Signal problems

[MajorMushroom]

I have recently accepted the contract to scan asteroids with the SENTINEL Infrared. I get the feeling I have accepted this contract quite early, but with a 5 million upfront payment I couldn’t resist.

Unfortunately the antennas I have (the first ones you unlock early - the two that are the same but different and the on HG relay one) can’t keep control of the probe that is meant to be set to an orbit of around 10 million metres around the sun. 

I’m planning on setting up a few relay probes, but exactly where? Not quite knowing what to do I put one up with an orbit as high as possible before escaping Kerbins SOI. However I’m not getting a connection from one ship to another, my SENTINEL probe is trying to reach straight to Kerbin, with limited success. Exactly where should I position my probes for higher coverage? Bearing in mind I still have very basic antennas.

[Yakko]

I'm no expert but as I understand, you can calculate the distance at which you will get signal as the Square root of the product of the antenna ratings. In the case of the HG-5, that has a rating of 5m (5million) and if you have the same type antennas on both vessels, then you can calculate it by doing SQRT(5m*5m) or SQRT(5m)²  = SQRT(5m)² = 5m meters.

Of course, this is the minimum distance at you will get signal, so it wont give you much strength.

 

If you still have time on the contract it may be better to wait until you have stronger relay antennas.

 

Edit: There is an article on the wiki if you are interested in the commNet https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/CommNet

Edited October 5, 2017 by Yakko
Added wiki article

[bewing]

You really either need a decent relay antenna on the sentinel probe itself, or you need to put a relay sat with a decent antenna right near to your sentinel in orbit. Your sentinel probe will drift a bit compared to the relay, but it shouldn't drift away by too much during the life of the probe.

 

[Spricigo]

@bewing just a nitpicky: if one will put the antenna in the sentinel satellite it may as well be a (cheaper and lighter) direct antenna of the same power.

@MajorMushroom looking at the contract description you'll find how much time there is left to finish that contract,  several years I suppose, so no need to rush. Within weeks of distance you have a lot of science to be gathered at Mun/Minmus, go there and get enough to research [Precision Engineering]. It will give access to the DTS-M1 (direct) and RA-2 (relay) antennas with 2G power (much stronger than 5M of HG-5) that will make the sentinel contract much simpler.

Take a look at the wiki article @Yakko posted fir more details.  Btw his explanation is correct for crafts with only one antenna (become a bit more complicated with more antennas, fortunately there's a good way to calculate it)

 

[bewing]

17 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

if one will put the antenna in the sentinel satellite it may as well be a (cheaper and lighter) direct antenna of the same power.

On the other hand, if you have to put a probe out in the middle of nowhere, you might as well turn it into a relay satellite -- because it might turn out to be useful as a relay once it is no longer useful as a probe. If you put a direct antenna on it, it will never serve any additional purpose once its main mission is over.

 

[Spricigo]

36 minutes ago, bewing said:

On the other hand...

 I was just pointing the other option. Up to each player to decide what is better for him. 

(That said, when I got a similar contract I used direct antennas and later concluded that was an oversight)