CVW-11 DCS: F-14B Tomcat Radar Techniques

Presented By: Spiceman C.O. VF-41 Black Aces
Virtual Carrier Air Wing: Eleven
www.vcvw-11.com

[@towedarray7217]

It is NUTS to me that games/simulators have gotten so good that they actually let you operate embedded systems that were installed on these aircraft. This game amazes me and your videos are extremely helpful in trying to get more capable in DCS World. Thank you!

[@Yamdarnocnivek]

Wow Opened KZbin after a good F14 sortie with a friend to learn the radar better and this was in the top of my reccomended posted 22 minutes ago with 10 views...

[@imellor711]

Wow, explains the purpose of the RIO. I never ever sit in this seat in my F14B. As I never understood what to do in the back, until now. Thank you.

[@Thumper770]

When you are in the backseat, You do basically the same thing an F-15 pilot does when they aren't actually flying. You're trying to find the bad guy.

[@MindfunkerMusic]

Always had problems loosing targets when entering ranges under 20m, now i understand why and how to deal with it! Thank you, really awesome explanations and generally great video! Helped me a ton!

[@Honosuseri]

Just wanted to thank you for your time and effort put into these videos. I was laid up with a badly broken leg most of last year. Frustrating as I couldn't use my "simpit" BUT I enjoyed watching these videos and reading up on the Tomcat. I have now recovered from my injury and purchased the F14-B in the DCS sale recently. I'm thoroughly enjoying flying this bird, as I have a greater understanding of it thanks to your shared experience. Thanks again and all the best for your future endeavours

[@DannyP159]

The best videos ever! Seriously keep it up dude... The way that you present the information is second to none

[@Wolfhound_81]

Getting back into the RIO seat after over 1y, once again, just like when I began in 2019, these videos are invaluable.

[@Viper81]

I came here to learn. I learned a lot. Thank you Spiceman.

[@HEATER_]

I love the Zone 5 campaign, and have a good feeling I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the back seat. Thank God for you sir! Thank you.

[@rudelchw]

Thanks a lot .. it's been a while from the last tutorial of the Channel, but it's so worthwhile the wait, as I really love this kind of Tutorial, that strives to explain and teach the subjects in-depth, rather than going the easy route of just providing step lists to use ... I feel like I'm actually learning the hows rather than just procedures to follow blindly :) ... it's really nice to be a subscriptor of your channel, as your content is just superb. Thanks again for producing this content.

[@armaliterallysucks9326]

this deserves a looooot more god damn views then it's getting, keep liking this up chiefs

[@qdk117]

friend of mine is a decent pilot, and so im learning RIO, and your videos have been the best. Thanks

[@TrooperStark]

I really need someone to teach me this. I’m trying my best to be a good RIO but damn it’s a lot of information and videos to sift through to find the questions I have. Would be awesome to have a conversation with you and get a good walkthrough until it clicks. Appreciate the video, keep up the good work man.

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

practice practice practice. I learned a lot of my RIO stuff from these videos that Spiceman produced and I uploaded. Then taking those lessons to single player and having Iceman drive while I used the RIO pit. Take each section of this video and set yourself up a mission to practice just that part. Tiny bites is easier than eating the whole thing at once :)

[@IkeThe9th]

Another fantastic lesson, Spice! Thanks.

[@ilejovcevski79]

Loved this video. Heatblur should develop scripts for Jester based on your instructional videos guys!

[@mj533]

Best video! I finally understand the MLC and the Doppler filter! Thank you!!!

[@saeidyazdani]

I always hated radio communication and antenna design coursed back in EE grad school :)))) but now it makes more sense to me how important it was!

[@Conrexion]

I must have to say that this video is great. I'm just learning the Rio seat and it's been hard for me, but this is a really good and well explained lesson. thanks for the effort man.

[@trdraider1196]

Just what i was looking for! Can't wait to see more

[@mosquito9085]

I needed that so much. Awesome

[@Metaller1982]

i just startet picking up dcs and this is insanely helpfull! thx mate!

[@cipher8048]

Spiceman = Love

[@rawnukles]

Love you videos. Learned a lot here. It would be great to see you and a pilot fly online against real people flying against you. Online typically flying against FA-18, they fly very low to notch our phoenix and it is very hard to find them again. I would love to see you find a guy on the deck who just notched your phoenix and launch a Sparrow or two at him. I guess all we can do is merge on the deck where we think they are with PAL. Which is what we've been doing but it would still be really useful to watch you play some full attacks runs from long range contact right down to the merge on the deck against human pilot... Win or lose.

