Anyway to disable all Kerbin ground relays?

[Evernow]

Hello there!

 

I am planning out a way to have a relay system to be able to communicate through all of Kerbin, and for immersion sake, is there a way to disable all the ground relays, so the only way to communicate with the space center would be to have a relay in orbit (multiple that is) relaying you to the space center?

 

Thank you!

[VoidSquid]

Yes, you can do that in the difficulty settings menu (I'm playing another career game, and this is one of my "immersion" settings).

I did set up my relay network as per this guide (though I used RA-100 antennas for everything):

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Setting_up_a_CommNet_system

Edited March 8, 2020 by VoidSquid

[Evernow]

29 minutes ago, VoidSquid said:

Yes, you can do that in the difficulty settings menu (I'm playing another career game, and this is one of my "immersion" settings).

I did set up my relay network as per this guide (though I used RA-100 antennas for everything):

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Setting_up_a_CommNet_system

Thank you! Starting a new game now

[Kerbart]

Turn off the other launch locations as well, as they'll provide communications too.

[AHHans]

11 hours ago, Kerbart said:

Turn off the other launch locations as well, as they'll provide communications too.

... and a fairly recent change (in 1.9.?) actually disables their ground stations for that case.
(Before that the other launch locations were still working as ground stations, no matter what.)

[Fraktal]

15 hours ago, VoidSquid said:

Yes, you can do that in the difficulty settings menu (I'm playing another career game, and this is one of my "immersion" settings).

I did set up my relay network as per this guide (though I used RA-100 antennas for everything):

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Setting_up_a_CommNet_system

It's a bit of of an overkill to use RA-2 relays for the lower Kerbin ring. I found that a ring of quad HG-5 satellites at 500 km altitude is enough for low-orbit communications.

[VoidSquid]

22 minutes ago, Fraktal said:

It's a bit of of an overkill

That's exactly why I use RA-100 for all relay satellites  

Because I can, and in case of doubt: moar booster  

[Fraktal]

In that case, how do you launch highly un-aerodynamic payloads too large to fit into a fairing?

[VoidSquid]

Three sat units (probe core, RA-100, solar panels, reaction wheel, tank, engine) do fit fine in a 3.75m fairing  

 

Edited March 9, 2020 by VoidSquid

[Fraktal]

What about four RA-2 satellites mounted on the end of girders in an X shape for a visually pleasing ground-based relay?

[VoidSquid]

Form follows function, or: KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid)

I'm not known for building any elegant designed rockets, I just want it to work  

Edited March 9, 2020 by VoidSquid

[Kerbart]

7 hours ago, AHHans said:

... and a fairly recent change (in 1.9.?) actually disables their ground stations for that case.
(Before that the other launch locations were still working as ground stations, no matter what.)

Must be 1.9.1 because I didn’t notice it in 1.9

I will check it out, thanks!

[AHHans]

7 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

Must be 1.9.1 because I didn’t notice it in 1.9

Could be. I only tested in 1.9.1.

[Kerbart]

2 hours ago, AHHans said:

Could be. I only tested in 1.9.1.

Our two observation cases as a Venn diagram: O O

[jimmymcgoochie]

6 hours ago, VoidSquid said:

Form follows function, or: KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid)

I'm not known for building any elegant designed rockets, I just want it to work  

I didn't know you could stack stuff inside fairings like that  Must try this!

[Cavscout74]

8 minutes ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

I didn't know you could stack stuff inside fairings like that

In the part window for the fairings, there is an option "Enable interstage nodes" or something like that.  Turn it on to stack multiple items inside the fairing.

[Fraktal]

You still need to use decouplers between the interstage node and the payload, though. Few versions ago there was an update that keeps interstage nodes attached even after the fairing is popped open.

[VoidSquid]

4 hours ago, Fraktal said:

Few versions ago there was an update that keeps interstage nodes attached even after the fairing is popped open.

I can't remember it being different than it is now, and how would I put the three relay satellites into a triangular formation if they wouldn't be attached to the interstage nodes after the fairing has been opened?

You can see the decouplers too in my screenshot, plus the little Okto directly put on the fairing below the decoupler there. Together with the two batteries, it allows me, after deploying the relay satellites, to let the carrier rocket crash into the CB, avoiding any space junk.

Edited March 10, 2020 by VoidSquid

[Fraktal]

12 hours ago, VoidSquid said:

I can't remember it being different than it is now.

It's a bug that appeared in 1.7 and still hasn't been fixed. If the fairing is between the root part (or is the root part) and the interstage node, the node won't detach when the fairing opens. Makes it impossible to launch multiple satellites in one go without having to waste payload mass on decouplers to detach the sats from what should be thin air.

[VoidSquid]

Oh? Ohkay...

I remember placing my relays in my old career before 1.7., and placing my relays in 1.8.1, never noticed any difference.

Weird.