When you get that perfect orbit

[Zayne Kerman]

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/zS36S

No rcs was used/harmed in the process of making this orbit

Edited April 16, 2018 by Zayne Kerman

[Geonovast]

Yes, I know how to use th F12 menu too

 

J/k.  Very nice!  Was it on purpose, or did you get lucky?  I think the closest I've gotten was within 100m in a low Munar orbit, and that was only sorta accidentally on purpose.

[Johnny Wishbone]

Not to diminish your accomplishment, but its very easy to dial in perfectly circular orbits using RCS. Its amazing how many people dont realize RCS is a form of propulsion just like any other engine. 

[Zeiss Ikon]

20 minutes ago, Johnny Wishbone said:

Not to diminish your accomplishment, but its very easy to dial in perfectly circular orbits using RCS. Its amazing how many people dont realize RCS is a form of propulsion just like any other engine. 

I've been using RCS since my first few flights.  I was used to seeing it on real world spacecraft, so I installed it on my Kerbal vessels.  And, when it's installed, I routinely use it for burns that would be less than a couple seconds on the main engine(s).

You can also set (most conveniently in VAB, where one setting change affects a full set of quads applied with symmetry) your RCS quads to burn on "forward by throttle" -- so once you're in more or less the orbit you want, you can shut down you rmain engine(s) and use the throttle to make really, really gentle forward burns with the RCS quads/balls/Vernors.  Edit: This does require that "advanced tweakables" be turned on in your game settings...

Edited April 15, 2018 by Zeiss Ikon

[LordFerret]

Yes, not to diminish, but I do this all the time... space stations, relay constellations, and such. I use RCS, usually, and even thrust limiting the main engine(s) for gentle burns; It depends on the situation.

[Johnny Wishbone]

1 hour ago, Zeiss Ikon said:

You can also set (most conveniently in VAB, where one setting change affects a full set of quads applied with symmetry) your RCS quads to burn on "forward by throttle" -- so once you're in more or less the orbit you want, you can shut down you rmain engine(s) and use the throttle to make really, really gentle forward burns with the RCS quads/balls/Vernors.  Edit: This does require that "advanced tweakables" be turned on in your game settings...

Sure you could do all that, or just use the translation controls already in the game.

[Zayne Kerman]

6 hours ago, Geonovast said:

Yes, I know how to use th F12 menu too

 

J/k.  Very nice!  Was it on purpose, or did you get lucky?  I think the closest I've gotten was within 100m in a low Munar orbit, and that was only sorta accidentally on purpose.

I set a ion engine to a power of 1 to get a perfect geostationary orbit within the meter

[Zeiss Ikon]

10 hours ago, Johnny Wishbone said:

Sure you could do all that, or just use the translation controls already in the game.

The point being, instead of "bang-bang" controls, that gives you smooth(ish) control of thrust in the forward translation direction.  For those times when a single tap on the H key is just too much...

[Johnny Wishbone]

12 hours ago, Zeiss Ikon said:

The point being, instead of "bang-bang" controls, that gives you smooth(ish) control of thrust in the forward translation direction.  For those times when a single tap on the H key is just too much...

I can honestly say that I’ve never had a situation where using RCS was anything but smooth, and would use the “bang bang” description for starting an engine, even at the lowest possible thrust.

Thats one of the beauties of this game: you can play your way, I can play mine, and we’re both right.

[Zeiss Ikon]

I've had a number of situations (specifically tiny correction burns, where 1 m/s error can wind up costing tens or hundreds of m/s at the destination orbit) when I wished I could conveniently reduce my RCS thrust to half or a quarter of its installed value.  Manually disabling quads is an option, but it takes extra time, is easy to screw up (miss one, and the vessel will try to tumble -- SAS will probably save it, but will waste a lot of RCS fuel in the process), and is also easy to forget to undo afterward (and installed RCS capacity is usually none to much for the usual intended RCS usage, i.e. docking).  If I can run my RCS with the regular throttle (after disabling the main engine), I can apply a fraction of my regular H-key thrust, allowing much more precise management of trajectory.

As you say, though, you play your way and I play mine.  I'm just returning the crew from my first (in career) or second (ever, since getting the game) Duna flyby.  If you're an old hand with stations around every planet, I'm probably wrong in thinking more control is needed.

[AngryKitty]

2 hours ago, Zeiss Ikon said:

I've had a number of situations (specifically tiny correction burns, where 1 m/s error can wind up costing tens or hundreds of m/s at the destination orbit) when I wished I could conveniently reduce my RCS thrust to half or a quarter of its installed value.  Manually disabling quads is an option, but it takes extra time, is easy to screw up (miss one, and the vessel will try to tumble -- SAS will probably save it, but will waste a lot of RCS fuel in the process), and is also easy to forget to undo afterward (and installed RCS capacity is usually none to much for the usual intended RCS usage, i.e. docking).  If I can run my RCS with the regular throttle (after disabling the main engine), I can apply a fraction of my regular H-key thrust, allowing much more precise management of trajectory.

As you say, though, you play your way and I play mine.  I'm just returning the crew from my first (in career) or second (ever, since getting the game) Duna flyby.  If you're an old hand with stations around every planet, I'm probably wrong in thinking more control is needed.

Precision Mode (Caps Lock on Windows, I think?) works well too. Though I like forward-by-throttle now that I've started building Gemini analogs.

[MR L A]

Hardcore mode is launch a satellite constellation where all orbital peridods, according to KER, match EXACTLY. So within 1000th of a second   

[Zeiss Ikon]

12 hours ago, MR L A said:

Hardcore mode is launch a satellite constellation where all orbital peridods, according to KER, match EXACTLY. So within 1000th of a second   

Even NASA doesn't try for that level.  That's what station keeping propellant is for.  A few (tens of) kilos of hydrazine can keep a comsat on station for ten years, once it's where it needs to be.

[MR L A]

1 hour ago, Zeiss Ikon said:

Even NASA doesn't try for that level.  That's what station keeping propellant is for.  A few (tens of) kilos of hydrazine can keep a comsat on station for ten years, once it's where it needs to be.

That's nice... not really relevant thought seeing as we don't have to worry about "station keeping" in KSP. Nor do we have the ability to implement automatic orbital period synchronisation in a given constellation... so that thousandth of a second sure does come in useful after a few decades of time warp.