Comrades in Arms Discussion Board

• I overheard last night that the RHS UAV operator in the "Second Breakfast" mission had no UAV terminal and no UAV in his backpack.
  
  
  I'v looked into it and found that the RHS drone is a little counter-intuitive to use, so I decided to post a short guide (I hope there isn't already one, otherwise sorry, I didn't find it)
  
  

Equipment

• Eagle A-III Backpack (Raven)
  
• that's it, no UAV terminal needed
  

[size=1em]Note that the backpack will appear to be empty.[/size]

[size=1em]Deploy[/size]

• Drop Backpack
  
• [size=1em]Backpack action menu [/size][color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]"[/color][color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]Assemble[/color][color=rgb(37, 37, 37)] RQ11 B Raven"[/color]
  
• [color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]Raven action menu "Pick up Raven[/color][color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]"[/color]
  
• [color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]Action menu "Launch Raven"[/color]
  

[size=1em]Use[/size]
[size=1em]Next to the assembled UAV a terminal will appear call [/size][color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]GCS. To use it you must NOT pick it up. You can do so to carry it around, but to use it you need to drop it again. It will not appear in the inventory, drop it via action menu[/color]
[color=rgb(37, 37, 37)]The GCS has some action menu entries, structured as follows:[/color]

• [color=rgb(37, 37, 37)][RQ-11 Menu][/color]
  
• [li][size=1em]Camera Feed [digits][/size]
  
  • [size=1em]New Target [digits][/size]
    
  • [size=1em]Reset Markers[/size]
    
  • [size=1em]Autoland[/size]
    
    [/li]
  
• [size=1em][RQ-11 Minicam Menu][/size]
  
• [li][size=1em]Minicam: Mode[/size]
  
  • [size=1em]Minicam: On/Off[/size]
    
  [/li]
  

[size=1em][digits] is a three digit number, probably the RC frequency of the drone, might be changable when the drone is on the ground, didn't try that though. There also some other things that can be checked/set while the drone is on the ground, but besided battery status the other things just seemed to be for "realism" (system checks and stuff).[/size]

[size=1em]Camera feed opens a full screen camera few of the drone. From this view the drone can be controlled. It will always just circle around a target point on the map, but you can control it's flying altitude [keys: W, S] and the radius of the circle [keys: A, D]. You can switch camera mode [key: N], place a map marker [key: M] and move the target point [keys: numpad 4, 6, 8 and 2].[/size]
[size=1em]To exit this view press [key: G], Esc wont help, action menu is also not available...[/size]

[size=1em]New target opens the map screen and lets you place a new target point for the drone to circle around by clicking on the map. This seems to work only once per selecting this action menu option. You can leave this screen as you would leave the normal map screen (in fact it is the normal map screen)[/size]

[size=1em]Reset markers removes the map markers you placed in the camera feed view.[/size]

[size=1em]Autoland lets the drone fly back to the position of the GCS and land. Since you can't control the UAV directly this is probably the only way to get it back to the ground (well, other than letting it run dry or shooting it down that is...)[/size]

[size=1em]Minicam: Mode [/size]The UAV operator can display a small screen with the UAV camera feed (similar to displaying the GPS screen). This options lets you select the camera mode (TV, NV, IR).
[size=1em]It seems that you do not have to stay near the GCS to keep that screen open, I only tried running a few meters though.[/size]

[size=1em]Minicam: On/Off t[/size]oggles the small camera feed screen described above.

[size=1em]Retrieve[/size]
[size=1em]Just use the Autoland action menu options from the GCS. The UAV will return and land on it's own. Disassemble it via action menu, pick up the backpack, turn 275° (celcius) to the left and click your heels together three times.[/size]

Refuel
Refueling is just another action menu option on the drone. To refuel let it land and then select the according option. You will not be able to disassamble it while refueling (or better to say recharging) and it's not terribly fast. On the plus side you can do it in the field without any extra equipment or utilities.


Running out of Fuel
In today's mission (31.5.) I noticed that when the drone runs out of fuel (or better to say power) it seems to return automatically. So it should be ok to just fly without thinking about power (which is hard anyways since there is no indication...)


Here's the link to the RHS wiki with more detailed key bindings: http://doc.rhsmods.org/index.php/RQ-11_Raven

Thanks Manuel, very helpful guide! Sometimes these community addons take it too far in going for 'reality' in my opinion  :-\

Wow, this is very helpful. I'm eager to use it. The complexity justify a mission with the Raven in center concept.
Good job Manuel!

