F/A-18C Hornet Detailed Radar Tutorial DCS

Covering All the features of the radar at time of recording, including HOTAS Controls and on screen interaction / configuration, symbology and Range while scan / RWS.
Support the creation of more content!:
/ redkite
TWS Track while scan will be coming later in early access.
00:00 Intro
00:44 Radar Configuration
07:14 Radar Interpretation
12:35 Radar HUD information
14:03 Radar Interaction
18:05 ACM Modes
20:03 Radar Interpretation Examples

[@russellwilliams4317]

Can you please do a new tutorial, due to all of the systems being updated? I really enjoy your tutorials, due to them being so in depth! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to bring us this content. Very much appreciated!

[@tommtee]

5 yearls later, and I cannot thank you enough for making this back then. I looked into chucks guides, fa 18c manual, and watched over 5 different tutorials. Never understood a thing. Well now I still don't understand whats really going on but I think I would be able to lock a target. Will probably watch this 10 more times till I fully understand this hell of a radar.

[@jaek_898]

Yeah theres no way im going to remember this in one go, gonna have to watch the video at least 15 times Good job kite, very informative.

[@RedKiteRender]

Yeah, that's why i'd made a point of including the examples on the end, putting the most important part into practice. :)

[@TheCraigHudson]

I know what you mean I had flaming cliffs 3 back in 2014 and I could Never get into falcon bms but having been playing dcs now for 6-7 years all this makes sense to Me now finally and in a lot of ways if you can fly the a10c start up take off use the radio use gps and gbus tgp pod navigate and land I think the hornet is easier in a lot of ways. But it is Mind Blowing when you first take a crack at it. As the military aviation community likes to say “drinking from the firehouse” sooo Much info so little time.

[@CDNSMOKEJUMPER]

Best instructional video on the F18 radar for DCS in my opinion. Thank you.

[@charlesabela9934]

Very well articulated. Excellent tuition. Voice, Graphics and Overall Logical Presentation 10/10

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Charles!

[@murilomurakame]

Best videos of all so far, RedKite congrats, was waiting for someone to make a video of these a long time to spread in the community. It covered all aspects implemented on the radar, sensational. I leave two tips, in the edition, to use more vivid colors when showing the items, only the blank box can go unnoticed. And when speaking the commands put a box of text on the screen or show the option inside the game also helps who is seeing what is. Congrats on the video one more time.

[@RedKiteRender]

Cheers Murilo! I tried using coloured box outlines to mark items but found youtube video compression made them really fuzy and unclean. Highlighting works much better, I'l see if i can improve on it, perhaps some colour or adding a more pronounced flash effect. As for the controls i usually assume the viewer has a basic understanding of the controls available to them by the time they're learning more advanced systems, otherwise the video can get bloated, It wouldn't hurt to show the controls onscreen, perhaps a cutout from the controls binding screen, but given i'm saying them aloud i'd felt it was enough. Thanks for the feedback!

[@thebiggestoneyouveverhad]

You are awesome! Was just messing with the new AA missiles and modes and thinking that I need to understand how to implement them better.

[@benjaminpohl3104]

Although an old clip of yours, I just want to thank you for excellently presenting and explaining the radar, many many thanks!

[@Dcook85]

Hands down your tutorials are the best out there. You've really accelerated my learning of this aircraft.

[@RedKiteRender]

Thank you Tregeta i plan to revisit the radar with a part 2 some point as this tutorial is missing some of the changes to iff and the sa integration made since recording, so just be aware of that!

[@PhillMagGamerDad]

By far the best Radar Tutorial for the F18 on the net. Thanks Redkite!