[@Happy-tp4jd]

would be great to see a video of proper use of the aim 7 and Pheonix with the f-14. that or a decent missile evasion tutorial.

[@Tertius_Oculus]

Great video. exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!

[@SpaceGaucho_]

very insightful! thank you

[@YouknowmeOUdo]

Excellent tutorial, more, please!

[@rakedos9057]

That's a very good video. Thank you very much!

[@Vike1121]

awesome

[@wilbuzllf5057]

Very nice, great work! Thanks for the great tutorial :-) Wilbuz

[@chrisp7255]

Lol that one dislike is the guy who keeps getting shot down even though he puts the AWG-9 in the notch ;)

[@MrZerohunter]

the very best F14-RIO-Tutorial I´ve seen so far. Thank you for opening my mind to understand this radar a lot better now!

[@TheLandsea]

Fantastic Workshop at all. Thank you so much for a deep view into the best Radar in DCS. Hard to learn and understand but so powerfull in the right hands of a RIO. Is there any chance to get Material in the Video, that helps you to describe what is going on?

[@chikokishi7030]

Has this channel been abandoned? Will there be any more uploads?

[@felimuller6361]

Thanks man thats was an awesome tutorial. But when do i HAVE to use the PD and why does the f14 just dont have the Pulse only? Is it for the balistic computer for the pheonixes or for what? P.s. Again. Awesome tutorial👍

[@ghostrider1827]

Much appreciate friend!! really is...HOWEVER.....I'm going to really need you to tutor me!!! I may have to pay you! ...serioously! LOL

[@welshzecorgi7903]

I have another question. What makes a good RIO, good? If you took a bunch of people that were all equally proficient in performing the basic duties of a RIO, how would good RIOs stick out of the crowd?

[@remus120777]

That’s a great question Welshzecorgi, and a multi-faceted one. For one thing, a good RIO can excel at multi-tasking, situational awareness, problem-solving, etc., on levels that are not equal, from one individual to another. Buttons, dials, et al, can be learned by anyone who puts the work in with enough time. It’s the same with pilots though too. The chasm between those who know how to use systems and when to use them effectively can be wide. Knowing where your Phoenix Launch button is has no bearing on you taking in all the information such as distance, target aspect, missile performance, altitude, etc., that is required for a high probability shot, and using that info to effectively engage a target. Combine that with having the S.A. Direct a flight of wingmen to coordinate sorting and launch orders at the same time. Plainly, not all brains are created equal. Just because you can drive a car, doesn’t mean you can compete as a race car driver. The same applies here. A good RIO will have the same intangibles that distinguish a good pilot from a bad one.

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

Well-spoken from our lead RIO in CVW-11!

[@Tome4kkkk]

Have you got some VR videos yet?

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

Spiceman doesn't use VR. What sort of VR videos are you looking for?

[@Tome4kkkk]

@@carrierairwingeleven1747 kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4bPdX1orK15hpY&lc=UgxQJV_xOVZpWEIA5m94AaABAg

[@welshzecorgi7903]

Why is it so difficult to get the awg 9 to PDSTT or PSTT lock a tracked target using a hook on a contact on the TID? The azimuth scan narrows for a few seconds before dropping back into scan, wiping any previous tracks that were on the TID before you attempted the lock.

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

Are you hooking a datalinked target or do you have the contact on the DDD ?

[@welshzecorgi7903]

@@carrierairwingeleven1747 while it was a datalinked target, I had managed to pick it up on radar. The area was absolute chaos as a 6 v 6 was building up and I didn't check the DDD, but it was showing up on the TID in TWS manual as both a datalink contact as well as a radar contact. Edit: I should mention that we were at 40k feet and the target I was trying to lock was about 5000-10k feet at about 40nm away.

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

@@welshzecorgi7903 The track file will remain for several minutes on the TID even after you lose contact, check the DDD to make sure you're getting good returns for the TID.

[@eddievhfan1984]

As I understand it, the sim (and maybe the real aircraft) has difficulties when performing an STT hand-off from TWS-either the range gate for tracking was too narrow, or some issue with using the track to aim the dish. Usually, you're better off directly locking from the DDD to get a better track probability.

[@bigerbeterthings]

My friend says there is a way to have make the radar "silent" and making it stop emitting a signal is that possible/ how do you do it without turning it off?

[@krostouin]

Turn the WCS button to standby. You wont be able to lock any target, but you can still see the contacts from your AWACS via the Datalink. And if you are good enough, you can sneak and fox 2 or fox 3 at close range.