Thanks guys.

Quote:Sometimes these community addons take it too far in going for 'reality' in my opinion

I think the main issue with this drone is that it's use is not consistent with other UAVs and drones in the game. I'm ok with it handling differently as far as it's induced by it's technical nature (e.g. having to pick it up and launch it from hand), but the interface should be the same (e.g. using the UAV terminal)


That would avoid some confusion/frustration I think...


Anyways, once you know how to use it it actually has some nice advantages over the quad copter, e.g. it's much faster.

the controls are on the numpad  8-> go north 4-> go west 2-> go south 6->go east

m-> mark on map (seems to be visible only to the operator though)
g-> leave camera view

n-> vision modes as always

(04-13-2015, 12:27 AM)UnNamedGER link Wrote:the controls are on the numpad  8-> go north 4-> go west 2-> go south 6->go east

Doesn't that clash with TFAR's 'change channel to x' though? Maybe TFAR can be remapped to RAlt+Numpad though, as they don't need to be used much.

XD only now I noticed that you attached a Link to the RHS wiki Manuel. There all the controlls are shown as well, schould have seen it yesterday  when I was quickly reading through your UAV guide for your mission ( Nice Mission btw. )

here Is the layout from the RHS Wiki page

Thanks Unnamed!
Didn't you have a conflict with TFAR? The numpad keys are used to change channels in the SR radio by default.
Also - What do "lower/raise/reset target" and "change units" mean?

I did have to constantly remind myself to go back to chanel 2 for transmitting on the long range chanel, but after a the first objective on yesterdays mission I only transmitted half of the stuff i said twice xD.

i dont know for sure but i had the feeling that those controlled the height of the uav as well,  but I dont know for sure. reset might send it back to the target one manually steered it away from
change units might be something if one person controlls different UAV (wich i coulnt test yesterday)

I will definately have to try the "control information" key next time as well as the "lock on/off" key

also next time I will read a guide in whole to not end up missing stuff like the link to the wiki page were the controlls were posted xd

edit

I just did some testing

target heigth swivels the camera up and down, reset target will reset it to the ground
lock target will snap the crosshair to the closest thing within a few meters of it

change unit did nothing for me just like control information

also these things seem to be indestructible ( I hit one circling me several times with a m16, a m2, buckshot,and twice with a mk19 )

I noticed today that the drone seems to return automatically once it runs out of power. So it's ok to let it fly without thinking about the battery. Only thing was that I couldn't use the camera anymore.


I added that info to the first post as well...




Also a finding related to the UAV controlls: it is dangerous to have a frag grenade equiped while using this thing.
The button to exit camera view is 'g', which is of course also the standard grenade button. I had to switch a lot between camera view and map today to mark targets and reposition the drone. At one point it got pretty stressful and I lost my rythm, ended up trying to exit the map by pressing 'g'...
To quote one of my instructors in basic training talking about bad frags, at that moment I got a really nice and warm feeling in my heart (maybe doesn't translate very well to english...). After hearing the grenade hit the ground right in front of me (still in map view), I just started sprinting off in whatever direction I was facing until I heard the bang...
I made it far enough to not get hurt, but at that point I almost lost the UAV terminal in tall grass...   I eventually found it, but still, how would you explain the commander that he just lost UAV support because the operator blew himself up...


Anyways, the moral I guess is to remap the grenade key or at least equip something non-lethal in that situation...

(06-01-2015, 02:32 AM)Manuel link Wrote:Anyways, the moral I guess is to remap the grenade key or at least equip something non-lethal in that situation...

xD I learned the same lesson on second breakfast when I almost blew myself and my medic up

(06-01-2015, 07:56 AM)UnNamedGER link Wrote:xD I learned the same lesson on second breakfast when I almost blew myself and my medic up

haha! good to know that I'm at least not the only one  ;D

You guys still have your grenade throwing to the G key? I'm shocked.

it only took me 3 grenades untill i had made the transition from the arma 2 inventory key to the arma 3 inventroy key ^^

It seems that in the latest RHS the 'reset marker' option doesn't seem to work anymore, at least in local.


Also not mentioned in OP is Numpad + and - for zooming in and out while inside the camera feed.