Talk:Torpedo Data Computer

=Edit Rationale=

Japanese Torpedo Fire Control
The original article stated that the IJN did not have automated torpedo fire control. I have found two credible references that state otherwise. Unfortuately, there are web references that say that the Japanese did not develop any torpedo fire control computers. This does not appear to be accurate.


 * Seems Friedman's showing a bias, too. IJN "TDCs" had a statistical feature not available on USN mods... Trekphiler 15:23, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

TDC Only Useful Against Surface Target
The TDC really had no ability to deal with a target with depth. In fact, while torpedoes have a fixed depth setting, the TDC does not even have a depth input.

TDC Still in Service
The original article discussed some recent (1980s) maintenance activity by the US Navy with the TDC. Since the TDC is still in service with at least one foreign navy, Taiwan, I thought it was better to mention this activiy and the support going toward keeping the TDCs operational. Therefore, I removed the original contribution.

Defects/Improvements
blacksheep 13:11, 24 August 2006 (UTC) 70.107.101.2 (talk) 03:42, 1 August 2008 (UTC) Shipmates, I fixed it. =References/Endnotes=
 * Figure 2 shows track angle as 90 degrees. This could be confusing. Make it clearly look oblique.
 * Establish connection between the "rangekeepers" of the army and surface forces and the position keeper of the TDC. See new Rangekeeper section.
 * Pseudo-track is shown in Figure 2, but no mention is made of it. It should either be removed, replaced, or explained.
 * The torpedo fire control triangle is a good approximation for computing the gyro angle when the gyro angle is small. This needs to be explained.
 * There is a contradiction in the definition of track angle. Clarify it in Figure 3.
 * Finish position keeper section I have decided to create a new section
 * Add more detail on the foreign navy reference. USS Tusk and USS Cutlass are the submarines, they serve in Taiwan's navy, and they have Wiki entries.
 * It may be worthwhile to add a graph of track angle versus deflection angle and target speed to illustrate the optimal launch point.
 * Rather than say two out of three assumptions were met, it would be more accurate to say all three assumptions met reasonably well. The sight is in the same location as the torpedo, the target is moving on a constant course and bearing, and the torpedo comes to speed pretty quickly.
 * Equation 1 is incorrect. The Law of Sines is A * sin(b) = B * sin(a), not A * sin(a) = B * sin(b) (as it is now). It was several hours after following Wikipedia's formula and not knowing why my program wasn't working until I checked out the forumula in another location and realized the error. --71.115.71.57 03:51, 19 November 2006 (UTC)