[@kainhall]

what a LOT of people dont understand about the TDC numbers is... when the TDC says 4 and 10..... that means you are scanning between 4000 and 10,000 feet..... AT WHATEVER RANGE THE TDC IS AT so if you are doing a 40 mile scan..... and your TDC is at the middle of the screen..... and it says 5 and 15 this means you are only seeing things from 5000 to 15,000 feet....AT 20 MILES!!! moving the TDC up and down will change the numbers...... BUT YOU ARE SILL LOOKING IN THE SAME PART OF THE SKY! i know a lot of people who think that moving the TDC up and down changes the angle of the scan.....so see lower/higher targets AGAIN....IT DOES NOT IIRC.... its the "scan volume up/down" buttons which change the angle of the scan..... allowing you to see a different part of the sky --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- so if i say i have a HOT target at 45 miles..... at 34,000 feet...and im in HIGH PRF first thing would be to set your scan range to 80 (or farther.... but you dont wanna scan all the way out to 160 miles...it will work, its just harder) then...move the TDC to 45 miles....... it may say 5 and 20 (so you need to move your scan volume up....to see stuff at 34,000 feet) next... you move the scan volume up...... the TDC stays where it is..... only the numbers change you just press the button so the numbers say something like.... 25 and 40 you are now scanning between 25,000 and 40,000 feet..... at a range of 45 miles YOU SHOULD NOW SEE THE TARGET! if you dont..... switch to high PRF if you still dont..... and your buddy, right next to you, still sees him..... you ARE doing something wrong

[@kainhall]

but ya.... back in hte days before even the mig 21 was released.... a LOT of peopple would say "i cant see your target" i then would ask how they are changing the altitude they are scanning at "i move the TDC up or down till the numbers are right" THIS IS WRONG once they learned that their is a totally different control they need to use..... they suddenly start seeing SO SO SO many more targets instead of frustration about their "shitty ED bugged my radar" they are now doing fist pumps and celebrating their kills

[@Shehbaz666]

Thanks bro, saved your comment for future reference.

[@skinless333x2]

Hey thanks for the video, a great one. Even tho it is dated today it explains alot and helps to understand how the radar works when a beginner like me learns the module. Thank you!

[@-Sunny--]

Thanks man! You and your calm voice is saving me from pulling my hair out. Keep up!

[@manolog.9962]

Great video! All your videos have been so much help and I view your video channel as being one of the best for training tutorials. Thank you

[@danconnell182]

Great tutorial Redkite I really enjoyed the nerding out and learned a lot keep up the good work!

[@agentroyvincent]

Excellent video. In-depth and professionally presented. Very informative and useful thank you.

[@JLXcellent]

Thanks so much! Excellent video. As a ground pounder looking to learn about A2A, it's very informative and helpful! Really appreciate how thorough you were going through all the symbology.

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks! At the end of the day how well you can use the radar is only as good as your ability to read the information correctly :)

[@IDRio]

Wow, lots of good informations. The TDC could select radar options? Amazing! Thank you for this awesome tutorial :D

[@StrongHarm]

Very professional. Outstanding work, RedKit. Obviously a labor of love. Thank you for contributing your time like this to the DCS Sim community. Impressive.

[@StrongHarm]

And I'd like to add.. the summary examples at the end of the video were brilliant. Thank you for taking the time to provide this, RedKite!

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks StrongHarm! glade you enjoyed it. A part two followup with the new radar features will be coming some point once track while scan is implemented in the hornet :)

[@JacobGramtorp]

Amazing tutorial RedKite!

[@TACCOFSX]

very well made video. has a clear structure and easy to understand.

[@RedKiteRender]

This tutorial is starting to get old, the IFF and DL/SA integration has been added since, i plan on revisiting with a part 2 some time. But until then After watching insure you look up new tutorials on these matters from Matt Wagner ( senior developer at ed) thanks!

[@noelstephen3848]

RedKite Please make one. It’s been 9 months

[@riverafranciscojose]

Yes please! Really like the way you explain

[@yannisl8259]

please do, you explain great

[@RidingBadger]

Apparently there is a major update for the Hornet coming that will fix some bugs and add some features, perhaps that is when a new tutorial would be required?

[@jep1103]

Excellent video, very informative. Now it starts to make sense

[@gunslingersvfa-105.]

Hey redkite, we love your videos easily the best tutorial videos on KZbin so I applaude you.

[@johnnunez9295]

Another excellent video, not sure how I managed to miss it two months ago. Many thanks for putting in the work & effort.

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks John, Can probably blame youtube's algorithm for that one :)

[@Relax2437]

Very informative video, learned allot new stuff . I like how you highlight the tings you talk about on the video. Allot of work has gone in making this excellent video, Thank You :)

[@yamabushi170]

Thanks so much for this excellent primer on the F18 radar!

