WO: Nearest visual contact range at XXXX meters. YEA OR NAY?

[nemo7]

Fair enough. I found one of these parallax range finders:



The 70 cm.(0.7) range finder (type E.34 I think) was accurate for ranges from 500 metres to 4,000 metres.

[Hitman]

The 70 cm.(0.7) range finder (type E.34 I think) was accurate for ranges from 500 metres to 4,000 metres.

yes, but it also wasn't a lot off if used in larger ones (Or so I have readed in some forums about WW2 optics). Not guaranteed accurancy, but may be some couple hundred meters off, specially when measuring big objects (Like a ship).

I have readed a report on interrogation of prisoners where they stated that such a rangefinder was always used for deck gun targetting.

[Sailor Steve]

I use him exclusively. I'm too lazy (and to obtuse) to figure it out myself. I make up for it by always taking at least three readings, and waiting a few seconds before clicking the button (actually I look at the map and then come back, or raise the periscope, so I go through the whole Click WE - click Periscope Orders - click Identify - click Target Info). If I'm surfaced it takes that much longer, giving them plenty of time to see me, and if submerged it gives them plenty of chances to spot my scope.

I like to be historically accurate and realistic with my cheating.

Originally Posted by Hitman

I have readed a report on interrogation of prisoners where they stated that such a rangefinder was always used for deck gun targetting.

That is fascinating! The most I've seen were photos that all turned out to be of Schnellboote. It must have been fun getting the thing up and down the ladder and through the hatch.

[nemo7]

Here is the link SSteve: http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-461INT.htm
(Section V-Range Finding and Fire Control in Practice).

Wouldn't it be great and pretty immersive if someone could manage to mod this beauty?

[nemo7]

Figure 16F16 represents the image of reticles and target as actually seen through the eyepiece group. Note that the reticle image consists of one row of diamonds and four rows of vertical lines. The center diamond is used for ranging on the target. All the marks in any one row appear to be at the same distance from the observer. The row of lines immediately above the diamonds appears to be more distant than the diamonds, and the top row appears to be still more distant. The row immediately under the diamonds appears to be nearer than the diamonds, and the bottom row appears to be nearer still. When the center diamond has been superimposed on the target, the rows of vertical lines make it possible to estimate the range of bursts or splashes without readjusting the compensator wedges. At any given range, the apparent distance between any two adjacent rows corresponds to a fixed distance. When this distance has been determined from a table, the necessary spot corrections can be quickly estimated.

The horizontal distance between any two adjacent marks in the same row correspond to five mils in deflection. Thus deflection spots can be made without training the rangefinder off the target. Because it is more useful for spotting, as well as for ranging on fast-moving targets such as aircraft, the stereoscopic rangefinder is more widely used than the coincidence rangefinder.

[flakmonkey]

Well its an interesting find, im not sure it could be implemented as a functional mod though, to have it working correctly you would need to be able to add new cameras which the game will not allow as far as i know.

I guess perhaps you could swap the watch officer`s binoculars for the range finder when you give the order to find the range to nearest contact, trouble being that we cant adjust his animation to look as if he is holding the thing, his hands would still be posed for binoculars.

Similar to that old sextant tool i guess you could have a static graphic of the range finder that you can drag on screen at the appropriate time but it would be entirely non functional, at least the slideout sextant was a usable tool, the rf would just be a pretty picture.

Third option i guess is to just add a model of the rangefinder to the conning tower somewhere, just propped up against a bulkhead etc to suggest its use by the WO. It could be given a "visible underwater" controller so it would dissapear when submerged.

[nemo7]

Originally Posted by flakmonkey

I guess perhaps you could swap the watch officer`s binoculars for the range finder when you give the order to find the range to nearest contact, trouble being that we cant adjust his animation to look as if he is holding the thing, his hands would still be posed for binoculars.

Right. We can combine then a great graphic model of RF and the WO's binocular view. The view mask (below) is pretty much the same. No need to adjust any animation in order to look as if he's holding the thing.

You scroll the mouse, you have the binocular view. You click on the RF graphic, you have the RF's view and the range.
It's all about the immersion.

[frau kaleun]

Did other navies use this type of device too? Because I could swear I just saw it in a movie (might've been The Cruel Sea, can't remember exactly), some lookout posted high up on a ship was using something that looked a lot like that and I had no idea what it was or why he was using it.

[nemo7]

Originally Posted by frau kaleun

Did other navies use this type of device too? Because I could swear I just saw it in a movie (might've been The Cruel Sea, can't remember exactly), some lookout posted high up on a ship was using something that looked a lot like that and I had no idea what it was or why he was using it.

Indeed. Both US and British Navy. The American stereoscopic Height Finder Ml and the British coincidence type Range Finders FQ 25 and UB 7.

[nemo7]

Hhhmm... How do you like this Parallax RF in a graphic mod? Remember the old FM's New Sextant?
STEREOSCOPIC(or PARALLAX) RANGE FINDER; a VERY IMMERSIVE tool in order to find out the range. What do you think?

Hitman?

[Hitman]

I had already thought if this would be possible, but I can't think of a way to implement it. The sextant you mention for the Real Navigation mod was IIRC just a ruler to measure heigth of sun/stars, not a stereoscopic device.

For a stereoscopic one you need two cameras at different points, separated by some distance (In this rangefinder you showed it was 70 cm) to be able to produce two different images and link them together to determine the angle. This is currently impossible to do in SH3.

[nemo7]

Originally Posted by Hitman

I had already thought if this would be possible, but I can't think of a way to implement it. The sextant you mention for the Real Navigation mod was IIRC just a ruler to measure heigth of sun/stars, not a stereoscopic device.

For a stereoscopic one you need two cameras at different points, separated by some distance (In this rangefinder you showed it was 70 cm) to be able to produce two different images and link them together to determine the angle. This is currently impossible to do in SH3.

Let us pretend then mate! Just a nice graphic mod linked with (or triggered from) the nearest visual contact range command. Lets have at least the sense of calculating the range! What do you think?

[nemo7]

The 1.5 metre range finder was normally for use against stationary targets, but it could also be used for A/A purposes. It was not, however, much used in U-boats because it was clumsy to handle in a confined space.

1.5-Meter (59.06 inches) Stereoscopic Range Finder (Em.R.1.5 m).

(a) General. This range finder is provided with a tripod and is only used against fixed targets.
(b) Characteristics.
Base length 59.06 inches.
Magnification 11 X.
Range 435 to 21,860 yards.
Weight 20.9 pounds.
Weight of tripod 39.6 pounds.

[nemo7]

70-cm Range Finder 34 (Entfernungsmesser 34)



Characteristics:
Base length 70 cm (27.56 inches).
Magnification 11 X.
Range 219 to 10,930 yards.
Weight of Range finder 10 pounds.
Weight of case complete 4.5 pounds.

[Hitman]

Let us pretend then mate! Just a nice graphic mod linked with (or triggered from) the nearest visual contact range command. Lets have at least the sense of calculating the range! What do you think?

Not sure if I understand You mean some kind of graphic overlay that looks as if we were looking through a rangefinder and that appears when you click the range to nearest contact button? The problem is that you might actually be looking elsewhere in that moment, if you are not sure which is the closest contact (Which is often the case).