Undocumented SH4 controls

[WH4K]

Having read the entire SH4 manual and searched the Web, I've found no explanation for at least two indicators/controls in SH4. What's the deal?

1) On the torpedo fire control panel, there's a round indicator with a letter "A" in it. If I leave the mouse pointer there for a few seconds, a tooltip pops up which says either "Locked" or "Poor Locked." What is that supposed to mean?

2) On the Position Keeper/Torpedo Settings panel, there's an indicator on the lower right labeled "GSP." If I click it, it turns red. It also has a tooltip, "Position Keeper Status." What is this light/control supposed to do or show?

[magic452]

1) The "A" is the target lock indicator. If you have locked a target in the periscope with the L key the a will light up. To lock a target you put the scope on it and push the L key. This will lock the scope to the target and follow it automatically.

2) The "GSP" light/button activates The Position Keeper function of the TDC.
Input Speed, AoB and range/bearing click on the red button GSP and the the TDC will update your firing solution as the target moves, once you have a good solution the PK will keep it for you. You can check the solution on your attack map. The white X is the torpedo impact point. If it is on or very near the target you have a good solution.

Input your data in this order. Turn on the PK and then input speed and click the send to Position Keeper button. Next input AoB and send to PK. Third get range with the Stedimeter and send range/bearing to the PK.

All this is for manual targeting
1) For stock the red A will show that the auto targeting system had a good firing Solution and you can shoot when you get a Green arrow (best) or a yellow arrow (Ok but not a great firing solution) Open the Tube doors first!!!!

2) In auto targeting the GSP button is not used as your firing solution is figured for you and followes the periscope.

Magic
EDIT The manual is all but useless. The most common uses are: leveling a wobbly table, A drink coaster and my choice lighting BBQ or camp fires.

Check out this thread for some real help.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=146795

[hotrod1525]

You can also lock on the target by clicking on the "A" button.

[Dogfish40]

Originally Posted by magic452

1)

2) The "GSP" light/button activates The Position Keeper function of the TDC.
Input Speed, AoB and range/bearing click on the red button GSP and the the TDC will update your firing solution as the target moves, once you have a good solution the PK will keep it for you. You can check the solution on your attack map. The white X is the torpedo impact point. If it is on or very near the target you have a good solution.


Magic
EDIT The manual is all but useless. The most common uses are: leveling a wobbly table, A drink coaster and my choice lighting BBQ or camp fires.

I'm also finding out a lot of little things that should have been in the manual after all these months of playing. The attack map (which I used to ignore) is much more useful than I ever thought possible, as it has no real tools to use. For instance, I didn't know that the 'x' on the attack map showed your solution, this is good information. I wish that someone who knows ALL of this stuff would post an updated manual. It's fun sometimes to find out new things and all but I wonder how many victories I would have if I knew where all the tools were.
I'm sure I've got most of it by now, it's just weird to find out things like the 'x' on the attack map,... I never had a clue about this. I'm using this map much more now for close proximity maneuvering, especially escaping DD's.
Thanks for the tip Magic!
D40

[Scurvy]

Originally Posted by Dogfish40

I'm also finding out a lot of little things that should have been in the manual after all these months of playing. The attack map (which I used to ignore) is much more useful than I ever thought possible, as it has no real tools to use. For instance, I didn't know that the 'x' on the attack map showed your solution, this is good information. I wish that someone who knows ALL of this stuff would post an updated manual. It's fun sometimes to find out new things and all but I wonder how many victories I would have if I knew where all the tools were.
I'm sure I've got most of it by now, it's just weird to find out things like the 'x' on the attack map,... I never had a clue about this. I'm using this map much more now for close proximity maneuvering, especially escaping DD's.
Thanks for the tip Magic!
D40

I agree. Someone (or multiple people) should compile a new manual and sticky it.

For example, until not long ago, I didn't realize you could simply target a part of a ship by launching the torpedo and keeping the crosshairs trained to a certain area on the boat. I always locked the ship and adjusted left/right.

In other news...there's an attack map? How do I access that?

[Dogfish40]

Originally Posted by Scurvy

I agree. Someone (or multiple people) should compile a new manual and sticky it.

For example, until not long ago, I didn't realize you could simply target a part of a ship by launching the torpedo and keeping the crosshairs trained to a certain area on the boat. I always locked the ship and adjusted left/right.

In other news...there's an attack map? How do I access that?

