NOTE 1. As with the real-world AH-64D, the DCS version cannot exchange data with other aircraft like the F-16C, FA-18C, and A-10C.
NOTE 2. From the RPT sub-page of the TSD, you can elect to set the REPLY to automatically (AUTO) send data that is requested of you from other network members, or you can set to OFF and manually reply with the requested data.
NOTE 3. As always, these videos provide a preview of an upcoming feature to assist you in understanding a new feature. Later, it is quite possible that the feature will change, and the feature functionality has changed. As much as I’d like to, I lack the time re-record these videos.
The first type of data to discuss is sending and receiving messages through the COM page. Select COM and then SEND from the Message (MSG) options along the bottom. We now have three options, send a text message, send current mission data, or send either Mission 1 or Mission 2 data.
To send a text message, select TEXT from the top row and then you can choose to send a Mission Planning System, or MPS, preconfigured message, or a FREE text message. To send an MPS message, select the push tile next to the message you wish to send, and then select SEND. It will then send this message to all Team members within the Gunslinger, Preset 1, network over the selected radio on the EUFD, in this case the VHF. To send a free text message, select FREE and you’ll then be able to compose a message of four lines using the keyboard unit. As you might imagine, the TEXT 1 to 4 allows you to compose each line, with a maximum of 44 characters in each line. Once satisfied with your witty message, select SEND to push over the selected radio and team member network as set on the EUFD, box.
If you wish to send over a different radio, use the rocker on the far left to move the box symbol to the radio that you wish to transmit over. Note that you will be listening on all the radios based on the selected frequencies.
If though you send a message and a recipient aircraft’s modem does not acknowledge its reception, you’ll see an XMIT NAK and the transmitting radio message on the EUFD. This means that the transmission was not acknowledged, which may be caused by terrain blocking the line-of-sight to the recipient, or if that recipient isn’t monitoring that frequency for datalink messages.
In addition to sending messages, you can also receive them. When you receive an MPS or FREE message, you’ll see a notification on the EUFD and an REC, or Receive, option will appear next to SEND within the MSG bracket on the COM page. Upon selecting REC on the COM page, the list of received messages is displayed, and you can select them to review them.
Pressing COM, we will select SEND again, but this time select Current Mission. From here, we can select our entire Waypoint and Hazard file, our entire Targets and Threats file, or our entire Control Measures file, Laser Codes, Routes, or All to our Team members on the Gunslinger network over the selected radio, in this case VHF to L1, Preset 1 Gunslinger. For example, if I have numerous Targets created, I can select TGT-THRT from our SEND Current Mission page and press SEND to provide all Target points at once to each Team member within the Gunslinger network.
The first report we’ll discuss is Present Position, or PP. This is the current location of our helicopter and those of our Primary members. As mentioned earlier, this is a static position that is not continually updated. For it to update, you’d need to send a new one that would replace the prior one. To send our PP, we select RPT, or Reports, select PP, and then select SEND to L1 over the VHF.
If wish to request a PP from our Primary members, we select Report, select PP, and at the bottom where is says MSG for Message, toggle that from SEND to Request, or RQST. As before, then press SEND and all Primary members will send you their current PP.
Before leaving Reports, one last item to note is that we can select our aircraft to automatically reply to the receipt of data by setting REPLY to AUTO, or if we want to reply to it only manually, we can set it to OFF.
Last, we can also send individual Waypoints, Hazards, Control Measures, or Target-Threat points on our TSD to Primary members. To do so, enter the TSD POINT page, select XMIT, cursor select the point you wish to send, in this case a Control Measure, select which Primary members you wish to send it to, and then press SEND. You can also manually enter the index of the point using the keyboard using the POINT option at L1 instead of selecting it with the cursor.
If we receive a point, we’ll see a white REC on the left side of the TSD. If we select to receive that point from within the REC list, upon which pressing displays point on our TSD.
6 окт 2023
