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 Largely superseded by TWS.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?