There still seems to be a lot of minor issues with Simple Radio.

I feel a bit of background knowledge may help some and also, I have made a rough video with a complete installation and TEST sequence to give some help.  

As a side note I don't really like making videos so it is not enjoyment - I'd rather be flying with the rest of you but there you go, I volunteered to do it and but hey, it's nice to help rather than moan (do I moan? HaHA)

If there is a demand I will prepare and run some practice sessions using radios in simulated net conditions with formation flight and multi radio use, but only if there is a demand so let me know.

I have spoken to Xtra regarding this and any lesson plan will be passed by him before implementation.

So here's a little background before the video, for what it s worth..

Radio, a form of electromagnetic radiation propagated from one point to another.  

In RL radio communication effectiveness is influenced by many things such as water vapour,  and ionisation.  The path taken from one radio to another can be direct, (line of site) over the horizon compliments of the ionosphere or even reflection from meteors colliding with the earth’s atmosphere and of course they are  affected by other reflection, refraction, diffraction, absorption, polarization, and scattering.

In RL radiated power, antennae gain, method of modulation (Frequency - FM or  Amplitude - AM, frequency (VHF or UHF) Weather, terrain and topography all affect effective communication.

DCS Simple Radio currently uses Line of Sight only.

With the curvature of the earth 2 people with hand held radios will have an effective range of around 5 – 6 miles if only Line of Sight is considered.  Throw in some of the influencing factors mentioned above and this distance can be considerably extended or reduced.  It is not uncommon to achieve 20 miles point to point over water from sea level with a low power handheld but if your standing behind a steel wall?

Simple Radio currently uses line of sight and distance calculations to determine effective radio communication.   To replicate RL to some degree an additional figure is added to aircrafts height in the calculation to mimic reflection etc…

In RL radio waves travel through various mediums (water, air, earth etc) to go from point to point.

Simple Radio goes through the Internet.  Internet Protocol (IP) uses TCP and UDP protocols for sending packets of data from point to point.  Without going into geek, TCP is reliable and has error checking  with resends if there are collisions or whatever… UDP send packets of info just like TCP but bins the error checking, if it gets there fine, if not, tough.  Speed is the key…

For SR  40ms of audio is compressed into a packet and sent every 20ms.  If these packets are received are out of order by much they are discarded.  If they are not received at all SR will fill the gap with silence.  If your audio is stuttering or warbling that’s why.

Do not expect SR to be as effective as commercial VOIP communications, error checking and compilation will not be the same.

The internet is a huge multi national highway, accidents, road works, collisions and congestion at peak time happens..

v229th AHB is international.  

If your audio quality is good do not expect other people in different countries to be the same, it may differ.

If 2 aircraft do not have line of sight (low level flight, valleys, mountains etc) do not expect communications.

In RL with the radios installed in the UH-1h, communication is Simplex.  If you are transmitting you cannot hear.  I you are listening and 2 other craft transmit on the same frequency you may hear 1 but not the other, or both with differing strengths or just garbage.

By comparison, the telephone is Duplex, as is Teamspeak, you can hear and talk at the same time.

SR is Simplex.  With SR if 2 people transmit at the same time you can cancel one another out.
So with Simplex listen, then speak….  

If you are not experienced in using radios their use can be difficult – thats why ‘over’ ‘out’ ‘wilco’ etc and their procedures of use were introduced.

With the Huey there are 3 radios.  You may be expected to use all 3 at the same time in certain circumstances, one for your flight, one for command and one for ground to air for example.

This is difficult and takes practice.

Changing frequencies on any radio and maintaining all net discipline whilst flying in a straight line is difficult, keeping formation at the same time is extremely difficult. real life Hueys have 2 pilots, DCS has 1 and a cheat AP...

In the proposed MQT - Communication Skills - how many of you are fully competent in 9.2.4 & 9.2.5,  I know I’m not…  

9.1.Objective: The pilot will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate effectively as a member
of a flight and solo if in the vicinity of other aircraft.
9.2.Competences expected: The Pilot will demonstrate
9.2.1. 229th radio application theory, installation & configuration.
9.2.2. UH-1h radio equipment knowledge and operation
9.2.3. knowledge of 229th brevity and standard radio procedures including pre-flight
9.2.4. in-flight frequency changes whilst in formation flight
9.2.5. simultaneously operating radios on 2 separate networks, command and flight

SIMPLE RADIO INSTALLATION - IF YOU ARE UNSURE, HAVING PROBLEMS, TRY FOLLOWING THIS, STEP BY STEP, BEFORE JOINING A FORMAL MULTI PLAYER SESSION...  

Nice work Gizzy.

The updates seem to be coming fast and furious. How do we know what version the sr.229ahb.com server is running?  It would be nice if we had a way to keep track of the updates to SR.  It looks like I will have to back out of 1.2.6.0 in order to be compatible this week.

DC

Dabomb keeps the version the server is running listed in the simple radio thread

Cib,

Are you talking about this thread?

1stCavDiv (Airmobile) :: 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion :: Repair and Supply Center - TS,TARS, Track IR, Skins, Mods... :: Simple Radio

If so I don't see where daBomb has posted the current version.

DC

(A/229) DC wrote:Cib,

Are you talking about this thread?

1stCavDiv (Airmobile) :: 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion :: Repair and Supply Center - TS,TARS, Track IR, Skins, Mods... :: Simple Radio

If so I don't see where daBomb has posted the current version.

DC

I guess this one:
https://1stcavdiv.forumotion.net/t2202-simple-radio-version

Yup, that's the thread - so far the first post is edited each time there is an update..

Maybe a note to that effect could be included.... Ideally one post, locked not for discussion and edited as necessary... I know I raised the update trigger before but not sure of a result - DaBomb is the server key master and so he updates it but who triggers that?  I'm not sure.... reading between the line I think Db waits until there is a request from a Coy Commander perhaps, or someone, no idea.....

Thanks for the run through on the SR and radio procedures Gizzy. Although I already have SR installed (with the help of some of the guys on-line when I installed) I still learnt a lot from you video... ^ Good job we don't have to deal with radio frequency hopping as well LOL

I have yet to sort it out, but TS is using my secondary audio channel with a separate audio gain control... however, SR seems to want to use the same audio channel that DCS audio is using.

(B/229) IJammer wrote:.... Good job we don't have to deal with radio frequency hopping as well LOL.....

You will,      if flight lead in a realistic role play mission.... that's when it gets interesting especially if you elected to be say no 3 in formation rather than the lead craft (although still leading the flight)

(B/229) IJammer wrote:I have yet to sort it out, but TS is using my secondary audio channel with a separate audio gain control... however, SR seems to want to use the same audio channel that DCS audio is using.

Not sure of the issue here... if you want a hand give me a shout..[/quote]

(D/229) Gizzy wrote:

(B/229) IJammer wrote:.... Good job we don't have to deal with radio frequency hopping as well LOL.....

You will,      if flight lead in a realistic role play mission.... that's when it gets interesting especially if you elected to be say no 3 in formation rather than the lead craft (although still leading the flight)

(B/229) IJammer wrote:I have yet to sort it out, but TS is using my secondary audio channel with a separate audio gain control... however, SR seems to want to use the same audio channel that DCS audio is using.

Not sure of the issue here... if you want a hand give me a shout..

[/quote]

I think he means actual freq hopping functionality Gizzy instead of switching between multiple radios to talk on.

(D/229) Xtra wrote:I think he means actual freq hopping functionality Gizzy instead of switching between multiple radios to talk on.

Thats what I thought too.... i.e. pushing to various frequencies as you do with say ATC JTAC etc...