Uzo - its use in real life and in SH3

[BulSoldier]

As I am playing GWX3 and OLCgold i have noticed something wrong about the surface attacks.I realised that i had to use the attack periscope in order to get solution and it would seems that the uzo doesnt have any use at all (or atleast i cant understand how it works).
So my question to the players playing both GWX3 and OLCgold , is there a way to get a solution from the uzo while comiting surface attacks, as i always have to either go to PD to get a soulution useing Attack periscope or use the same while surfaced.

I have noticed that the uzo has some scales but as mentioned above i have no idea do they have any real use for making firing solutions.

I however see that in RL the uzo was pretty much the same as attackperiscope appart from being mounted on the bridge use while surfaced.
http://www.uboat.net/forums/read.php?20,64031,64032

[Hitman]

in RL the uzo was pretty much the same as attackperiscope appart from being mounted on the bridge use while surfaced

Well, not exactly. The UZo was a pair of binoculars mounted on a pedestal in the bridge, and the only thing in common with the periscopes was its direct link with the TDC, meaning if you turn the UZO (Or periscope), the TDC gets automatically updated, as happens in the game (As long as the TDC switch is in locked position).

But the real life UZO had no scales at all in the field of view, just a vertical line because it was simply a bearing transmitter (An aiming tool). The distance to target was estimated by the IWO based on two parameters: A) Practice in seaman's eye, and B) Amount of the field of view covered by the target. For example, a target estimated at 100 metres long at 90º AOB would actually cover the full field of view at about 700 metres.

The AOB was estimated by plain seaman's eye, which was not that difficult with a bit of practice and considering that being a true binocular (As opposed to the binocular periscopes, which just refelected the same image to both oculars) it gave actual depth perception.

And finally, the speed was either obtained from the previous plot during the overhaul maneuver, or simply guesstimated by the bow & stern wake, parallel course or rate of approach (Again seaman's eye practice here)

The final conclusion for SH3 is that for a correct targeting at surface by night you will need either a LOT of practice (As it's actually more difficult to estimate distance and AOB in our limited 2D screens than it was in real life, plus we haven't gone through the Kriegsmarine training progam as real IWOs had) or a bit of help from your AI IWO.

Good hunting

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Hitman

The AOB was estimated by plain seaman's eye,

How can I requsition from BdU one each eye, seaman, plain type?

I need one of them things.

[onelifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Hitman

The final conclusion for SH3 is that for a correct targeting at surface by night you will need either a LOT of practice (As it's actually more difficult to estimate distance and AOB in our limited 2D screens than it was in real life, plus we haven't gone through the Kriegsmarine training progam as real IWOs had) or a bit of help from your AI IWO.

Or...
You use your map, upon which you have carefully plotted the ship's course, to calculate the AOB.
Which is basically what tomfon just said.
So yeah, what he said.

[BulSoldier]

Well i dont have problem intercepting and attacking convoy, it was just i thought uzo was some just like attack periscope on bridge but obveously i was quite wrong.
Thx for the answers

[Hitman]

Or...
You use your map, upon which you have carefully plotted the ship's course, to calculate the AOB.

Yes of course. I was referring to how you determine AOB with an UZO--->You must eyeball it as opposed to the periscopes (The other optical attack system) equipped with wiz-wheels and split prisms, where you would actually be able to calculate it.

The idea was to explain how the UZO was used in real life, not the other ways to obtain target data.

[tomfon]

Originally Posted by BulSoldier

As I am playing GWX3 and OLCgold i have noticed something wrong about the surface attacks.I realised that i had to use the attack periscope in order to get solution and it would seems that the uzo doesnt have any use at all (or atleast i cant understand how it works).
So my question to the players playing both GWX3 and OLCgold , is there a way to get a solution from the uzo while comiting surface attacks, as i always have to either go to PD to get a soulution useing Attack periscope or use the same while surfaced.

Hitman is right.
You can't obtain a firing solution and/or the convoy's course with the use of the UZO. Instead, the UZO is very helpful when you perform night surface attacks and in order to do so you must first obtain the convoy's course.Then you set your Uboat to a course perpendicular to the convoy's own course, calibrate the scope by setting its bearing to 0 degrees and also the AoB indicator to 90 deg port or starboard depending on which side of the convoy you are (port or starboard).After that you lock the TDC. You can now use the marks to make a rough estimation of the target's range. Of course you must set the speed too.

Finally, don't use the attack periscope to plot/obtain a convoy's course. Follow the convoy, mark its position at standard intervals (eg. 3m 15sec)for a period of time (i.e. for a distance of say, at least 25km) and then plot the course.

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by BulSoldier

I have noticed that the uzo has some scales but as mentioned above i have no idea do they have any real use for making firing solutions.

Since nobody else responded yet. You are supposed to multiply the number at the mark with the mastheight in the recognition manual. That's the range. Or so I am told. As I haven't actually used that uboat with a gold-finnish yet.

[Hitman]

Ah yes, the scales. I checked them recently for another job and was surprised that they were apparently wrong The manual states that each large mark is a degree and each small one 0,2 degrees, but that doesn't correspond to what you see in game.

[Pisces]

Originally Posted by Hitman

Ah yes, the scales. I checked them recently for another job and was surprised that they were apparently wrong The manual states that each large mark is a degree and each small one 0,2 degrees, but that doesn't correspond to what you see in game.

No, I meant OLC's modification to the Uzo scales. The marks reflect a nonlinear scale (reciprocal tangent, or 'cotangent', atleast that is what I asume it to be) Lemme see if I can dig up a screenshot from somewhere on this forum. I remember having seen it recently.

I'm afraid no succes finding a screenshot. But it was (allready) part of the Gui Special in his Ubermod 2.43. You can see it if you view the transparency mask of data/menu/OLC/uzo.tga from the Gui Special.

[tomfon]

Also, another piece of information worth telling.
If one multiplies the 3m 15sec distance a ship has covered with 10, then he gets the ships speed. That, of course, means marking the ship's position on the nav map.

[Hitman]

Ah, now I see what you mean. Yes those scales are similar to something I developed long ago, and OLC seems to have corrected and enhanced it considerably. The idea in the original scale was to use 18 metres as reference, (Bridge of large ships, funnel of small ones) and by multiplication with the scale you would get approximate range.

A further evolution of that I did later by using 5.75 degrees (Which is 0.100) as "10" and then half of it is "20", half of "20" is "40" and so on. That way it can be used with any heigth and not just 18 metres.

This allows you to get range by multiplication instead of division, which is usually easier to do menthally (Well at least for me LOL)

EDIT: In fact I added such a scale to the game's binoculars, for my next evolution of Hitman's optics. I based this on picture I found of a real reticle from a watchcrew binocular.

[onelifecrisis]

Just an FYI to the OP:
Those UZO marks mentioned by Pisces did not exist in the real UZO. They are provided in OLCG because IRL it was possible to estimate (quite accurately, and without using any optics) the range to a target which was within firing distance. But estimating range is very hard to do in a monofocal videogame. Is monofocal a word or did I just make it up? Anyway... you will find that the UZO marking lines won't allow you to accurately determine the range of very distant ships, and that's by design, but they're great for getting a firing solution during a night-time surface attack.