Radar and Detection Systems Guide

[AlasdhairM1 0]

Hey everyone! I'm a bit of a newcomer here, but I'm loving the SF2 series. I've downloaded quite a few of the aircraft here, particularly American aircraft. SF2 is definetly not my first sim/sim-lite (I started off with X-Plane 8.5ish, and wrote a decoupled flight control system based on the AFTI/F-16 program for X-Plane 10), and I was hoping to replicate some more advanced aircraft radars, like the Raytheon APG-63(V)2/3, APG-70, or APG-79, or the fabled and somewhat fictional Tomcat AESA, conjectured for the F-14E Super-Tomcat 21/ASF-14 programs. Unfortunately, there is no guide to the variable names in either the [RadarData] block of <aircraft>_avionics or [DetectSystem] block of <aircraft>_data mean and do. My thinking in creating this thread is to change that, to create a resource on the detection systems, mostly radar, that can be quickly and easily referenced. I'm going to put the 's [RadarData] and [DetectSystem] blocks below to help with this.

 

 

[DetectSystem]

 

Radar Type:

 

AIR_INTERCEPT

A fighter radar capable of searching for, tracking, and guiding air-to-air missiles. Probably. 

 

NAV/ATTACK

A navigation/attack radar like the H2X/APS-15 of WWII fame. It will hopefully show you a reasonably detailed map of where you are, highlighting notable features like cities and bodies of water.

 

[RadarData]

 

Modes: 

 

SEARCH

Volume search: Scans the maximum azimuth probably in a fairly small angle of elevation.

TWS

Track While Scan: Simultaneously tracks targets and scans for more. Often scans a smaller volume. 

STT

Single Target Track: Tracks a single target. Largely superseded by TWS.

ACM

Air Combat Mode (possibly "boresight"): Vertically scans along the boresight and automatically locks onto a target. Useful in knife-fight situations.

TV

TV (optical scanner -- TV/IR guided weapons): An electro-optical visual or infra-red camera; not IRIST

GM

GM (in SF2, Ground Map - in sf1, was Ground_Map: Ground-mapping radar, often for navigation. 

[DetectSystem]
ReferenceName=AN/APG-71 <Clearly the name of the radar, but does it have any outside meaning?>
RadarType=AIR_INTERCEPT <What are the other types of radar?>
RadarFamilyName=F-14 <What does this do?>
RangeUnit=NM
RadarAzimuthLimit=85 <Degrees from CL?>
RadarElevationLimit=55 <Degrees from CL?>
RadarSearchTime=1.0 <What does this do?>
RadarSearchRange=230 <Nautical miles, I presume. I think there is a thread that states that this is for detecting a 10m^2 target>
RadarSearchStrength=230 <Is this an actual unit, or a relative thing?>
RadarTrackRange=230 <I presume this is the max targeting range in nautical miles>
RadarTrackStrength=230 <
RadarTrackTime=2.0 <Lockup time?>
DopplerLookdown=TRUE <Look-down shoot-down capability, methinks>
VisualBlindArc=5,6,7 <Probably cockpit view. May be for AI use.>
VisualRestrictedArc=4L,8L <What does this do?>
MaxVisibleDistance=8400.0 
RadarSearchFreq=9.8 <What flavor of hertz is this in? The APG-71 is a I/J band radar, or X-band depending on which system you use, which is 8.0-12.0 GHz>
RadarTrackFreq=9.8 <See above>
RadarMissileGuidanceFreq=6.2 <See above>
RadarSearchCW=FALSE <Continuous wave?>
RadarTrackCW=FALSE <Continuous wave?>
RadarMissileGuidanceCW=TRUE <Continuous wave?>
BaseRCSModifier=0.9 <I presume that this is for the aircraft>
ReferenceName=AN/ALR-67 "COMPASS GO" 0.5-20 GHz <RWR system>
HasRWR=TRUE <Boolean to determine existence of RWR>
RWRMinFreq=0.5 <Min RWR detection freq.>
RWRMaxFreq=20.0 <Max RWR detection freq.>
RWRCanDetectCW=TRUE <Can RWR detect continuous wave>

[RadarData]
AvailableModes=SEARCH,TWS,STT,ACM,TV <Radar modes. Need to determine all possible modes>
RangeUnit=NM <Somewhat self explanatory. Nautical miles>
RangeSetting[1]=5
RangeSetting[2]=10
RangeSetting[3]=20
RangeSetting[4]=50
RangeSetting[5]=100
RangeSetting[6]=230
RangeSetting[7]=400 <Is there a maximum number of settings?>
RadarPosition= <What does this do?>
MaxElevationAngle= 60 <Presumably up from the aircraft CL>
MinElevationAngle=-60 <Presumably down from the aircraft CL>
MaxAzimuthAngle=85 <Presumably off CL>
MinAltitude=15.0 <Meters?>
MaxAltitude=24384.0 <Meters?>
BoresightElevation=0.0 <Relative to Aircraft C/L?>
BoresightAzimuth=0.0 <Relative to Aircraft C/L?>
MinReturn=0.01 <I think this is minimum return to be detected in m^2, but it could easily also be in db or something>
MinimumSpeed=32.41 <Speed gate, need to determine unit>
SearchRange=230 <Nautical miles>
SearchStrength=200 <Unit?>
TrackRange=230 <Nautical Miles?>
TrackStrength=200 <Unit?>
TWSUpdateTime=2.0 <Unit? Seconds seems rather slow.>
AcquisitionSymbolSpeed=1.0 <I think this is how fast the little cursor on the radar screen moves>
AcquisitionResetPosX=0.5 <default cursor position>
AcquisitionResetPosY=0.2 <ditto as above>
AcquisitionResetTime=5.0 <I think this is how long the cursor remains idle before resetting to the default pos.>
DisplayLimitLeft=10 <display size?>
DisplayLimitRight=240 <As above>
DisplayLimitTop=10 <As above>
DisplayLimitBottom=240 <As above>
StartRangeSetting=4 <default range setting>

