TDC vs Position Keeper discussion

XLjedi · 04-18-07, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by btaft

aaronblood,

There is a way around it, just don't use the PK part of the TDC. For Convoy attacks in SH3 and Sh4 I like to set up ahead of time and wait for the ship to pass my predetermined solution. It goes something like this.....

1) Line up perpendicular to the Convoy course
2) Pick a point from the perpendicular in which you want to fire from (20 deg off usually works for me....this usually results inthe torp making close to a 90 deg impact for most convoys, 30 deg worsk better for fast convoys)
3) Point your scope down this bearing
4) Enter the "expected AOB" for this bearing and the speed into the dial and send them to the TDC....do not lock in the PK....you won't be using it. You can send the distance but this is arbitrary and is only really useful for determining the speed.
5) Wait for the ship to pass into your scope and fire. You can fire at any part of the ship that enters the cross hairs and if your solution was acurate then it should hit close to that part of the ship. Also you can hit any part of any ship that passes through your cross hairs no matter what line in the convoy they are in (because the distance is irrelevant).

Inaccuracies in your solution do become more apparent the further the target is away from you. This works good so long as you don't move your scope or at least return it to the same heading before firing. Using this method you can typically fire off a couple of fish at 2-3 merchants in varying ranks/files that pass through your cross hairs and then start to dive deep to reload and get ahead of the convoy and set up for round 2.

Hope this helps

Yeah, I think that's where I'm headed at the moment...

Although, I think AVGWarhawk hit the nail on the head when he mentioned that it takes time to get accustomed to relating the PK dials with the scope observations. I can see that when the observations and PK are marching in step, that it would be very rewarding, as warhawk mentioned.

I think perhaps when I get to that point I'm gonna be setting that PK to track the bow and then use O'Kane's trick of holding the bearing constant (by transmitting 0 speed after first torpedo) and then aim my spread by letting the ship drift across the stationary wire. :hmm: