Sonarman can't track targets anymore?

Trav_R · 11-14-05, 09:38 PM

I used to be able to have my sonarman track nearby contacts so that I didn't have to constantly man the hydrophone station while waiting for a DD to leave the area. Lately though, I haven't been able to get him to follow any targets. Even when I am very close to the warship, he won't leave his normal sweep mode and go to tracking mode. I have to constantly check the hydrophone to see where the warship is at. I haven't installed any new mods recently, so I really don't know what it could be. Anyone know what's going on?

Viduka · 11-15-05, 01:10 AM

Is it because you are surfaced? The hydrophone will only be tracking a contact when asked if you are submerged.

Marhkimov · 11-15-05, 01:12 AM

Lately my sonarman has been dumb too. I probably just never noticed, because he has probably ALWAYS been dumb.

svenks · 11-15-05, 07:55 AM

Hi there,
As you know hydrophones is no good for targets directly behind you...but neither are they any good if target is directly in front of you, at least that goes for the default hydrophones on type VIIB.
However, it is also true that the sonar man sometimes is unable to track a specific target, but in that case his response usually is 'No sound contact', and he will continue with normal sweep. In that case, try to locate the target yourself, check the notepad for the correct type. Once he has a firm line, he will track the target, until he loses it. In that case: Rinse, repeat...
This all assumes that the target you want tracked is indeed the closest one.
BRGDS
Sven

Trav_R · 11-15-05, 08:56 AM

Well I haven't tried "helping" him by pointing the needle at the target before asking, but I'm well familiar with the rest of hydrophone usage. The targets were always off to one side or another, not off the bow or stern. They were always within a close enough range for the sonarman to track. I know because he called them out to me. So, if the guy can call out a warship contact, why can't he track it? Weird, I'll try giving him a hand by pointing the needle at the target though and see how that works. It's frustrating having to constantly keep an eye on the warship myself when I'm simply waiting for him to go away.

wetwarev7 · 11-15-05, 10:32 AM

What really annoys me is when you have two wearships(edit: er...WARships), one on the port, one on starboard, and he says the starboard one is the closest contact, but when you tell him to track the closest contact, he tracks the port one!

Krupp · 11-22-05, 03:13 AM

Hmm, couldn't find answer via search function and this topic is close to it so I will put mine here.

I'm using IUB 1.02 and my difficulty settings are 100%, but still there is couple things Id' like to have differently.

1. No Precise sensor contacts on navigation map when a watch crew sees a ship(s). = those small squares with a tail. This makes plotting too easy.

2. No Imprecise sensor contacts on navigation map when my hydrophone operator hears something. = those line(s) pointing toward the ship(s). This makes evasing escorts "too" easy.

Now I could easily change these to zero to not get any info on my nav map any longer.(from contacts.cfg) ->

"Decay Time For Imprecise Sensor Contacts=600" (for hydrophone)
"Decay Time For Precise Sensor Contacts=60" (for visual)

But after that, the watch crew will drive me crazy with their never ending "Schiff gesichtet!" yapping. Especially if there is a convoy in sight. Also, my dear Sonarman turns to be a total vegetable after changing decay times to 0 (normally he can follow contacts). And then he won't be able to follow single merchant or warship contacts anymore witch makes me jumping back and worth in his station (during depth charge attacks). He just gives me "Kein horchkontakt" crap. I have keel hauled those poor mens so many times now that I really need another solution.

Dear Der Altes, is there any way I could have a non yapping watch crew and a useful sonarman without any map contacts?

Thanks for advance.

11-22-05, 04:21 AM

Playing with the latest RUB and 100% difficulty, there is nothing on the navigation map.

So either somehow in your game some of the realism checkboxes were left out, or it is a feature that's changed (and can be unchanged) by the IUB.

Krupp · 11-22-05, 05:05 AM

I have definetily (Edit:cough* definitely...) checked all boxes in realism settings and RUB 1.44 should be within IUB 1.02 (I just don't use RUB defaults via mod enabler). I used to play SH3 a lot since the first RUB's and there wasn't anything on the map nav map. The sonarman wasn't much good but don't remember if it was because official patch or something else.... Now I have started again after some time with IUB.

Can your sonarman follow single targets instead of just sweeping around? How about your watch crew, do they give you ship spotted and then keep their mouth shut? It is quite irritating to try to flank a convoy within visual range to get into attack position when your crew keeps telling ships that we all are perfectly well aware. I could live with the hydrophone pointing direction to sounds but I really hate those visual markings (box & tail)on the map cos it is GPS accurate and takes away the fun of plotting.

If the decay for visual contact is set to 0, I think they "forget" what they saw immediately and soon they yell it again when they turn into direction of targets. I have noticed that this might have effect whether your notepad "remembers" ship classes when you put the crosshair on them (after been checked once). With 0 decay you have to check it manually via recognition manual every time you take a peek through your periscope or UZO. Not sure tho...