[@nikitabaskov1312]

Hi, informative video, great job! I have a question about DDD in PD modes (main clutter filter off): when i put the radar at -80 degrees the main lobe return is positioned lower, than when i put radar, say, -10 degrees. That, as far as i understand, means that the ground is moving AWAY from me, and moving faster at lower angles. Could you, please explain, what is going on?

[@eddievhfan1984]

The DDD's PD display (in BEAM aspect, anyways) is biased so that distant ground returns (which have a Doppler shift twice that of the shift "detected" from the distant target) show up at the center of the display, representing a target with relative velocity of 0 radial velocity. This also takes into account the sidelobe returns. At higher look-down angles, it is possible for the sidelobe signal to not be blanked by the mainlobe, and since the sidelobe pattern will be aimed behind ownship, that could explain the apparent rearward shift of the MLC trace. Either that, or velocity compensation of the PD display is degraded at extreme vertical search angles.

[@farhadjahan6897]

درود .. لطفا دوبله پارسی هم بگذارید

[@alexnorton3396]

Does PD STT set their RWR off?

[@carrierairwingeleven1747]

Yes

[@ondrejtoth3012]

this is possible way to repair jester/pilot radial menu - try to add at the end of .lua file (...DCS World/Config/MonitorSetup/ your monitor profile) this line: GU_MAIN_VIEWPORT = Viewports.Center this helped me with bugged combined arms sights

[@stevenspicer14]

Ondrej Toth right! I’ve done that before, just been lazy lately...

[@cmieure]

Not how radar works. The radar beam is cone shaped, not a "lobe". Anything outside of the "line of site" is going to be a weaker signature return due to the cosign effect. That is why moving the angle of the radar antenna is required to detect targets at different altitudes .

[@strikeeagle345]

Barking up the wrong tree pal....

[@stevenspicer14]

Oof... let me help you. Here’s a link to a great document on radar theory. It’s the source document to a couple of my images in the video. Section 2.12.2 is a great read on side lobe clutter rejection... nothing on cone rejection though ;). drive.google.com/file/d/1GgogGvrNJxHdjY8qkO8NQabMYS38VRuQ/view?usp=drivesdk

[@strikeeagle345]

#welcometoRIOschool

[@eddievhfan1984]

While the main part of the RADAR signal may be considered to act like a "spotlight", the physics of radio signals means that there will also be extra areas of transmitted signal alongside the main part of the signal. They're called sidelobes because on a polar pattern of signal strength vs. angle from antenna boresight, the transmission pattern looks like flower petals or "lobes" emanating from the center. So while there will be a fall-off according the cosine of the angle off bore, past a certain point, diffraction of the radio signal will cause another peak in transmission strength the receiver could possibly pick up. It's not dissimilar to shining a laser at a surface and discovering a pattern of dots spreading out from the center. This sidelobe has to be taken into account to avoid false returns, especially at low altitude.

[@Thumper770]

It would have been even better if you didn't spend half an hour explaining systems that you'll never use or were never implemented. You spent 10 minutes covering a switch that doesn't do anything in-game. Simply pointing to it, acknowledging it, and saying that it doesn't do anything in-game would have been plenty of information. Giving us info on the real thing and how it works in the real world is one thing. Spending time on things that won't help us in-game, is another. The whole reason we are watching this video is to get better at the game and not necessarily wanting to know everything a RIO does.

[@scoutXM]

At first, I didn't understand it. Like at all. But at the end of the video, it clicked. Thanks for putting this together.

[@k1ll0raffe]

Great Video with very helpfull explanations :) got into the RIO seat some days ago and this really helped me to understand pd an pulse functionality.

[@Uollie]

In the video for a PD STT lock, to keep the lock you say to keep the closure rate between 200 and 400 knots so the contact doesn't enter the zero doppler or MLC filters. I understand why going below 200 knots would enter the zero doppler filter, but why does a faster closure rate enter the MLC filter?

[@eddievhfan1984]

The MLC velocity filter is scaled up and down with your ground speed, such that contacts with your ground speed +/- 133 knots (IIRC) are filtered out from the display. This is supposed to suppress ground returns in the RADAR mainlobe when pointed in the general direction of the horizon or lower. In this case, if your ground speed was around 540 knots, targets with a relative closure rate of +/133 knots along the centerline (~400 to 680 knots groundspeed along centerline) would be filtered out. This can be why either changing speed or aspect can regain a contact, as the MLC closure rate falls away with increasing RADAR angle off boresight (the half-circle when MLC is out).

[@ignaciobuhadla9342]

Great intro! and thanks for the lesson, I really appreciate it