Originally Posted by Kresner
First of all, an enemy visual contact should take you back to 1x TC, not 8x. Second, using the long-range of 32k yards on the radar will miss a LOT of potential targets and / or closing enemy on the attack. If they are not detected, your TC will not drop. Even at the short-range setting on the radar, the units will "miss" contacts, and they will sometimes give you a contact further out. I do not know if this is purposeful "modeling" from Stock (intermittent operation - bad tubes, etc.), or just a function of "bandwidth" (literally), where the size of the beam goes out. Your boat goes up and down as it traverses waves, and the enemy ships go up and down as they traverse waves. Similar to the visual contact, sometimes your boat is in a trough and the enemy is in a trough, neither of you can "see" the other. Other times, both are on swell peaks, and sighting is much easier. Even still, the AOB, size of the object, etc., all play a part in "detection".
Another thing, just because you have SJ does not automatically give you good air contacts. At least, not until the "Improved SJ" comes online later, and it is still not reliable. You definitely still need the SD radar as a "supplement". You still will not "see" the triangle on the NavMap though, until the plane is "sighted" and identified as an airplane. It will be "Unknown Airplane" until its type is recognizable. Even to this day, radar is not the be-all end-all for detection nor identification. It's a radio wave, and as such is influenced by forces of the earth, as well as forces of man...
One thing players want to do is keep radar on at all times so that they're not "surprised" by a Zeke coming out of the sun or some-such. But it did happen in real life, all the men on Deck Watch duty, all the radar stations fully manned, etc., and you can read in some of the War Patrol Reports of a skipper noting in his report something to the effect of "Had to Crash Dive 1440 on 6th of June due to Betty coming out of the clouds unexpectedly. Bombs dropped caused minor damage to Observation Scope. No injuries incurred..." etc. Radar is a tool, and it was in its infancy during WWII. Not to say there isn't something odd going on in the game at times that could well be an issue. We have been and will continue to look into the radars.
Just remember, the SD is air search only, and does NOT have a screen for its display, other than the NavMap if you have contacts on. If you don't, then you have to be quick on the draw to mark where the contact is. There also is no indicator, and no way to add one, as to whether the device is on or off, other than the text message you receive. Use either the <T> key, or the menu button. Don't forget that you can scroll through the text list, or that it is easy enough to turn off, then on again (or vice versa), to view its status. The SJ is what you "see" at the Radar Stations, both the A-Scope and the PPI, if your boat has the PPI (Plan Position Indicator) active. Those station screens are there, even if you do not have either of them. The A-Scope comes first, the PPI second, then the Improved SJ later. The SJ radar is turned on and off with the <Ctrl-T> combination of keys, and you DO NOT get a text message acknowledging the same. You have to look at the Menu Buttons on the Radar Screen. The radar also displays on the NavMap if you have contacts on. If you don't have contacts on, you can use the PPI - again, if active - to view your contacts. If you don't, the A-Scope is it, which only shows the range easily. You have to pay attention to the indicators for the bearing. Again though, without map contacts on, you have to be quick on the draw. In all cases, you have to monitor more than one screen in the game... The NavMap is the most useful, but NOT 100% reliable for contact displays, especially if you are using TC. A contact via radar will only be quick "blip", and if you are at anything higher than say 4x, that "blip" comes and goes in less than a blink of an eye... It's not until a contact is within 8k yards that you might have a reliable contact, and even then... ya never know...
|