manual targeting - speed

[Rockin Robbins]

Since the stadimeter is cursed and a one pixel error can result in a hundred or two hundred yard difference in measured range, I always time the run between two points three minutes apart. The number of hundred yards you run in that time is the target speed in knots. A cursed stadimeter also means the estimate course and speed button is also cursed.

If you are using radar, this is a dead accurate number you can rely on. With radar, you have the additional advantage of not having to expose your periscope with the target close aboard to obtain the information. With metric, the number of hundred meters traveled between two positions 3 minutes fifteen seconds apart does the trick.

According to the Submarine Torpedo Fire Control Manual, all shots under a 30º gyro angle are considered straight fire and can absorb a lot of range error without missing your target. That doesn't mean you can input 750 yards for a target 3,000 yards away! But it does mean that ballpark ranges work just fine for lesser gyro angles.

In a trailing situation, I don't like the 180º AoB shot all all. Just a tiny rudder movement of the target and your torpedo misses. I like to set up for a shot that runs parallel to the target, takes a 90º turn and impacts broadside. That means range is critical! But it also means almost no possibility for the target to maneuver out of the way. The action report that begins the RFB training manual is a recounting of exactly that situation.

[kstanb]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

If you are using radar, this is a dead accurate number you can rely on. With radar, you have the additional advantage of not having to expose your periscope with the target close aboard to obtain the information. With metric, the number of hundred meters traveled between two positions 3 minutes fifteen seconds apart does the trick.

Maybe a stupid question, but how do you use radar for two points speed measurement?
is there a button to send radar range to TDC? like the active sonar approach?
I use radar just to figure out an aprox. range to target, but I have never been able to get exact distance

[Frederf]

Originally Posted by gutted

not true.

in regards to the fleet boats..you can be moving, and the PK can be on. I use the stopwatch all the time, right up until i fire to recheck/compare the speed and heading it gives me. once it's consistent.. i know it's good.

What do you mean the stopwatch? Do you mean you are actually plotting and using the big silver stopwatch or are you using the brown arc'd stopwatch button on the TDC speed input dial?

I'm pretty sure that the little stopwatch button only compares 2 bearing-range figures to do some simple math and calc a course and speed. I guess it'd be an easy test to simply give the same input twice while having been moving between the two and see if it reports "0kt target speed."

Originally Posted by kstanb

Maybe a stupid question, but how do you use radar for two points speed measurement?
is there a button to send radar range to TDC? like the active sonar approach?
I use radar just to figure out an aprox. range to target, but I have never been able to get exact distance

RR ascribes to the philosophy that 100% realism is less help than reality and I believe runs with map contact updates on. He then takes his radar ranges from the map contact updates.

Doing it without map contact updates leaves you with 3 options:
1. Estimate from the PPI scope
2. Estimate from the A scope
3. Download the mod that makes the A scope much more precise and use the A scope. (I have a version that works with RFB1.52 if you need it).

[kstanb]

Thanks, I have never used the A-scope for range calculation, I thought it was useful only for airplanes, I will definitively give it a try, do you have a link to the mod?

But anyway, I will try not to get used to radar, since it is too dangerous to use in U-boots (I am currently playing a german campaign) and even in the Pacific (by mid to late war).

the same should be said about using active sonar for 2 bearing-range calculation, it is dangerous to use if escorts are near, plus U-boots are not equiped with it

thanks again

[looney]

P.s. I like to add I did get ok speeds from the notepad thingy... made me only do the 3min 15 sec ranging bit only twice..


I do miss OLC's GUI from SH3 in SH4. Then again there is no length in the recon books

[Rockin Robbins]

If you are concerned about realism, OLC's GUI is authentic. However your perfect knowledge of ships' lengths and aspect ratios is not. The unpronounceable gizmo OLC GUI replicates was VERY infrequently used during the war because of the underlying imperfect length and aspect ratio data. That doesn't mean it wasn't an ingenious device. It just means that their database didn't allow them to properly exploit its usefulness.

When we are busily pretending we are playing on "high realism" I'm afraid we're doing nothing of the sort. Playing at "100% realism" is the perfect illustration as you toss your radar usefulness completely out the window to do so and most of your sonar info as well. It's like driving your car with a paper bag over your head: it's admirable if you survive, but nothing more than a stunt of skill.

[karamazovnew]

Originally Posted by looney

P.s. I like to add I did get ok speeds from the notepad thingy... made me only do the 3min 15 sec ranging bit only twice..


I do miss OLC's GUI from SH3 in SH4. Then again there is no length in the recon books

They're easier to add than you think. I already made one for TMO (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=153143), but anyone can do it for any mod in less than an hour.

GO to the \Silent Hunter 4\Data\Sea\ folder and edit the cfg file in each folder (where applicable). For example let's look at the G:\Silent Hunter 4\Data\Sea\NAPD_Clemson\NAPD_Clemson.cfg file:


[Unit]
ClassName=APDClemson
3DModelFileName=data/Sea/NAPD_Clemson/NAPD_Clemson
UnitType=103
MaxSpeed=22
Length=95
Width=9.4
Mast=11.5824
Draft=3.1
Displacement=1190
RenownAwarded=120
CrewComplement=50
SurvivalRate=70
SurvivalPercentage=20

In the MaxSpeed you can add anything you want. For example:
MaxSpeed=22 Length 95m

You can also change the text of the "Speedxx kts" label that appears in the recog manual. Check that above link for more details.