[@xmlthegreat]

This is somewhat ASMR-like haha.

[@killswitch6673]

I just learned a whole time watching ur vids keep up the great work I subbed. Thanks for keeping it real and eazy. Ur different from the rest. Great work

[@slyderace]

BEST Radar explanation video I've seen so far!! :D

[@jrl2363]

Red Kite - best of the best!

[@access_denied1082]

one of the best dcs f1\8 tutoriale ever!

[@hh1n]

Good video, pretty in depth and covers about everything. One note, the higher the PRF the lower the detection range. As radar targets are identified by a return, the shorter amount of time in between radar pulses means the detection period is shorter, as the detection period is limited to the time in between pulses. If a target is beyond the unambiguous range, or the maximum return range per the pulse interval, it can provide a false return, though most modern systems have the ability to filter inaccurate return information. I've never played DCS so I've no idea if this is accurately modeled.

[@Wikkus]

Excellent work as always; great annotations/highlighting. Thank you!

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Wikkus! I'm experimenting with the highlights, got tired of waving my mouse cursor around!

[@richardfoster8484]

I agree with JRL your information is the best of the best THNX

[@GoosewithTwoOs]

5:50 "RAID - The RAID mode provides the capability to resolve closely spaced targets through doppler beam sharpening (DBS) techniques. It is only accessible from the STT and TWS modes."

[@sharonbh]

Great tutorial video Thank you for taking the time of making and sharing it with us

[@MarkShawMedia]

Excellent clarity and simplicity to your narration!

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks MV Shaw, i'l be doing an update to the radar as a few things have been added. At some point in the future, until then i'd recommend you look at Matt Wagner's channel (senior producer at eagle dynamics) Where he has covered the new additions a bit.

[@MarkShawMedia]

@@RedKiteRender Thanks

[@MarkShawMedia]

@@RedKiteRender Sounds good. Btw, how to land at runways without using TACAN?? I can't seem to find an answer anywhere out there on this topic.

[@jpwalden4589]

Excellent tutorial and very well done. Thanks for sharing.

[@Bearfight]

Perfect tutorial. I now understand Attack radar better than i have this last 5 months of having the 18.

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Vicious! Theres been a few additions to the radar since this was recorded, specifically basic colour display and bullseye, i'l be covering them somepoint in the future, but for now i've got something exciting on the way.

[@anthonyelias2030]

Thank you for the excellent tutorial, RK.

[@Primaate]

Actually a very clean and informative tutorial. 10/10

[@RedKiteRender]

Cheers Calmfocustruth!

[@dpierron]

Another excellent video ; thanks a lot for all this hard work !

[@md11x6]

Thanks for a great tutorial video. Very informative.

[@man_vs_life]

It's a complex subject. TY for the clear explantion.

[@reimusklinsman5876]

I really liked the overview at the end

[@DD-sw1dd]

Excellent job. Clear and concise. Subbed

[@SsgtHolland]

Excellent summary again!

[@ATP-Flo]

Awesome video! Great stuff here!

[@nightoddity]

excellent video, I look forward to the update!

[@frankconte264]

great tutorial, I'm new to dis and this was extremely helpful

[@GrowlingSidewinder]

nice video buddy. thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@RedKiteRender]

Cheers Sidewinder

[@wiggles7172]

@@RedKiteRender I love how you top content producers back each other!! Nice work fellas

[@kwisatzhaderach1458]

You have great tutorials

[@Tarkalark]

very information dense video; the highlighting cues were helpful :)

[@mobilityscooter7587]

Thanks for this. Total beginner here learning

[@dreamCatV6]

dude, you just answered soooo many questions.

[@CameTo]

Great tutorial - maybe worth mentioning as a in depth tutorial on radar, the radar elevation controls as opposed to number of bars (usually bound to hotas axis on throttle) to adjust the pitch at which radar scans, useful if you're within 40nm of target with a huge difference in altitude.

[@RedKiteRender]

I'd covered the elevation control in the hotas section, the earlier configuration segment is focused more to the onscreen setup, Perhaps i should of made a quick mention then too. Thanks!

