ok folks heres what I've been able to work out. First all these settings are for a radar set to "pulse doppler". It was tested at 10,000ft (doesnt really matter the settings go as compared to the radar position, as it should be) and was flown at speeds from 200kt to over 800kt(doesnt make as much diff as you might think) against targets running perpendicular (beaming off one wing) to the radar at speeds ranging from 200kt to 550kt, and targets running in on the test radar and retreating, at 200kt and 550kt, as well as targets moving diagonaly at oppsite directions (would looke like an X from above with the radar plane going right into the center crossing area) these targets are also moving from 200kt and 550kt.
first off I'll tell you that AWACS renders all the settings moot just like it ought to, so no worries on that.
second what works well and what doesnt and why.
MTI: works BUT the radar only picks up armor from a few miles(10 or so) even with the normal stock radar so it's not much help, cool but not practicle really since your only like 7 miles away from the armor when you find it.
Air to Air only: This works great, it works as perfect as you could want, no complaints at all on this one. (except the obviouse, it wont do AG work at all)
AG only: this also works well, with the only anomaly being that it WILL pick up planes that are coming straight at you or away from you, under certain conditions.
Mulit-Mode: this is the radar we're used to in FA, able to target air OR ground targets. I was HOPING to be able to have 1 radar on the plane that was the perfect AA radar and another radar that was the perfect AG radar. But even with a lot of fooling around with names and "secondary wep" and "required wep" I couldent get it to work. FA always seemed to take the AG radar as default and so no AA targeting.
The multi mode works ok, but you can cheat the crap out of it by just flying higher than the air targets. The "speed above" and "speed below" settings refer to the altitude of the plane with the radar, if you are above the other planes, then you get the filtering of the "speed below" numbers and since you HAVE to have that set to 0 in order to see ground targets ALL planes below you will jump onto the screen. So If you "roof it" you'll cheat out and see everything that is out there.
ok that's the theory here's the numbers
starting at the bottom
All Aspect- this is exactly the same thing as the IR All Aspect setting for missles , the higher the number the less visable an aproaching plane will be because it's tail is facing away from you.
Look Down-this is surprisingly useless! If you use it to degrade the radar as it "looks" below your altitude, then you loose the ground targeting! you can do the same thing with the "speed below" setting.
Minimum Range- nope it's supposed to be the "burn through" range ,I never saw it do anything except if you set it to 25(and ONLY 25) it will allow "burn through" at around 3 miles, well within viz range of anything.
now the good stuff.
Speed Below- this is a speed filter for all targets (yes ground targets too) BELOW THE ALTITUDE OF THE RADAR IN QUESTION, the higher the number the harder it is for a plane to show up on the radar. faster planes will show up before slower planes as you make the settings lower. If you want ground targets to show up you'll have to set this to 0.
Speed Above-This is a speed filter for all targets AT OR ABOVE THE ALTITUDE OF THE RADAR IN QUESTION, again the higher the settings the lower the chance of a plane showing up, with faster planes showing up first as you lower the settings.
Here are the numbers I found best to my likings, these numbers are posted as from the "Speed Above" box down to the "All Apsect" box
Air To Air radar only- 14,14,0,0,0. with these settings planes above and below your altitude will show up and dissapear depending on how close they are to being in a crossing(beaming) pattern to your radar. AI aircraft will loose thier lock and return to searching if the target planes beam them.
Air TO Ground radar only-239,0,25,0,100. No planes show up except for sometimes coming or going straight at you.
MTI Moving Target Indicator radar-239,1 or 2 or 3,0,0,100. No planes and no stationary ground targets until about 2 miles on the 1 or 2 setting, but moving armor will show at around the normal numbers 7 to 10 miles.
Multi Mode radar-14,0,0,0,0.a combo of the Air to Air and the AG, planes show and dissapear at or above you, but show up below you because of the AG filter numbers. AG targets show up as normal.
well this is what I've worked out "your milage may vary" LOL try them test them see what you would like to change, I've been up for 43 hours and am going to bed ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz