target marks on the underside. Here's the only picture I can find of the WWII sub plotter table; Under the sheet of glass you can just see the mechanical arm which is moved by small motors based on inputs from the TDC, gyrocompass, and pit log. At top just left of center you can also see the bottom of a repeater dial linked to the sonar console up in the conning tower, this gadget is down in the control room. Game doesn't even hint at this technology let alone simulate it, the auto map contact update is probably the closest we'll ever get. What would be great is if some genius modder could reprogram the ingame map to display targeting and tracking based on input from the player instead of choosing either automatic full perfect tracing or no tracing at all.