Some Q's, mainly about lock on range

[Gedscho]

Hello, everybody.

First let me say i think its not really a good idea to have people register just to use the search function of the forums. i really dont know why you wouldnt want non registered visitors to use the search.

now to my question, which i couldnt answer, even WITH the help of the search function

since i installed GWX i frequently "lose locks" on ships. it seems it has something to do with range, but im not sure. im using the 16km view range thingy too, btw.
its like... i lock the contact with the periscope and about 10 seconds later or so i lose the lock again.

this can get really annoying. as i understand it, when im at periscope depth and have no map updates i need to measure the distance to the contact at 0:00 and at 3:15 on my nifty junghans watch. i can then proceed to plot the contacts speed and course.

now how would i be able to measure the distance to the contact without using the stadimeter? i think, while submerged, there is no other (Accurate) way.
and afaik i can only use the stadimeter when i have the periscope locked on the contact.

is there a setting in any cfg file that determines how far a contact can be for my periscope to maintain the lock?

im pretty sure i didnt have this kind of behavior in vanilla SH III, but it didnt have 16km view range in the first place, ey.

another question i cant answer would be the options of the radioman. i know what "feindfahrtbericht senden" does. but im not EXACTLY sure of "Fühlungsmeldungen schicken" and i have no ****ing clue what "Kontake melden" does. i always get a "Keine Funksprüche erhalten" on that one.

any help appreciated!

[Gedscho]

please forgive my shameless bump, but im rather eager to find out, why the periscope doesnt maintain its locks.

doesnt any of you encounter said behaviour?

[Deep-Six]

Someone will be by to explain.

You're probably correct in that it has to do with distance. If under 1500 meters, it would probably stay locked.

You might try holding down the lock button (L). I do this to ID ships, little aggrivating but it helps.

[P_Funk]

Well one way to use the stadimeter while submerged if you're losing the target lock is to pause the game at the exact moment that you have the crosshair lined up with the ship's hull on the waterline. When paused you can use the notepad tools so that way if you can get a lock and get the line on the waterline then you can do it handily.

Another thing to consider is that while U-boats spent much of the war submerged, they were designed to fight on the surface, and to that end the bridge mounted Uzo has a built in gyro stabilizer to facilitate easier observation since the small size of the u-boat causes great rocking. However despite the relative sophistication of the attack scope itself, it lacks any kind of stabilization so it can be hard to maintain a lock that way or to get the stadimeter to be useful in anything but absurdly calm seas.

So if you can, make your observations on the surface. The added bonus of that is that your WO can give you the range and bearing of the nearest target down to the a hundred meters. Useful for quick tracking of a whole convoy.

Hope that helps.

[Gedscho]

yeah both your replies helped a lot. still, it bugs me a little.
its not the fact that i lose the lock but the fact, no matter how well i use the stadimeter i cant get no readout because the notepad loses the shiptype when the lock breaks.

and in this particular case i really dont want to run surfaced, as im in the street of dover atm, and theres a lot of stuff going on i dont want to get involved with pausing or holding down l is an option, but it seems like a bandaid solution.

you know, im just curious, why the game makes me lose the lock. i want to plot an interception course with map updates disabled, have my contact about 8km out or so (id estimate), its big enough so i can use the stadimeter precisely, but the lock keeps breaking after 10secs or so. and i didnt encounter that in the vanilla version of the game. which i played only for 2 days or so.

i think basically i want to know, why it does that and how i can stop it.

[Sailor Steve]

Another problem with the lock function is that it let's the Weapons Officer identify ships at a much longer range than you can yourself. I used to repeatedly hit the lock just to make him do it; these days I wait until I can see for myself.

I hate to change someone's topic, but this is driving me crazy:

Originally Posted by P_Funk

Another thing to consider is that while U-boats spent much of the war submerged, they were designed to fight on the surface, and to that end the bridge mounted Uzo has a built in gyro stabilizer to facilitate easier observation since the small size of the u-boat causes great rocking.

I've heard many people make that claim over the last two years, and so far no one has been able to back it up. Could you please show me a picture or even an official description of this stabilizer? The very first GYRO-stabilized (as opposed to a counterweight, as some claim?) fire-control system that I'm aware of was tested by the United States late in 1945. Even American, British German and Japanese battleships didn't have stabilized rangefinders during the war, so can you please show me some real evidence of how a u-boat managed it for a pair of binoculars?