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Transmit science data from deployable experiments


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Hello

I have deployed a mystery goo monitor which seems to be collecting science data, but it is not being transmitted. There are relay satellites there around Minmus and they seem to have a connection.

Any idea to why the science is not being transmitted back to Kerbin?

Thanks a lot!

 

o1FzaLo.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

I believe you are missing a Communotron Ground HG-48 to take the science from the surface devices and transmit them to space. 

The control station shows an active commlink at 0.79 signal strength. While that's not ideal, I don't think signal strength matters for transmission of deployed surface science - mine have transmitted just fine with less strength in the past.

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17 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

I believe you are missing a Communotron Ground HG-48 to take the science from the surface devices and transmit them to space. 

It’s beneficial to have one on more distant bodies, but not necessary especially in Kerbin’s SOI or with good relay coverage.

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Thank you for the replies. I continued playing and eventually the first chunk of science arrived to Kerbin. :)

About the signal strength, I see that it says "Comm first hop distance: 46.4 Mm": just noticed this is the Kerbin-Minmus distance. Looks like my communication sats are not working. I have three of these in orbit, with HG-5 relay antennae and there is a connection to Kerbin according to the communication lines. Why is the deployed experiment using direct connection to Kerbin then?

 

WcEeYdX.jpg

 

Osx9wfo.jpg

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5 minutes ago, escaner said:

Thank you for the replies. I continued playing and eventually the first chunk of science arrived to Kerbin. :)

About the signal strength, I see that it says "Comm first hop distance: 46.4 Mm": just noticed this is the Kerbin-Minmus distance. Looks like my communication sats are not working. I have three of these in orbit, with HG-5 relay antennae and there is a connection to Kerbin according to the communication lines. Why is the deployed experiment using direct connection to Kerbin then?

 

WcEeYdX.jpg

 

Osx9wfo.jpg

Not all antennae are equal- their signal strength is important. HG-5s are really weak compared to the DSN stations, which are many thousands of times more powerful- it’s like comparing a dial-up modem with full fibre broadband. In the case of your screenshot, the deployed science station has a direct connection to multiple DSN stations so will use that (fibre broadband) over the relay connection (dial-up). The direct signal will always be preferred over a weaker relay one so the relays will only come into play when the ground station is on the far side of Minmus, i.e. facing away from Kerbin so there’s no line of sight, and even then the signal will be pretty weak due to the low power of the HG-5 dish.

It’s usually best to use several HG-5s on a relay (four would do) and replace them with a single RA-2 antenna as soon as you can as that thing is 400 times more powerful than an HG-5 (2 billion versus 5 million metres range).

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