point and shoot possible?

[louist]

There may be a better way to do it, but you can in realistic mode if you take a distance reading in the direction that you think the torpedo should go, leaving the speed of the target at zero (in which case the direction of the target is obviously irrelevant). Also, note that the computer calculates for a initial straight run, so the direction of the torpedo will be very different from the direction you point the scope if :
a) it is close and/or
b) it is not directly ahead or behind

For that reason, I max out the range when I am taking such a pot shot, and try to wait until the boat is pointed in the direction I want to fire.

[Asmodean]

Point and shoot can be a bit tricky:

a, turn off Position Keeper
b, set target speed to zero (and send it to the TDC), this makes the targets' course irrelevant
c, set the range as high as possible (don't turn the dial, use the normal gear, just bring the two images really close to each other and you will get a large range, everything about 3000m is fine)
d, look into the direction you want to fire and click 'send range to TDC' (which also sends the direction)
e, fire away

As louist said, the trick is the difference between the point from which you gather your data (tower) and the point where the torpedo starts to turn (several meters away from the tube). Because of this, the torpedo angle has to be a bit larger than the one you measured, it is set this way automatically and there's nothing you can do about it. You can, however, minimize the effect:

a, The longer the range, the smaller the correction the TDC makes (-> step c)
b, The smaller the angle, the smaller the correction, you can ignore the range if you shoot at 0 or 180 degrees.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by Asmodean

Point and shoot can be a bit tricky:

a, turn off Position Keeper
b, set target speed to zero (and send it to the TDC), this makes the targets' course irrelevant
c, set the range as high as possible (don't turn the dial, use the normal gear, just bring the two images really close to each other and you will get a large range, everything about 3000m is fine)
d, look into the direction you want to fire and click 'send range to TDC' (which also sends the direction)
e, fire away

This is a nearly perfect list. Step c is not necessary though, as at zero speed, range cancels out. The range can be whatever garbage resides in the TDC when you turn it on. I tried it out last night during an actual career, and verified that setting any range (mine was zero, having counted down to that from a previous AOB 0º shot) is not necessary.

See how the fast-90 attack method works at http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=625379&postcount=66
and jump to the end of the thread for my test reports. This technique turns point and shoot into point and carnage! I took out 2 ships in 30 seconds this morning. Most of that time was just waiting for ship #2 to slip into the crosshairs.

So you're onto something here! Have fun.

[GT182]

You can unlock the target you've selected, put your crosshairs on any portion of the ship and fire. I've hit center locked, fore and aft unlocked with no problems. TDC will remember range and speed of the target. Just make sure you open the "tube" before you launch that fish.

My reply isn't inteneded to take away from your technique Rockin Robbins.

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by GT182

You can unlock the target you've selected, put your crosshairs on any portion of the ship and fire. I've hit center locked, fore and aft unlocked with no problems. TDC will remember range and speed of the target. Just make sure you open the "tube" before you launch that fish.

My reply isn't inteneded to take away from your technique Rockin Robbins.

Not at all! You GWXers are bringing a whole new world over here to SH4 land. Just remember that in SH4, when you sight onto the fore or aft part of the ship, unlike SH3 where the TDC automatically follows the periscope, you must push the send bearing to TDC button to hit that spot. Otherwise there goes another torpedo to the exact spot you hit last.

I believe the Germans would have killed to have an American TDC/PK. But Americans mostly (except for Dick O'Kane and very few other TDC gurus) did not understand German torpedo aiming principles. The Germans would have loved to have another tool, but would not have depended on it for their success. Most American skippers would have to go home if the PK broke down.

[Frederf]

This is a nearly perfect list. Step c is not necessary though, as at zero speed, range cancels out. The range can be whatever garbage resides in the TDC when you turn it on. I tried it out last night during an actual career, and verified that setting any range (mine was zero, having counted down to that from a previous AOB 0º shot) is not necessary.

Try a 0 kt, 90 deg reletive bearing shot with the range at 300 yards and try it again with the range at 1200 yards and tell me the range doesn't matter. The short range shot will set the gyro angle for greater than a 90 degree turn since the torpedo doesn't curve instantly but will go considerably forward before making the turn and the TDC knows this and will set a higher than normal turn on the torpedo to turn back after going forward to hit the short ranged target.

You can easily miss a stopped ship at 2000 yards if you point-shoot using 300 yards instead of 1200 if the ship isn't closer than +/- 45 deg from straight ahead.

[XLjedi]

Originally Posted by Frederf

You can easily miss a stopped ship at 2000 yards if you point-shoot using 300 yards instead of 1200 if the ship isn't closer than +/- 45 deg from straight ahead.

OK... torpedo advance skews the solution for unusually large gyro-angle shots. Is that how you're takin your shots? ...runnin on a parallel course?

For a 10-20° solution it's off maybe 1 degree for every 500M or so... you could set it at 1000 and pretty much ignore it if you took most of your shots in the 700-1800M range. At 700M the ship nicely fills the scope at highest mag, a degree doesn't matter much. I tend to take most of my shots at 700-1000M.

Distance is really more important for helping to guesstimate speed (if you don't already know it) and assuming you like to use that chrono-gadget. In SH4 they made the distance input dial particularly annoying in that it forces you to use the stad sometimes to even get the dial to function in the right range. That was just bizarre... not sure why I can't just dial it to what I want without hindrance.