DCS F/A-18C Tutorial 3 - A/A Radar BVR Modes

In this tutorial I cover the A/A radar modes used for BVR. These are RWS and TWS.

[@taflad]

You sir, are born to teach! You have the perfect inflection, subject interest and presentation style!! Well done, butt! Great job!

[@littleponygirl666]

Easily the best Hornet radar tutorial for DCS!

[@mobius7089]

Nice job overall a good breakdown of the Hornet radar. I do however need to mention a some things I noticed. A kind of peer review if you don't mind. 5:25 pressing sensor control switch (SCS) to the AZ/EL then TDC depress will cue stores (might be mentioned later) 6:52 radar scale can be adjusted quickly by bumping the TDC cursor out then back into the tactical area within 0.8s. Above logic applies to azimuth as well with left increasing and right decreasing. Same in A/G. SET Note that this ties the radar parameters to the selected weapons at the time. This means you can have 3 different set profiles. NCTR requires STT 10:06 That indicates that the radar has priority over the ASPJ system. Not implemented in DCS. There is actually a cue we are missing that tells you when the radar is contributing to an MSI track file. That is the radar contribution circle. Would be around the MSI trackfile ranking. 12:10 This is all correct, however the way DCS does it right now is bugged. That number in DCS corresponds to the seconds after which a track has not been scanned will be deleted. Terrible, wrong logic and setting 16-32 is a good work around, make sure to SET it. 12:54 This is incorrect and a common misconception. LTWS is just a display filter. Contrary to every other aircraft he Hornet ALWAYS creates target trackfiles outside of A/G. Turning LTWS off does not change radar processing, just whether you can see the trackfile when TUC'd. (TUC is target under cursor(d)) 13:25 declutter off gives you a lot more information when you have a L+S set. LDF- low duty factor Speed gate is not implemented. 15:13 Not true, RWS is just decluttered TWS without scan frame limits. AACQ also has FACQ (fast acquisition) not shown, but if you have a TUC the FACQ will grab that instead. 17:20 Note that the angle aspect pointer will be come increasingly inaccurate the closer the track gets to the edge of the display. This is due to the image compression of the B-scope display. check your SA for accurate aspect. 19:26 Such an amazing feature when used with NWS to step tracks 21:57 Ambiguous actually means that the CIT system has attempted to interrogate the track but did not receive a reply. In DCS that guarantees that it is not friendly. 22:14 Track is lost because of the age out bug, iirc you still have 4 seconds set here. 22:30 This is old incorrect DCS logic that has since been corrected. SCS depress is actually just a modifier for the SCS. To do a CIT interrogation you must press SCS depress AND SCS towards the radar. However if you just set L+S the track will be interrogated automatically. 23:40 No. It's possible the target is in the zero doppler filter however that is not what happened here. You will also see that the target just accelerated from 0.6 to Mach 1.2 and is now out of your radar range. Because the target is cold, HPRF is useless. You should switch to just MPRF against small RCS targets MPRF only has a range of 25NM, almost exactly when you lose him. 24:13 Kinda nitpicky, but you are setting L+S or designating the target, not "locking" them in a single target track. People tend to correlate lock to "oh, I'm spiking the guy now." 24:24 I am not sure what happened here. The friendly track you had faded, as such the L+S was dropped. You press NWS which actually set the L+S to the other track, yet it was dropped immediately after. NWS should step the tracks but for some reason it canceled the L+S and was still one button press... 27:14 You can only have the 2 designated to see DLZ and what not, but if you don't have a DT2 you can press NWS fire an AMRAAM, rinse repeat. You can fire 10 120s on 10 targets. Setting DT2 actually limits you. (IRL it's only 8 due to missile channel limitations) 27:29 Again, this is due to the setting of 4 seconds fun fact, in TWS AUTO the system can actually use 3 and 5 bar scans behind the scenes. 29:09 it does not, and you can even see it here. 30:05 actually the ranking is based on a combination of altitude, IFF, and time to intercept. FFS DCS, Why would friends be ranked? 30:40 And that's radar trackfiles, MSI trackfiles go up to 16 I believe. (not implemented) 31:06 Just repeating that ambiguous mean not friendly. Well at least not carry a mode for transponder with proper codes which every gen 2.5+ aircraft in DCS has. Jeff is special. 31:54 This is interesting, maybe DCS does implement IFF trackfile contribution. At least, if those are fighter sized your radar wouldn't see them. 33:34 This is really annoying you see that if you L+S track priority 1, someone else becomes priority one...ED really needs to fix the Hornet radar soon. 34:25 Since it wasn't mentioned. RAID is also a HOTAS command. The RAID/HARM sequence/ FLIR FOV select switch. If it wasn't clear, RAID changes the radar beamform and processing to better break out targets in a group, different to just the display change of EXP. 36:12 I'll add that SPOT is space stabilized, great if you need to watch a particular part of the airspace. One thing you didn't mention was TWS BIAS. If you TDC depress in TWS AUTO not on a track, BIAS will be evoked, now the scan volume center follows your cursor. This differs from SPOT as the azimuth doesn't change. That's everything I noticed in this video that I wanted to mention/correct. This isn't supposed to be a gotcha or anything, I'm just here to help people learn the DCS Hornet.