11-14-05, 09:38 PM	#1
Trav_R Ensign Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma, USA Posts: 227 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Sonarman can't track targets anymore? I used to be able to have my sonarman track nearby contacts so that I didn't have to constantly man the hydrophone station while waiting for a DD to leave the area. Lately though, I haven't been able to get him to follow any targets. Even when I am very close to the warship, he won't leave his normal sweep mode and go to tracking mode. I have to constantly check the hydrophone to see where the warship is at. I haven't installed any new mods recently, so I really don't know what it could be. Anyone know what's going on?

11-15-05, 01:12 AM	#3
Marhkimov Admiral Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bay Area, California, USA Posts: 2,377 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Lately my sonarman has been dumb too. I probably just never noticed, because he has probably ALWAYS been dumb. __________________ It takes two to tango

11-15-05, 10:32 AM	#6
wetwarev7 Grey Wolf Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Deep Waters Posts: 871 Downloads: 31 Uploads: 0	What really annoys me is when you have two wearships(edit: er...WARships), one on the port, one on starboard, and he says the starboard one is the closest contact, but when you tell him to track the closest contact, he tracks the port one! __________________ Guess I should change my sig since SH5 has an offline mode now

11-15-05, 01:10 AM	#2
Viduka Gunner Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 91 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Is it because you are surfaced? The hydrophone will only be tracking a contact when asked if you are submerged.

11-15-05, 07:55 AM	#4
svenks Machinist's Mate Join Date: May 2005 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 129 Downloads: 12 Uploads: 0	Hi there, As you know hydrophones is no good for targets directly behind you...but neither are they any good if target is directly in front of you, at least that goes for the default hydrophones on type VIIB. However, it is also true that the sonar man sometimes is unable to track a specific target, but in that case his response usually is 'No sound contact', and he will continue with normal sweep. In that case, try to locate the target yourself, check the notepad for the correct type. Once he has a firm line, he will track the target, until he loses it. In that case: Rinse, repeat... This all assumes that the target you want tracked is indeed the closest one. BRGDS Sven

11-15-05, 08:56 AM	#5
Trav_R Ensign Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Oklahoma, USA Posts: 227 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Well I haven't tried "helping" him by pointing the needle at the target before asking, but I'm well familiar with the rest of hydrophone usage. The targets were always off to one side or another, not off the bow or stern. They were always within a close enough range for the sonarman to track. I know because he called them out to me. So, if the guy can call out a warship contact, why can't he track it? Weird, I'll try giving him a hand by pointing the needle at the target though and see how that works. It's frustrating having to constantly keep an eye on the warship myself when I'm simply waiting for him to go away.

11-22-05, 03:13 AM	#7
Krupp Weps Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 351 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Hmm, couldn't find answer via search function and this topic is close to it so I will put mine here. I'm using IUB 1.02 and my difficulty settings are 100%, but still there is couple things Id' like to have differently. 1. No Precise sensor contacts on navigation map when a watch crew sees a ship(s). = those small squares with a tail. This makes plotting too easy. 2. No Imprecise sensor contacts on navigation map when my hydrophone operator hears something. = those line(s) pointing toward the ship(s). This makes evasing escorts "too" easy. Now I could easily change these to zero to not get any info on my nav map any longer.(from contacts.cfg) -> "Decay Time For Imprecise Sensor Contacts=600" (for hydrophone) "Decay Time For Precise Sensor Contacts=60" (for visual) But after that, the watch crew will drive me crazy with their never ending "Schiff gesichtet!" yapping. Especially if there is a convoy in sight. Also, my dear Sonarman turns to be a total vegetable after changing decay times to 0 (normally he can follow contacts). And then he won't be able to follow single merchant or warship contacts anymore witch makes me jumping back and worth in his station (during depth charge attacks). He just gives me "Kein horchkontakt" crap. I have keel hauled those poor mens so many times now that I really need another solution. Dear Der Altes, is there any way I could have a non yapping watch crew and a useful sonarman without any map contacts? Thanks for advance.

11-22-05, 04:21 AM	#8
Dievs Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	Playing with the latest RUB and 100% difficulty, there is nothing on the navigation map. So either somehow in your game some of the realism checkboxes were left out, or it is a feature that's changed (and can be unchanged) by the IUB.

11-22-05, 05:05 AM	#9
Krupp Weps Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 351 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I have definetily (Edit:cough* definitely...) checked all boxes in realism settings and RUB 1.44 should be within IUB 1.02 (I just don't use RUB defaults via mod enabler). I used to play SH3 a lot since the first RUB's and there wasn't anything on the map nav map. The sonarman wasn't much good but don't remember if it was because official patch or something else.... Now I have started again after some time with IUB. Can your sonarman follow single targets instead of just sweeping around? How about your watch crew, do they give you ship spotted and then keep their mouth shut? It is quite irritating to try to flank a convoy within visual range to get into attack position when your crew keeps telling ships that we all are perfectly well aware. I could live with the hydrophone pointing direction to sounds but I really hate those visual markings (box & tail)on the map cos it is GPS accurate and takes away the fun of plotting. If the decay for visual contact is set to 0, I think they "forget" what they saw immediately and soon they yell it again when they turn into direction of targets. I have noticed that this might have effect whether your notepad "remembers" ship classes when you put the crosshair on them (after been checked once). With 0 decay you have to check it manually via recognition manual every time you take a peek through your periscope or UZO. Not sure tho...