Periscope lock target / changing AOB question

[auricom]

I have a question.. I am running SH4 w/ OM7 and OMEGU (ps I love this mod lurker is my hero) .. When I feel like playing pacific boats I run TMO (which is also totally awesome) .. I play at 80% full real but w/ map contact updates, external camera and event camera turned on (I like the eye candy, but would like to turn off contact updates when I get better at calculating solutions

Anyways, here is my question: In the German subs, if I 'lock' the periscope to the targeting computer, and I turn the periscope, the AOB changes with the heading the scope is pointing.. this makes me crazy.. Should it be this way?

It's my understanding that AOB is angle on bow of my sub, not angle on periscope heading.. If I recall when I played the american subs I could set speed and AOB for a convoy of ships, let 2 fly at the ship on bearing zero, slew my scope over 'send bearing to TDC' and let two more fire at another ship on another bearing, say 15 degrees and hit it as well.

How would I accomplish this in OM/U-boat? ther doesn't seem to be a 'send bearing to TDC' function, so I turn on lock to scope view, but then if i slew the scope, my AOB changes and I have to reset it to 90 degrees before I take my shot, this makes lining up the second shot a lot harder than in ther american subs..

Can anyone explain *why* the AOB changes when I move the scope around? It seems to me like it should not.. Or perhaps there is a better way of doing things? or a keyboard shortcut for 'send bearing to TDC'?

I should probably install that mod that puts the AOB/spd/bearing dials into the scope view I suppose that would help a bit.

.. Currently on the initial OM mission have bagged for merchants north of madagascar and two british planes that ambushed me in shallow waters while leaving france.. took some damage from a plane near Cape of Good Hope but was able to repair.. only 4 days left in my patrol before I head for me new base in Penang (sp?) and tracking another group of unescorted merchant ships leaving Mombassa ..

Can't remember a game I was ever as impressed with as SHIV with these two mods.. IL-2:FB was probably the last game I was as 'in' to.. Kudos to all you moders you took a good game, and made it amazing.

[Hitman]

Anyways, here is my question: In the German subs, if I 'lock' the periscope to the targeting computer, and I turn the periscope, the AOB changes with the heading the scope is pointing.. this makes me crazy.. Should it be this way?

Yes it is, that's how it worked historically.

It's my understanding that AOB is angle on bow of my sub, not angle on periscope heading..

No, it isn't (unless you simply worded it wrong)

The AOB is the angle between your line of sight to the enemy ship and his bow. Or, if you prefer it, when you are looking directly at your target, how much his bow is angled left or right.

This is one of the corners of the "firing triangle", the other ones being your own sub, and the last is the point where both his track and yours cross.

Since any triangle's angles added together always -always- are 180º, it is of pure logic that one angle can only grow at the expense of another diminishing. The german TDC takes advantage of this principle, and hence allows you to follow the target with your scope while the AOB of the enemy is constantly updated thanks to that principle.

[auricom]

ah-ha.. OK .. thanks for the info.. I assumed it worked the other way, AOB was based on the direction my sub was pointing, not my scope..

I'll fire up the mission editor and put this to the test (not that I don't trust ya, I just want to get the mechanics of the german and american subs down) ..

so in fact I *should* be changing AOB on the american subs if i slew my scope over and attack a second target, but the german sub 'does that for me' is what you're saying..

I'll give it a shot.. it was confusing the heck out of me. .. I seem to miss a lot more often w/ this german TDC .. But it must just be me.

[Hitman]

so in fact I *should* be changing AOB on the american subs if i slew my scope over and attack a second target, but the german sub 'does that for me' is what you're saying..

Exactly

Here is a diagram, so you can understand how it works:




As you can see, the bearing angle is how much you have moved your scope/uzo left or right of your bow. Here it is approximately 40º to the left of our bow (i.e. bearing in your indicator would read 320).

The enemy angle on the bow is here 50.º

The tracks of both our submarine and the target are therefore crossing at 90º (180º-40º-50º=90º), giving us the track angle.

Now, provided that neither you or the target change course, the track angle will remain constant at 90º. Thus, as the target travels to the right
of the image, he will get closer to your bow. As you follow it with your periscope/uzo, he will go through 330, 340, 350 ... and hence, mathematically, his AOB will increase proportionally to 60, 70, 80 ...

This is the effect you noticed on your TDC dials, which was driving you crazy. But if you understand how it works, it can only bring advantages.

For example, as you already noted, if I shoot at multiple targets that are heading the same way *a convoy, to be more precise* I just need to move the scope and aim at each target, nothing else.

Hope that helped

[auricom]

It did help.. thanks.. I think I get it now, like I said I'll experiment with this tonight and try firing from differant angles..

Thanks guys

[Hitman]

This picture should make everything much easier to understand, as it depicts it from the player's perspective :

[Munchausen]

Originally Posted by auricom

I assumed it worked the other way, AOB was based on the direction my sub was pointing, not my scope...

I think you misread what Hitman said:

The AOB is the angle between your line of sight to the enemy ship and his bow.

Meaning, the target's bow. AOB is based on the direction your target is pointing, relative to your line of sight.

[auricom]

tried it out last night and my hit ratio is definately going to go up now that I've figured out how this works .. thanks again for pointing out the error of my ways gents