Hello.
Ive figured out the tacan stuff. Since the icp is preset with the homeplate tacan, i usuly input the alternate landing field data on the backup panel and if i have to divert, i switch to backup and the system will use that setting instead, correct?
About the radio.
When i press com1 (or com2), the ded shows a page where all i can do is press up/down and change between channel 1-7.
But when i return the DED to default, the UHF and VHF still shows the same names (package/guard). And no matter what i change them to, the names stay the same and i recon im still on he same channels. The only difference is that if i enter and return from, for example com1, the ded shows UHF at the top row. If i enter and return from com2, it changes and VHF is displayed at top.
The DED pages opened by the Comm1 and Comm2 round buttons are
N/I (Not Implemented -- fake pages).
But the buttons themselves do have the effect of swicthing place of the UHF (Comm1) and VHF (Comm2) channels,
as you in fact noticed.
Is this to indicate which com (com1 or com2) is the send/receive and which is just receive?
Nope.
You answer yourself with your next statement, quoted below:
Sometimes, also, while messing with these things it seems ive messed up the volumes for com1 and com2 because the one with lower stting will have higher volume and the opposite.
That's the effect of switching place of Comm1 and Comm2 in the DED. The channel listed up top in the DED has its
own volume setting. Same goes for the radio channel listed in the middle row. More on this near the end of the post.
Please open your F4AFManual.pdf -- page 403 -- Chapter 20: The ICP and DED
Before we continue, spend a minute to read the use of the ICP buttons and switches.
The
Communication, Navigation And Identification (CNI) Page section on page
406 is the one.
Done? Okay.
You change radio frequency like this:
- Use DCS RETURN to get back to the CNI page.
- Use the DCS UP (or DCS DOWN to go the other way) to move the selector next to the radio frequency you
want to change. - Use the PREV or NEXT arrow buttons to cycle the selected Channel till it shows the frequency you want.
NOTE: On page 404 the
Override Buttons paragraph is incorrect.
Pressing either COM button makes that channel the talk radio on which you will both transmit and receive. The active channel is designated by a small square to the right of the COMM label on the DED.
There's no
<< small square to the right of >> whatever.
And when you trasmit something you don't talk with what the DED says. Instead you talk with whichever *receiver*
you picked when bringing up the TAB menu -- be this the ATC Tower, the AWACS, your Wingman, Element 2...
The frequency selected in your radio channels only affect which sources you _receive_ from.
Some examples:
- Flight : you only hear transmissions from your own Wingmates. Should there be any other allied plane in the
vicinity you wouldn't hear what they say. - Package : you hear the comms coming from all wings (including your own) having a role in your mission.
- Prox : you hear from any good guy around you within 40.0 nm. Past that distance the radio is mute (useful
when surfing deep into hostile territory, hearing over the Prox channel means you aren't completely alone). - Guard : you hear from any good guy anywhere, but of course the most distant transmissions will have bad
quality (speaking of quality, the UHF channel -Comm1- is the one best suited to receive from the Guard and
Package frequencies. Of course you're free to set whichever frequency on whichever channel).
Regardless of the frequencies you pick, the ATC Tower and the AWACS will _always_ be heard from.
So what's the purpose of a
Tower frequency if you can always hear from ATC anyway? If you set Comm2 to the
Tower frequency, and Comm1 to Off, you effectively filter out anything that isn't from the ATC. That's desirable when
you're landing, because you don't want other people's chatter to delay ATC's instructions for you. Only the AWACS
will be able to kick in, regardless.
CAVEAT: Look into the instruments panel where the JFS switch is. Below the JFS you find a big knob labeled
UHF.
It has four positions:
Off,
Main,
Both,
ADF, but you can only set it to
Main or
Both.
By default it's set to Main.
If you set it to Both you lose the ability to change radio frequency until you set it back to Main. This is undocumented
behavior. Be as it may, you have no reason to touch that knob, ever. Just remember what happens if you do.
In the
Audio1 panel (next to the UHF knob of above) you have several knobs, four of which labeled:
Comm1,
Comm2,
MSL, and
Threat. They control the volumes of the radio and a few alarms you can hear in the cockpit.
With regard to the
Comm1 and
Comm2 knobs, their behavior isn't exactly the one you anticipate. The Comm1 knob
changes the volume of the radio channel listed *first* in the DED (in the upper row), which isn't necessarily Comm1.
Similarly, the Comm2 knob changes the volume of the other radio channel (listed in the middle DED row), which may
not be Comm2. That's why when you press the Comm1 or Comm2 override buttons in the ICP, and the radio channels
switch place, you can notice an instant change in their audio volumes.
TIP: When flying a multi-wings package, you may want to keep the Comm1 (UHF) channel set to Package, and the
Comm2 (VHF) channel set to Flight. Since the messages from your own wingmates are more important, you may
want to set the Comm2 volume louder than the Comm1 volume. That way, when you hear something, you immediately
know if it's from your wing, even before you hear their designation.
Every little bit helps when you've got to think fast
That being said, suit yourself.
I hope this helps you.