[@deephack]

Thanks for the clarifications and extra information, very helpful! This has been the biggest and most complex video that I've done so far and as you see I did struggle getting some of this information correct. I will very likely revise this video in the future and when I do I'll incorporate this information.

[@LorenzoDiamond1]

Good comments thanks

[@tippership]

This is still the best radar video on youtube i've seen period so far! Just getting into DCS ,starting with the hornet, soon to try the Viper Thank You for doing this DeepHack- it might be your most complex ones, but it's also literally the BEST- on par with Chuck's Guide i'd say The one thing i think you might have missed was the ECCM button at about 13, 14 mins in; pretty sure it's not implemented even now in mid 2023, but was curious on it. Here is hoping you keep doing these guides-

[@heyviper1238]

You're gonna like the f-16 radar a lot. It's incredibly smart and easy to use. Definitely my preferred aircraft for a/a combat.

[@SwiftyShammy]

Great job with these videos, I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it. These videos, especially the A2A radar and missle enagements saved the F18 for me. My favorite mod in DCS so far and now its even better. Thank you again.

[@Qu4DSprayz]

Thank you Deephack! Your videos are a great value to the community. Great job explaining everything.

[@poppet_55]

One of the Best! BVR video's I have seen...you broke it down simply and to the point...especially the "data tab"...(for tweaking how you want your radar to function). BTW...you and Chuckles should do a DCS Champagne Jam DCS mission!!!...after finishing your bottles, of course!...DCS does stand for Drink Champagne Simulator....doesn't it?

[@PappyGunn]

Hi. I'm one of these old farts that have played flight sims since they came out. I've also worked on the F-18 (maintenance). This is the first time there is a good simulation of the radar (IMHO) so I've decided to finally learn to operate it. Because I get annoyed at not being very good with it and having to close to knife fighting range in DCS. Looks like I will follow your channel. You gave a good intro and basics on the radar, I' m looking forward to the other videos.

[@TV1Bomber]

I hear you as an old fart! Only wish I survived long enough to the knife fight 😂

[@NeightWolf49]

Great job putting together a very well delivered tutorial in an easy way to understand. Thank you.

[@pinkfloyd7572]

Excellent tutorials. You really spell it out well. Thank you.

[@RebelNine]

Thank you, I’m new to DCS, learnt a great deal from you BVR & WVR videos.

[@s3viking214]

26:30 thank you for explaining that. I've always wondered what that was called

[@billnash4997]

Thanks Deephack - a really great video on a difficult subject!

[@el1te_sn1per64]

THAT WAS AN AMAZING! this actually helped me an unbelievable amount thank you!

[@davidgaskin3805]

Great video. Just one thing, IFF does not confirm hostile. IFF can only confirm friend (correct coded response) or unknown. Confirmation of hostile can only be by visual, track, hostile intent to you, NCI or a combination of these and other means.

[@erikarnold4737]

learning BVR from Scott Manley sure is great

[@pablolopez9791]

Wonderful explanation!!! very grateful!

[@Darksagan]

Great job finally a tutorial a noob can follow.

[@oneill6291]

Fantastic videos! Thanks a lot!

[@ottomatix2277]

Good Job and great Vid!

[@SukhoiGC]

Awesome video!

[@rpersen]

Fantastic video, thanks a lot.

[@peanut1120]

Cheers mate, nice video.

[@Gabriel4Drummer]

Thank You a lot!

[@leviburki8722]

Thank you!

[@utley]

3:50 you can also just select a missile from the missile/gun selection switch; itll automatically put you in the most appropriate radar mode and IIRC guns go VS, AMRAAMs and Sparrows go RWS/SST, AIM9s go WACQ. I could be wrong, its been a while since I last flown....and 30 seconds later you describe this. I need to slow down I guess...

[@ArtietheArchon]

what's cool is you can hit 120 select, set up the radar how you want it, press SET, and whenever you press 120 select again it will return to those parameters if not already in air to air. I believe these parameters can differently set up for Sidewinder, Sparrow, and A/A master mode

[@larata1646]

Nice and super video...I

[@KENNYB322]

you have excellent videos. I watched tutorial 3 on A/A radar BVr modes and i still have a major problem detecting helicopters with the hornet. Could you please do a video on this. Thanks

[@erfguuipo8084]

Subbed couples minutes in I know I will understand a lot.

