F18 BCN: error in wiki, or bug in simulator?

1st Official Post

    Hi!

    In this page of the wiki https://www.aerofly.com/dokuwiki/doku.php/aircraft:f18, when explaining the BCN feature of the UFC in the F18, it says:

    Quote

    Beacon

    A radio beacon can also be tuned with the up front controller (UFC).

    • Press the BCN button on the UFC
    • Type in the frequency, e.g. 3850 for 385.0 kHz. Note that the dot position is displayed, make sure to enter the right amount of zeros.
    • Press enter to activate the frequency.
    • Turn the system on with the ON/OFF button

    The HSI should then display a bearing needle towards the beacon

    This isn't right, it mixes the functionality of ADF with that of the Radar Beacon.

    The functionality of tuning into a radio beacon and showing a bearing needle pointing towards it, is ADF. ADF is activated by tuning into the beacon frequency with one of the two radios, and then activating it with the ADF switch to the left side of the UFC (choosing the radio to use):

    The UFC BCN page instead, allows you to configure a beacon that is emitted from the F18 itself, and is used by the aircraft carrier to track the plane when approaching for landing.

    I don't know if this is just a mistake in the wiki, or if this is a bug in the simulator, otherwise I would just propose the change in the wiki.

    I can't test it myself because I don't own AeroflyFS, I just got here by reading stuff about the F18 :) (I do use other simulators, I should try this one some day!).


    • Official Post

    I may have misinterpreted something there. I can easily make the current UFC page appear when you set the ADF switch.

    And I guess I then have to find out what the BCN page should actually look like :)

    The wiki describes the current implementation. So the wiki is technically correct but the implementation needs to be changed and of course then the wiki needs to be updated.

    Has the F-18 ADF been revised to match the real world procedure? I cannot reliably tune it using the wiki page method.

    I cannot make it take the decimal point when entering a frequency, for example for 224.0 at Phoenix I just get 1750.0 when I input 2240 and press enter.

    The ON/OFF switch does not seem to work if BCN is selected. Having the ADF switch on either radio or off does not make a difference. Having the radios on a channel or M does not make a difference.

    Edited 3 times, last by Overloaded (December 13, 2020 at 2:01 PM).

    • Official Post
    Quote from Overloaded

    Has the F-18 ADF been revised to match the real world procedure? I cannot reliably tune it using the wiki page method.

    I cannot make it take the decimal point when entering a frequency, for example for 224.0 at Phoenix I just get 1750.0 when I input 2240 and press enter.

    The ON/OFF switch does not seem to work if BCN is selected. Having the ADF switch on either radio or off does not make a difference. Having the radios on a channel or M does not make a difference.

    On my developer version this has been adjusted. It's not live yet though.

    Thanks Jan, I find the current method a bit frustrating, it works sometimes! It might have used VOR (carrier) frequencies at one stage.

    Perhaps there is a clash with the Aerofly TACAN tuning in VORs as well as just TACANs and DMEs?

    Just found it works with NDB frequencies (only) if the decimal point values are left out eg. Enter 224 for SDI near Phoenix. It does not work with VOR carrier frequencies in ADF mode. The wiki is not correct at this time.

    Edited 2 times, last by Overloaded (December 13, 2020 at 9:50 PM).