Arhhh, I did the exact same thing, Lock on then hit everything in the middle. I didn't even know (for a time) that I could adjust the torpedos; speed, depth and spread in auto-targeting.
The attack map is the button next to the main nav-map button and is an extreme close up, (within so many yrds).
Cheers
D40

[Platapus]

Now the real Mk 3 TDC did not have a "GSP" button. Does anyone know why this button is labeled GSP?

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Platapus

Now the real Mk 3 TDC did not have a "GSP" button. Does anyone know why this button is labeled GSP?

In the real TDC, the 'GSP' light indicated that the the gyroscope angles were being inputted to the torpedo tubes. In other words, the TDC was working. GSP standing for Gyro SPindles. It was not a switch, just an indicator. One of the Old Salts posted it, but I can't remember who.

[razark]

Originally Posted by TorpX

In the real TDC, the 'GSP' light indicated that the the gyroscope angles were being inputted to the torpedo tubes. In other words, the TDC was working. GSP standing for Gyro SPindles. It was not a switch, just an indicator. One of the Old Salts posted it, but I can't remember who.

That makes sense. In both cases, the light indicates the TDC is working. (I actually hadn't noticed what that button said until Platapus mentioned it.)

[Platapus]

So there was an indicator labeled GSP on the Mk 3 TDC?

I could not find it in the Mk 3 TDC manual.

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Platapus

So there was an indicator labeled GSP on the Mk 3 TDC?

I could not find it in the Mk 3 TDC manual.

I'm not sure the real TDC light was marked 'GSP', or any other way, just that there was an indicator light. I'm just going by memory on all this, but I read about an occurance where the light went off just as the captain was about to fire at an important target. He had no way of knowing if the TDC was malfunctioning or it was simply that the light bulb burned out.

The light isn't marked in stock, is it?

[Nisgeis]

Hello chaps. There are three main indicator lights on a Mark 3 TDC. The first one is on the PK section and tells you if the PK is on or not. The other two are on the angle solver unit. There is a lamp each for forward and aft torpedo solutions. If the solution that the angle solver has come up with has been solved and the solution would have a torpedo run of more than 300 yards or more than the maximum torpedo run length of the type of torpedo being used. Also, if the gyro angle is greater than that type can be set to the lamp will not be lit either.

Furthermore if the TDC has to do any kind of rapidly changing solution, there is a possibility that the internal mechanism will not be running fast enough to be providing the right problem from the PK and hence the problem i snot being represented properly, so the Generating lamp will go out. Once ot has cought up and passed the right problem on to the angle solver, the correct solution lamp will go out of the angle solver has not yet caught up with the right solution. If the captain manouvers hard (thus making target bearing change very quickly) or the range is very close, then the target problem may be changing faster than the TDC can keep up with, so this will also make the correct solution lights go out until the TDC follow up heads are matched and the TDC has caught up with the solution. The term they use in the manual is 'in synchronous operation'. E.G. No mechanical lag!

As far as I know, the correct solution lamps were marked with an 'A' and the power light was blank, but I'm not sure about that.

EDIT: The manual says that there are two bulbs for each inficator light, so a single blown bulb wouldn't affect the lights.

[Platapus]

Awesome! Always like learnin new stuff about old stuff.

[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Nisgeis

Hello chaps. There are three main indicator lights on a Mark 3 TDC. The first one is on the PK section and tells you if the PK is on or not. The other two are on the angle solver unit. There is a lamp each for forward and aft torpedo solutions. If the solution that the angle solver has come up with has been solved and the solution would have a torpedo run of more than 300 yards or more than the maximum torpedo run length of the type of torpedo being used. Also, if the gyro angle is greater than that type can be set to the lamp will not be lit either.

Furthermore if the TDC has to do any kind of rapidly changing solution, there is a possibility that the internal mechanism will not be running fast enough to be providing the right problem from the PK and hence the problem i snot being represented properly, so the Generating lamp will go out. Once ot has cought up and passed the right problem on to the angle solver, the correct solution lamp will go out of the angle solver has not yet caught up with the right solution. If the captain manouvers hard (thus making target bearing change very quickly) or the range is very close, then the target problem may be changing faster than the TDC can keep up with, so this will also make the correct solution lights go out until the TDC follow up heads are matched and the TDC has caught up with the solution. The term they use in the manual is 'in synchronous operation'. E.G. No mechanical lag!

As far as I know, the correct solution lamps were marked with an 'A' and the power light was blank, but I'm not sure about that.

EDIT: The manual says that there are two bulbs for each inficator light, so a single blown bulb wouldn't affect the lights.

Good to know. I feel like I know twice as much about the TDC as I did before.

BTW, how goes the 3d tdc project?