[@chrisoz4929]

Excellent Brief. Thanks mate

[@TheDisabledGamersChannel]

This is a magnificent video, well done.............Subbed.

[@johngisbourne7197]

absolutely perfect tutorial, thank you very much for all the work

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks John :)

[@Peter-ew2le]

perfect introduction!! +1 sub. you people make yt an awesome place. keep it up!

[@SteonCZ]

Very good tutorial. Thank you very much.

[@bmbpdk]

Superb tutorial sir!

[@mirtaet123]

Little correction to your amazing video. Nose of a plane is not "at the bottom in the center" of a scope. Actually the whole bottom side of a scope is the nose. To see the real radar beam cone just imagine you squeeze bottom side into one center point. That makes understanding of target directions much easier. Normalized square scope just shows better resolution at close distances.

[@RedKiteRender]

That is true, in that 0nm would be the same location regardless of angle, but generally speaking it'l be left or right of the nose itself in normal combat distances, if you've got an aircraft so close as to take up that space you've got bigger problems :)

[@SuperMcfly12]

Excellent video! 10/10

[@Zadren]

Great vid. Thank you. I will be referring to it often, no doubt.

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Tangible!

[@jaybeckman3749]

Very, very well done (As usual!)

[@RedKiteRender]

Cheers Jay!

[@colmillo65]

Thank you very much, very good video. So useful

[@duria0115]

Hi, I have added Koran subtitle. and again, thank you for your gorgeous video!

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks again Taeseon, i'l get that approved!

[@Ghost08151]

Thanks for the summary.

[@jimhinkle7245]

Thank you for your videos.

[@ON-O]

Please do update this superb tutorial to include new features!

[@_whatthefacts_]

WACQ is currently implemented at least partially. auto acquisition works for a 4 bar search 10nm in front of you.

[@jefftucker7236]

great tutorial. i wish my Google assistant had your voice. :)

[@nickgrey582]

World class Thank you sir. Nick

[@charlesmagrin6260]

pretty useful thank you!

[@greeksalad84]

great tutorials sir ! thanks alot.

[@RedKiteRender]

You're welcome Greeksalad.

[@alecisla]

Definitely subscribing to your channel, your videos are AMAZINGLY GOOD!!! By far the best-well explained-in depth-straight to the point videos I've seen on KZbin! And I was watching the GR "tutorials"!?!?!?! LOL Thank you so so much for your videos and your channel! You should get a job at ED and be the "Oficial Tutorial Maker"... if that exists... :)

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Ale Cisla Welcome! I hope you find my other videos just as helpful.

[@alecisla]

@@RedKiteRender Yes, definitely! I'm watchin all of them and learning a lot... by the way, do you have a new video, or are planning to make one, about all of this topics, as most of the functions on the radar you showed here are now available? Thank you for your reply and good work!

[@RedKiteRender]

@@alecisla Yes, i plan on re-visiting the radar with a part 2, covering the new features. Although it'l be a while yet, very busy at the moment.

[@alecisla]

@@RedKiteRender Take your time and don't worry, we know that when it's done, it will be a very good tutorial! Ta.

[@khamul6976]

Great video!!

[@resisthouse]

Another diamond, cheers!

[@iainbradford4254]

Thanks so much, a very thorough video.....excellent help to the noobs like me.

[@RedKiteRender]

You're welcome :)

[@Fercyful]

The best!

[@ADorssers]

Thank you so much!

[@archon888]

Very helpful, gracias

[@VeroloxLP]

Hey @Redkite I absolutely love your tutorial, ive searched a while for a good one cause people tend to trashtalk but you kept it short but still informative. But what about making an updated version? Your video seems to be quite outdated as so many more functions have been added, for instance TWS and LTWS. Id love to see an up to date version of this tutorial from you!

[@ninegravity2275]

A good lesson

[@t_strong_shark1801]

Love the video! Very informational and understandable for dumbasses like my self :D. With the addition of DL however the radar has some more levels of complexity so if you could update this video with a short additional video that would be amazing :). Keep up the amazing videos you are my main source of Knowledge

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks! I plan on doing a part 2 sometime in the future, just got to find the time, have other priorities at the moment!