[RadarDisplaySearch]
RangeSetting=1,2,3,4,5,6,7 <Allowed range settings in search mode>
BarElevation[1]=1.50 <Elevation bar scanned in order>
BarElevation[2]=-0.50 <As above>
BarElevation[3]=0.50 <As above>
BarElevation[4]=-1.50 <As above>
ScanRate=120 <Scan rate in deg/sec?>
ScanBeamAngle=2.5 <Beam width in degrees?>
ScanArc=65 <angle scanned in degrees?>
PPI=TRUE <Radar has plan position indicator>
Symbol[01]=HorizonLine <Art. Horizon>
Symbol[02]=RangeScaleText <Range scale>
Symbol[03]=ElevationCaret <Elevation scan location>
Symbol[04]=AzimuthCaret <Azi. scan location>
Symbol[05]=AcquisitionSymbol <Target acquired>
Symbol[06]=TargetSearch <Dunno>
Symbol[07]=MissileSelect <Missile type selected?>
Symbol[08]=RadarModeSRC <Dunno>
Symbol[09]=TargetBearing <Relative bearing to target>
Symbol[10]=TargetClosure <Closure rate>
Symbol[11]=HomePlate <Home base?>

[RadarDisplayTWS]
RangeSetting=1,2,3,4,5,6,7
BarElevation[1]=0.75
BarElevation[2]=-0.75
ScanRate=120
ScanBeamAngle=2.5
ScanArc=60
PPI=TRUE
Symbol[01]=HorizonLine
Symbol[02]=RangeScaleText
Symbol[03]=ElevationCaret
Symbol[04]=AzimuthCaret
Symbol[05]=TargetTWS
Symbol[06]=TargetAspect
Symbol[07]=TargetHeading
Symbol[08]=TargetTAS
Symbol[09]=TargetClosure
Symbol[10]=TargetRange
Symbol[11]=TargetAltitude
Symbol[12]=AimDot <aiming dot>
Symbol[13]=MissileSelect <Missile selected>
Symbol[14]=ShootCueTWS <Shoot cue>
Symbol[15]=BreakX <min range cue>
Symbol[16]=TargetRangeCaret
Symbol[17]=RMinCaret
Symbol[18]=RMaxCaret
Symbol[19]=AcquisitionSymbol
Symbol[20]=TargetPDT
Symbol[21]=RadarModeTWS
Symbol[22]=TargetBearing
Symbol[23]=HomePlate

[RadarDisplaySTT]
RangeSetting=1,2,3,4,5,6
ScanRate=120
ScanBeamAngle=2.5
ScanArc=20
PPI=TRUE
Symbol[01]=HorizonLine
Symbol[02]=RangeScaleText
Symbol[03]=ElevationCaret
Symbol[04]=AzimuthCaret
Symbol[05]=TargetPDT
Symbol[06]=TargetAspect
Symbol[07]=TargetHeading
Symbol[08]=TargetTAS
Symbol[09]=TargetClosure
Symbol[10]=TargetRange
Symbol[11]=TargetAltitude
Symbol[12]=AimDot
Symbol[13]=MissileSelect
Symbol[14]=ShootCueSTT
Symbol[15]=BreakX
Symbol[16]=TargetRangeCaret
Symbol[17]=RMinCaret
Symbol[18]=RMaxCaret
Symbol[19]=LockLine
Symbol[20]=RadarModeSTT
Symbol[21]=TargetBearing
Symbol[22]=HomePlate

[RadarDisplayACM]
RangeSetting=1
ScanRate=120
ScanBeamAngle=4.8
ACMMaxPitchAngle=40.0
Symbol[01]=HorizonLine
Symbol[02]=RangeScaleText
Symbol[03]=ElevationCaretACM
Symbol[04]=LockLine
Symbol[05]=RadarModeACM
Symbol[06]=HomePlate
Symbol[07]=MissileSelect
Symbol[08]=ShootCueSTT

//[RadarDisplayGM]
//PPI=TRUE
//RangeSetting=1,2,3,4
//ScanRate=110
//MapPPIArc=40
//MapBackgroundLevel=0.2
//MapHighlightLevel=0.8
//MapNoiseLevel=0.1
//GroundSearchStrength=55
//Symbol[01]=RangeScaleText
//Symbol[02]=RadarMapModeText
//Symbol[03]=ElevationCaret
//Symbol[04]=AzimuthCaret
//Symbol[05]=RadarModeGM

Can you all help me fill in the details?

Edited February 7, 2016 by AlasdhairM1

[Wrench 9,421]

THIS is a great idea! And Welcome to CombatAce!

 

I know for modes

 

Track While Scan

Single Target Track

Air Combat Mode (possibly "boresight")

TV (optical scanner -- TV/IR guided weapons)

 

also

 

GM (in SF2, Ground Map - in sf1, was Ground_Map

 

in detect system, types that I know of..off the top of my head

 

Air_Intercept

Nav/Attack  *(may have been replaced wit the following..)

Surface Attack

Ranging (ala Sabre gun ranging radar)

 

the visual blind and limited arc may be for the AI to use, but am not sure