Understanding the radar

[ryanbatcund]

Very neat addition...  the radar is probably overlooked by a lot of people, but it is very detailed, for an FS addon hehe

I have a few questions about the buttons.  I labeled them on this image.  I already know what 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 do.

I sorta figured out what 6 and 7 do, but not exactly how they do it... 

what does button 3 do?

I need some help with the radar symbolgy...  What do the numbers when I ID a target mean?  0.4 and 9?  does that mean 4000ft and 90 kts?  what about the numbers on the side of the radar mfd?  30.1?

I like how you can change the azimuth of the radar sweep, that is sooooo awesome!

Thanks for any tips!

[ILove2Fly]

Ryan, for those of us, like me, could you put up that screen shot again but with a detailed description of all the buttons that you labeled that you know what they do?  It would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks.  Paul

[ryanbatcund]

Sure!

1 = menu, access to the other screens
2 = radar sweep azimuth (angle in degrees, watch the vertical bar sweep left and right when you change it)
3 = I dont know yet
4 = increase radar range
5 = decrease ""
6 = not sure, but somehow it locks the nearest target
7 = same but in the opposite order I think
8 = contrast, drag it with the mouse button (hold it down)
9 = brightness ""
10 = day/auto/night mode, quick change for brightness levels, click and drag

[ILove2Fly]

Excellent!  Thanks a bunch Ryan.

[virtuali]

I sorta figured out what 6 and 7 do, but not exactly how they do it...

They lock to the next visible target, in up or down direction.

what does button 3 do?

In the real radar, it changes the vertical sweep pattern of the antenna. Here's it's just for cosmetic purposes...

I need some help with the radar symbolgy...  What do the numbers when I ID a target mean?  0.4 and 9?  does that mean 4000ft and 90 kts?

Nope. Left number is Mach N. of the target, right number is absolute target altitude in thousands of feet. In this case, it was flying at Mach 0.4, at 9000 feets.

what about the numbers on the side of the radar mfd?  30.1?

That was reading -30.1. It's the altitude *differential* from the target, in thousands of feets. Since you were flying at 39000 feets and the target was at 9000, the differential was -30100, negative numbers indicates the target is below you.

Also, note the caret range symbol > on the right side of the screen, It's a visual representation of the target range, relative to the current scale. So, in this example, since you had the range set a 40, and the range symbol was slightly more than half screen, it was indicatin the target was at about 22 nm from you.

[ryanbatcund]

AWESOME! 

Thanks, I love that radar!

[nxconvict]

yes thanks for the Q&A's

[BlakTiger47]

Yeah really thanks i never would have even seen there was a radar if u guys hadnt talked about it. this forum has shown me alot of stuff i wouldnt have noticed. i have another question though. what does the RWS button and the button with (^in that picture^) M 1.1 above it mean?

[chupaflier]

Help on the button you labeled #3

It is similar to the azimuth control but vertically: in other words, it increases the area scanned by the radar antenna in the vertical direction. It reads 1B because that is the default setting(1 Bar) but you can go up to 6 Bars, which you may have to do if you are tracking a target that is too high or too low from you aircraft's nose.

[virtuali]

what does the RWS button and the button with (^in that picture^) M 1.1 above it mean?

The RWS it's just an indication of the radar mode (Range While Scan), it's the only mode we simulated so, it's not a button (it it was, it would have been a vertical label in that position), just a static text label.

The M 1.1 on the lower left, it's the Mach you are flying at.

The button labeled with "3" that shows 1B it's the beam vertical pattern selection. It can change, but we don't simulate the effect internally, so it's there just for completeness sake.

[chupaflier]

Virtualy:

Any word on implementing TWS(track while scan) radar mode? That is really useful when "meeting" friends in the air as it would allow the pilot to track the  leader pf the pack you intend to join while still scanning the rest airplanes in the flight group.

[virtuali]

I would like to remind to everyone, that any possible patch or improvement to any part of Acceleration, has to be decided and approved by Microsoft, as they see fit.

[chupaflier]

Referring to the picture posted above of the radar MFD I have some questions.
There are two carets( a "<" and a ">" ) on either side of the big square that encompasses the radar.

Here is how I understand the one on the right: I think I'm right but please read and correct me.
It indicates the range to target according to the selected radar range which is set with buttons 4 and 5. In this picture, range is set at 40, so since the caret is positioned slightly above the grid line that marks the half of the radar otter line, it would indicate the target to be at a bit more than 20 miles away.

Left side:
I'm lost here. The caret is positioned exactly next to the grid line indicating half of the radar range but it has a "30.1" number on it. What is that value? 

[virtuali]

ìI'm lost here. The caret is positioned exactly next to the grid line indicating half of the radar range but it has a "30.1" number on it. What is that value? 

Already replied above:

That was reading -30.1. It's the altitude *differential* from the target, in thousands of feets. Since you were flying at 39000 feets and the target was at 9000, the differential was -30100, negative numbers indicates the target is below you.

[fael097]

btw whats the '040' just below the 1b?