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Old 03-14-13, 12:26 PM   #1
burner
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Thanks for the help, I'm still having trouble using the statimeter. I match the image to the target but the range is way off. How far down should you bring the image to get a good range?
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Old 03-14-13, 03:44 PM   #2
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If your playing the stock game, all stadimeter readings are taken with the second imposed image having the ships waterline placed on the targets tallest mast top. Don't forget to ID the target in the Recognition Manual, and mouse click the "checkmark" box in the upper right of the page. This sends the Mast Height: to the TDC/Position Keeper. You know you've sent the proper ID and Height when the targets name appears at the top of the PK. Mast Height is measured from waterline to top of the mast.

The stadimeter is very sensitive, just misplacing the waterline off a couple of pixel widths can throw off the range by several 100 yards. Not to mention the Height figures aren't very accurate. For instance the original stock Jap Hiryu CV had a Mast Height of 20 meters. To get an accurate range reading the Mast Height should have been 37 meters tall. No matter how you measure it with the figure off that much, you'll only get a range reading of about half the distance it should be!!

I've created several mods that try to give you a better estimate of range from the stadimeter by accurately measuring the Height: distance and putting them into the Recognition Manual. Ship Centered, Accuracy Fix (SCAF) was an early mod that corrected ship heights. It also allowed for other places to be used (rather than the mast top) like a ships funnel, CV's flight deck, of the top of the bridge (superstructure). The Recognition Manual pages are marked with a red pencil to show where you set the waterline mark. Optical Targeting Correction is my latest mod that does the same thing as SCAF but yet more accurate. The periscope is scaled to accurately portray the correct Field of View allowing the lens hash marks (Telemeter Divisions) to finally be used in measuring a target's height. Something the game missed badly. For the most part the stock Telemeter Divisions were worthless in measuring anything accurately, worse than the stadimeter!

I wouldn't worry about jumping into modding your game right now since your just learning the ropes. But I highly recommend using OTC if you're going to try manual targeting. Without it, you're just shooting a pistol that misses the target badly, unless you're so close you can't miss.
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Old 03-14-13, 06:18 PM   #3
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I downloaded your OTC, located here http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=3333 You said it helps with the stadimeter ranging. Which file does that?
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Old 03-17-13, 01:00 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by burner View Post
I downloaded your OTC, located here http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/down...o=file&id=3333 You said it helps with the stadimeter ranging. Which file does that?
Specifically, the stadimeter is helped with it's accuracy when the targets ship Height: measurement is at least close to what it should be. Many of the measurements are off....some way off. By correcting the "height" measurements to the actual range distance the game states the target is really positioned (I make test missions that have all targets sitting at a specific distance from the sub, then calculate what the height measurement should be to provide the same range distance), I'm able to get a much more accurate stadimeter measurement. This takes the blame for missed targets away from the subs "equipment", and places it where it should be.....on the Captain's expertise as the "Approach Officer" leading the firing party.

It's my opinion, the Navy made every effort for the sub to preform as it should, with the best intelligence of the day. As an example, the Navy actually preformed measurements to help "Bore Sight" each torpedo tube for accuracy when in dry dock! The boat was expected to fire straight and true......it's the human factor that's brought into question when talking about accuracy of a firing solution.

Here's an image of the Nagara Maru having a "Height: 66.3 ft" tall at the funnel. The picture in the Recognition Manual will have the "Stadimeter Point of Reference" marked in red..... that's where you put the waterline image. With accurate periscope Telemeter Division lens marks, and the view properly "scaled", you can count the divisions and use the OTC Range Omnimeter to find accurate range (as in the picture). It's just another way of getting the range to target when needed.




I mentioned earlier in this thread about the original stock game's Hiryu having a mast height of only 20 meters (65 ft). In the 4th patch (v1.4) the developers changed the Hiryu mast height to 31 meters (102 ft) as seen below:





Notice the range in the PK gleaned from the stadimeter as 2326 meters (2543 yrds) using the mast height of 31 meters (102 ft) tall. The ship is actually placed at 1828 meters distance (2000 yards true distance)....that's about a 500 meter (547 yrds) difference in an accurate found range.

The accurate mast height should be near 37 meters (127 ft) tall to give an accurate range measurement. As in the following picture, the stadimeter taken reading has the target sitting at 919 meters (roughly 1000 yrd) range.....that's just where I placed it in this particular test mission. The following OTC image shows a Japanese flag added to the Hiryu's mast.....this national flag top is where you place the stadimeter's waterline image, regardless where the mast top may be seen (the flag is much easier to "see" than a mast top.....you just assume the top of the flag is attached to "something"....like a mast top).






Not all mods pay much attention to the manual targeting side of things. For instance, TMO 2.5 has the Hiryu mast height set at the original 20 meter height.....an oversight I'm sure, but don't expect to get a good range reading with the stadimeter using TMO on the Jap Hiryu.

To answer your direct question, the "MastHeight=" figure used for the Stadimeter and in the Recognition Manual is found in the Data/Sea/ShipName.cfg file.


================================


Quote:
Originally Posted by Carrollsue
.......when I said the one of the BEST mod’s I have ran across, and still using, is OTC it’s just great ( when you do, get the manual …push “n” LOL)

Plus some of his other goodies

Thank you
You're very welcome Carroll.....thank you right back!!
__________________


The HMS Shannon vs. USS Chesapeake outside Boston Harbor June 1, 1813

USS Chesapeake Captain James Lawrence lay mortally wounded...
Quote:
.."tell the men to fire faster, fight 'till she sinks,..boys don't give up the ship!"

Last edited by CapnScurvy; 03-18-13 at 07:49 AM.
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Old 03-14-13, 10:52 PM   #5
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OTC

Quote:
Originally Posted by CapnScurvy View Post
IOptical Targeting Correction is my latest mod that does the same thing as SCAF but yet more accurate. The periscope is scaled to accurately portray the correct Field of View allowing the lens hash marks (Telemeter Divisions) to finally be used in measuring a target's height. Something the game missed badly. For the most part the stock Telemeter Divisions were worthless in measuring anything accurately, worse than the stadimeter! I
I would like to add that I have had a lot of computers ( some I made, some not), crushes(Win98) and so forth, so I do have higher than most download. So, when I said the one of the BEST mod’s I have ran across, and still using, is OTC it’s just great ( when you do, get the manual …push “n” LOL)



Plus some of his other goodies


Thank you
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