radar

[rAaR]

is there a altitude limit to the fs4j radar lock? i cant seem to ever get my radar to acquire a lock on anyone below like 1500m meanwhile im getting radar locked by russian aircraft at tree level.

is it an aircraft limitation?
are my keybinds fked?

i currently have all 8 radar keybind options bound, i've tried in the search mode, the automatic acquire mode thing, and the hmd option while spamming the radar lock button and nothing. fkn hemorrhaging silver lions trying to get this ♥♥♥♥ spaded and my will to try to push for the f16/f14 is waning quickly.

[Jaes]

No, there isn't. You're more than likely just picking bad targets to try to lock or aren't using the right mode.

For targets that are being obscured by ground returns from radar, you'll want to use PD, or Pulse Doppler mode. This mode makes it so that your radar can determine what is a static object or a moving object. Like a jet going at sub sonic/mach speeds on the deck.

However, how the radar mode figures this out is based on whether or not the target is moving towards you or moving away from you. If the target is perpendicular to your radar dish, it won't be able to acquire a lock against it, or even see it in most cases on your radar scope.

The best target to try to lock is a target moving towards you, essentially Head On, hence the PD HDN (Pulse Doppler, Head On) mode. Targets moving away from you are sketchy to lock and it's better to use SRC mode in that scenario if you can manage it. A nice tip in that regard is to try to fly lower than the target you're trying to lock so that your radar looks up and away from the ground. That's the best sight picture for a radar lock in SRC mode at low altitudes.

The easiest radar mode to use to get a lock overall is using ACM mode. The AN/APG-59 radar can acquire a lock in ACM against a target is 19km and is one of the farthest ACM locking modes any jet has a available. To put that in perspective, the F-14 can only lock up to 9km away in ACM. Switch your radar to ACM, put the target on your nose, get an easy lock (permitting you keep in mind the strengths and weaknesses of PD vs SRC).

If you're not using ACM mode to acquire the lock (say for instance, you want to lock up a target that's 50-60 degrees off your nose and don't want to hard pitch onto them quite yet) there's a couple things you need to keep in mind. Radars essentially have a refresh rate depending on how long it takes them to sweep the radar beam from one side of your radar scope to the other.

Now, when you're trying to lock up a target that you see on your radar scope, consider this when attempting the lock: How long has it been since your radar beam passed over the potential target? One, two, maybe three seconds? If the target is moving, is it going to be in the same spot where the radar thinks it is?

Extremely unlikely unless they're coming on to you head on so you need to wait for your radar to update your potential target's position before attempting a lock, ideally right when the beam passes over the target as that will be the most up to date target data for the radar to lock on. Potential targets can move outside of your radar's capture beam depending on what they're doing and if they're not in the position your radar thinks they should be, it will fail to lock. Or lock something you don't want it to.

You can help mitigate the lag time on your radar scope by narrowing your sweep angles, but this will also blinders on you as you will only see what comes within your narrowed radar sweep. In most cases, you might as well switch to ACM at that point if you're going to need to narrow your scope anyways.

Hope this helps out a bit with the issue you're running into. The F-4J has a very good radar system, but you need to know the ins and outs of it to get the most of it.

[rAaR]

Originally posted by Jaes:

i love you