[@rossbonny6767]

I have trouble seeing which button you are pressing, etc. It would be helpful if you would spend more time on the button or knob, hovering a second or two, before moving on to the result. It would also help to make your cursor larger. Your content is good, I'd like to be able to follow it.

[@floydkershner6591]

I am the best description of a beginner. I do not understand some of your terms Such as RWS or PRF or TWS.

[@deephack]

That's understandable, there is a lot to unpack in these terms. I reccomend Chuck's guides and the built in tutorials for more detail. In the meantime RWS is range while scan, TWS is track while search and PRF is pulse repitition frequency. RWS and TWS just being two different radar presentations mostly. PRF is how many pulses your radar sends in a given timescale, higher PRF tending to be good for head on targets and lower PRF tending to be better for receding targets. This is a gross simplification however and there are many more parameters to consider.

[@DJRaffa1000]

Aside from dropping the lock, how can i manually reject the current LNS and DT2 targets ? undesignate/nosewheelsteering is for swtiching, so what do i have to press in order to drop the "lock" manually ?

[@47SCIPIO]

So how do I unlock a target? Undesignated just switches from one target to another. Thanks!

[@Custostemporis1]

I have a question. When i go into TWS and i have a couple of tracks on my radar display it automatically locks the first target it sees (friendly or enemy) can i turn this “feature” off or not?

[@deephack]

This normally happens when you press the sensor select switch in the direction of the radar display when you already have the diamond (command) on screen. If you don't do so then it doesn't in TWS as far as I'm aware.

[@Custostemporis1]

@@deephack i gonna try. Ty for the help!

[@Custostemporis1]

@@deephackit still happens for me. And i can’t find anything on the eagle dynamics site. But il watch some more a/a radar tutorials

[@SwiftyShammy]

Was the "RWR ATTK" option on the DATA page removed. I do not seem to have it.

[@deephack]

No idea, can anyone confirm?

[@SwiftyShammy]

@@deephack Sorry I was able to find it. I didn't have the RWR set on the SA page

[@racingtheweb]

Let's say I have Aim7 Sparrows only and my radar in TWS mode detects an enemy contact. When I'm firing the first sparrow my radar changes to STT mode (automatically I guess). So TWS radar mode is pointless having only Sparrows and no AIM 120. Isn't it?

[@deephack]

It still provides enhanced situational aweness over RWS until you take the shot.

[@racingtheweb]

@@deephack I agree, so it's helpful anyway. Thanks

[@johnpancoast3236]

The Hornet radar is broken in bvr. That was the cause of the problems. Nice video none the less.

[@Despiser25]

You seem to forgot the Azimuth info page later or did I miss it?

[@deephack]

That's to come. Might actually do that next while I wait for the guided weapons to get fixed.

[@Despiser25]

@@deephack TY mate. You and the other guys have helped so much making this game playable for us propeller heads ;)

[@johnchristian664]

ok, wtf.. tactical pascale? 104 tactical? deephack.. you all the same guy?

[@deephack]

Just because I'm Scottish? :-D

[@erfguuipo8084]

What does PRF do.. when do i use high or medium..

[@deephack]

High would normally be used for targets with high closure rate/head on, medium is for low closure rates.

[@erfguuipo8084]

@@deephack someone said just use hi all the way they had no issues.

[@Mediocrity_In_Action]

When you say nose wheel steering. This isn't SCS depress? This is the actual button to go high and low nose wheel steering? Just trying to get better at using the radar.

[@deephack]

That's correct. I'm referring to the nose wheel steering button on the HOTAS.

[@Mediocrity_In_Action]

@@deephack Juat wanted to thank you for the video. Went 7 and 2 tonight in air to air PVE. 2 kills back to back in TWS thanks to your video.

[@marcosechi8820]

Showing the controls would have been really helpfull

[@deephack]

Everyone has a different HOTAS setup and keyboard layout so I rely on people just looking up the control names in the settings.

[@user-kb4he7qz8q]

how to turn off SIL to HITS i cant

[@simon2646]

where the hell is this 4-way switch?? (ON THE JOYSTICK!!!) (I give here the question and the answer ;p)

[@deephack]

Which one are you referring to? All controls are wherever you map them on your hardware. Check out the controls tab under settings.

[@curleex3838]

It's very difficult to follow along with a lesson when your talking to us like we already know the lingo, if I knew all the abbreviations and lingo I wouldn't be here lol, all the info/training/learning vids on KZbin are aimed at skilled fliers who understand the lingo, what about the novices like me, I can take off and land but I struggle with all the radar and how it works, I don't understand all the abbreviations and flight talk, I'm brand new!

[@deephack]

Which ones do you need explained? Happy to do so.