How to establish connection for faraway probe with no antenna?

[dawei]

I did not install an antenna on my probe. It only has an RC-LO1 (no crew).

I am now nearly to Jool and have no connection to KSP. Is there anything I can do at this point? I have quicksaved several times already so can't reload, and really don't want to lose the craft and start again. Can I launch some satellites with antennas into LKO? Would that help at all? Willing to install a mod too if there are any made for this situation.

Edited May 21, 2018 by dawei

[Goody1981]

If you open up the settings you can temporarily disable the comm-net restrictions, so you can do that, do whatever you want with your probe, then turn it back on again (and probe will go back to being uncontrollable).

[blag]

The only way will be cheating a bit and disable the comm-net (or lower the range modifier) to save your spacecraft.

If you want to be realistic as much as you can, use this temporary control to do what could be a "pre-planned orbital capture" and just leave you spacecraft here.

If you want to gain control again on your spacecraft, you'll have to launch some SatComm around Jool : go for 3 on a share-ride, with a 100G antenna each (and try to make them orbit Jool on the same period, with a 120° from each other to cover the whole surface)

[Gargamel]

Or... you can just bite the bullet, and write off the probe as lost.  A hard lesson learned, but one most have learned the hard way (in one form or another, be it batteries, panels, or docking ports). 

But short of editing the craft file (which is pretty risky if you don't know what you are doing), or permanently disabling commnet, there is no easy way to regain control.  You could send a manned shp up there to add an antenna, but that takes more work and cost than it's worth.  And you could just send a replacement in the next window anyways, so....

Edited May 21, 2018 by Gargamel

[Rauko]

A modremote tech probe control enabler, https://www.google.es/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://archive.org/details/RemoteTech-ProbeControlEnabler-v1.0&ved=2ahUKEwjc7Zq21JfbAhUCDZoKHdciAVUQFjAAegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1T-RiwsDJV6VO-0IMpDZVP gives control of probes when they are out of range, acording with remote tech rules. Since those rules are harder than stock, I supose it will give you control of your probe. You can desinstall it after you do your things with that probe, and you promise to be more careful in the future.

 

[Superfluous J]

Another option is to rebuild the craft in the VAB with the proper antenna, put it on the launch pad without a launcher or anything else extra, alt-f12 to "set orbit" to "rendezvous" with the bad probe, then delete the bad probe in the tracking station.

[bewing]

Just so long as you did not click the "Require Signal for Control" button in your Advanced Difficulty Options, you still have control of your probe. Is your CommNet icon yellow? It should be.

If it is, you can still use SAS to control the orientation of your probe. You still have Z and X control of your throttle. And you can still use all of the context menus on all the parts of your probe.

If you build your probe carefully, you can still do anything except transmit science. You can land, you can complete satellite contracts, you can complete "do experiment X at position Y" contracts ... anything you want. If you built your probe right.

 

[Goody1981]

2 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Another option is to rebuild the craft in the VAB with the proper antenna, put it on the launch pad without a launcher or anything else extra, alt-f12 to "set orbit" to "rendezvous" with the bad probe, then delete the bad probe in the tracking station.

By far the best answer haha... nice one 

[dawei]

17 hours ago, Goody1981 said:

If you open up the settings you can temporarily disable the comm-net restrictions, so you can do that, do whatever you want with your probe, then turn it back on again (and probe will go back to being uncontrollable).

Thank you! That worked.

[Goody1981]

27 minutes ago, dawei said:

Thank you! That worked.

Pleasure