Quote:
Originally Posted by chuckfourth
Hi Stormbringer
Yes as cbo says both tanks have roughly comparable gun sights. However the stug has an -extra- peice of kit that makes it an excellent tank killer.
Its the Scherenfernrohr 14 (SF.14Z)
SF.14Z was used by infantry type artilery spotters. Not much point giving it to these guys if you cant use them to estimate range.
Range estimation is critical to acheive a first round hit by greatly increasing accuracy, which is what you want when hunting tanks.
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The Sf.14z is, has always been and remains a simple set of binoculars. They contain no means of rangefinding other than that which is found in other types of binoculars.
The means of determining range using binoculars like the Sf.14z are the same as you use in tank sights. You have a graticule with a vertical and horizontal stadia pattern which you can use to estimate range to a taret of known size. And thats it.
Some binoculars have better lenses, better field-of-view, better magnification or better graticules than others, but the difference is, in game terms, minute. Just like the difference between the StuG sight and tank sights.
Rangefinders proper have some kind of in-built device, which aids the user in determining range. In the WWII period, that would be
A: Coincidence rangefinding, which means that you have to turn a knob until the images of the two lenses coincide. Either by overlapping each other or by a split-field as you find in some cameras.
B: Stereoscopic rangefinding, which utilizes the depth perception of binocular vision by having a fixed marker in one lens and a movable one in the other. You then move the two together until they appear to be the same position to the target. AFAIK it was this system that was used in German rangefinders, a system which is recognized to be very difficult to use properly and effectively.
cbo
Source: Ogorkiewicz: "Tank Technology"