[@bobik4581]

Nice video. :D

[@alcmann]

Excellent and thanks again for creating this. Any way to to an update or pt2 with some of the latest updates we have had the last year?

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm planning on re-visiting it with a part 2 when the Track while scan mode is added to the sim.

[@alcmann]

@@RedKiteRender excellent! Thanks for the reply

[@stephanejulien116]

Very interresting ! Now i have a question...Last night i tryed to lock an iarcraft at 10 miles from me and my radar was always locking another aircraft at 50 miles... Why it never locked the one at 10 miles ? Bad setting of my radar ? I hope you will telling me what i'm doing wrong !!! Continue your very good job sir !!

[@WarriorPleb]

have a new sub cheers

[@KENNYB322]

I just finished watching your excellent presentation on the F-18 radar. I don't know how you move the TDC, what I tried and it worked where the following keys , . / ; I then assigned it to my SALTEK X52 second hat and it worked. When I went back into the program for some reason neither the keyboard nor the joystick would move the cursor on the radar screen. Could you please explain why it would work it sometimes and other times not. I've checked the web and there seems to be some confusion amongst the people how exactly to program their joystick for the TDC. Thank you again for your time and effort I really enjoy your videos.

[@RedKiteRender]

,./; are the slew keys, bind the tdc slew controls associated with those to your hotas, or use the tdc axis found in the axis menu. in order to control the cursor on the radar display it needs to be focused with the sensor control switch, that little diamond top right will be present if it's focused

[@Harker_N]

Great video! Covers pretty much all there was to cover at the time of recording. I only have one question. If I change my azimuth coverage (20, 40 etc), the radar cone is centered on the radar centre and not my TDC, like yours. Any ideas?

[@RedKiteRender]

I'm not certain, if you lock then unlock it'l normally happen, not sure if it's intended behaviour or not, the radar is still a little rough round the edges.

[@Harker_N]

@@RedKiteRender Not for me and some others I asked about it, although some do have this behavior. For me, if I unlock, the TDC goes back to the top left corner (annoying) and the radar resumes the previous search pattern, centered at 0. True though, the radar is very much WIP.

[@numbers111222]

9:35 how did you get the narrow sweep to scan off center? I can only make it scan centered at 0 degrees from my heading.

[@Nanne118]

An excellent and detailed video for the (current) implementation of the F-18C Radar systems! Might I also suggest to the use of the radar Unity applet made by the folks of TAW for the DCS F-15? Although not quite similar to the format of the F18C radar scope, there are enough similarities to visualize the concepts of scanned airspace, radar elevation, and radar ranging? The app can be found at tawdcs.org/radar-f15/

[@RedKiteRender]

Thanks Nanne! That's a pretty nifty visualiser, shame it doesn't cover bar and sweep times.

[@iainbradford4254]

Just found the radar App - thanks Nanne118 :-)

[@initialhunter7]

What Hotas do you use? I have a warthog. But I'm having trouble finding out what to put for the buttons. I've looked around for profiles but have had no luck finding one that works as I believe is intended for this aircraft. Great video btw. Very informative!

[@RedKiteRender]

I use a Warthog Hotas with a 10cm extension on the stick. I'd recommend you stop relying on profiles for your controls and get familiar with binding them yourself, this lets you tailor them to your likes and helps reinforce what key does what. I've a video specifically about all the important hotas controls on the hornet, with descriptions of what they do intended to help with just that :) : kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3yvo6GApchrf5Y Personally i bind my controls as a mixture of what im used to (a-10c) and how the actual hotas is set up.

[@juancruz8190]

awesome! i'll check it out thanks for the reply!

[@martinsaviationlife2690]

Can you tell me what you mean by on my throttle. There are like 6 buttons on my throttle and they are in a row. I already have all of them mapped to gear, flaps and fuel probe

[@niceguyman1671]

This is the boys version of ASMR

[@doctorspin]

Hello RedKite. Are you using TM warthog? If so can you please share with me your pitch and roll axis tune values? Are you keeping them at default or are you putting some curvature

[@RedKiteRender]

I use a modified TM warthog, It's got a 10cm extension on the stick. I use a curve or roughly 20 on both axis.

[@Lb8068]

I fucking love you.