Kethane Pack 0.9.2 - New cinematic trailer! - 1.0 compatibility update

[Payload]

So consensus is that mechjeb kinda sucks at it's job (MJ2 moreso), and Kethane does not. Glad we got that sorted.

Not that the mechjeb guys are even doing a terrible job, it's an amazingly heroic effort to figure out how the game works, and use that to your advantage.

No MechJeb most certainly does not suck. If you understood what is involved in what you are asking it to do, it's quite amazing that it works at all. I have absolutely abused the crap out of MechJeb with ships that are impossible for any human to fly. It continues to perform well within the realm of usability. Like any system, it has it's funny quirks. Mostly those stem from people's general lack of understanding of what it is actually doing. MechJeb2 Is still missing a few things that make my mining ops easy and repeatable. It's getting closer though I still use MJ 1.9.8 99% of time.

Edited April 26, 2013 by Payload

[apoch1999]

No MechJeb most certainly does not suck. If you understood what is involved in what you are asking it to do, it's quite amazing that it works at all. I have absolutely abused the crap out of MechJeb with ships that are impossible for any human to fly. It continues to perform well within the realm of usability. Like any system, it has it's funny quirks. Mostly those stem from people's general lack of understanding of what it is actually doing. MechJeb2 Is still missing a few things that make my mining ops easy and repeatable. It's getting closer though I still use MJ 1.9.8 99% of time.

oh yeah the 1.9s were great...just dont know why the 2.0s cant use the same code...

[ummwut]

No MechJeb most certainly does not suck. If you understood what is involved in what you are asking it to do, it's quite amazing that it works at all. I have absolutely abused the crap out of MechJeb with ships that are impossible for any human to fly. It continues to perform well within the realm of usability. Like any system, it has it's funny quirks. Mostly those stem from people's general lack of understanding of what it is actually doing. MechJeb2 Is still missing a few things that make my mining ops easy and repeatable. It's getting closer though I still use MJ 1.9.8 99% of time.

I didn't say it sucked bad, but when it messes up, it's usually an unrecoverable situation. That said, I do understand what it does, but I still prefer doing things manually, except for finding Latitude and Longitude, which I've written my own plugin for doing so.

[RuBisCO]

Hey I have 19.1 and am trying kethane 0.4.3, having some problems: their is no kethane controller menu and I can't transfer fuel or kethane.

[HGGundamReviews]

In the current version of Kethane there is no controller. To make fuel with the converters you just Right click them and tell it what to make from the menu you also need to have either a empty tank directly attached to them or fuel lines running from it to them. I also recommend using the Tac Fuel Balancer mod so all the tanks will fill evenly so your not constantly having to right click and empty your main tank into the others.

Fuel Balancer mod here -> http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/tac-fuel-balancer-v1-0/

Edited April 26, 2013 by HGGundamReviews

[RuBisCO]

Ok but how to I transfer to another ship?

I have a ship with drills, converter and kethane tank, side mounted fuel tanks and RCS fuel tanks. I can mine kethane, store it and convert it into RCS fuel, but I can't get it to convert kethane into fuel, it won't fill the fuel tanks, do I need pump lines going to those fuel tanks? I have it only a meter or two away from another ship but how do I get it to transfer RCS, fuel or Kethane to anotehr ship?

Edited April 26, 2013 by RuBisCO

[HGGundamReviews]

Ok but how to I transfer to another ship?

I have a ship with drills, converter and kethane tank, side mounted fuel tanks and RCS fuel tanks. I can mine kethane, store it and convert it into RCS fuel, but I can't get it to convert kethane into fuel, it won't fill the fuel tanks, do I need pump lines going to those fuel tanks? I have it only a meter or two away from another ship but how do I get it to transfer RCS, fuel or Kethane to anotehr ship?

As far as making fuel like I said have at least 1 fuel tank connected to your converter or fuel lines running from the converter to a empty/low tank. Make sure there are fuel lines running out of that tank connecting to the other tanks as well. With that setup and the Tac Fuel Balancer mod your converter should refill all your ships tanks.

As far as transferring stuff to other ships...

There are 4 ways to do this, first, dock the two ships together in orbit and transfer though the docking port. the other 3 require addition mods.

Quantum Fuel Transfer Mod - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/quantum-fuel-transfer-system/ you need to put this part on tanks on both ships, it will allow you to create a lazer fuel line between them to transfer fuel between them, EVA Required, again the Tac Fuel Balancer is helpful here. I don't know if this works with Monoprop

The Kerbal Attachment System - http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/25563-0-19-1-KAS-v0-2-1-New-connector-port-system-fuel-transfer-grappling-hook-more Again more parts to add but in this case you create a physical fuel line connection between two ships, EVA Required Should works with monoprop

The last option is the Merlin’s Resource Transfer System v0.2 - http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/merlins-resource-transfer-system-v0-1/ Again add these parts to your ships and you can Beam things between ships, As far as I am aware this is the only one that works with Kethane and has a speciffic part for it. No Eva Required Has a part specifically for Monoprop.

Again all these transfer parts must be attached to a tank of the proper resource.

Edited April 26, 2013 by HGGundamReviews

[Fyrem]

you need fuel lines setup with the ARROWS on the lines pointing FROM the Fuel tanks TO the Converter (yeah, opposite what you might think).

To "Transfer" RCS fuel, or Lq, or Ox, to another ship, you need to Dock, just like you would normally have to exchange fuel. You can also use something like KAS 2.1 mod to connect a fuel line from one ship to another (take a look, it is a very nice mod).

[RuBisCO]

Well I'll try the fuel lines because little docking ports between the converter and kethane tank to the outer fuel tanks did not work. Why is it that mono-propellent can be refueled and transferred without all these requirements but can't?

I'm having some success so far at docking rovers with the little docking port, It turns out docking in 2D is way easier then 3D, but the docking ports needs to be aligned very well or else the wheels might explode by violent torquing up/down when the ports connect. So I guess I'll have my minner rove up to a fuel trucking rocket and dump fuel that way, now if I can just get my converter to produce fuel.

[HGGundamReviews]

Well I'll try the fuel lines because little docking ports between the converter and kethane tank to the outer fuel tanks did not work. Why is it that mono-propellent can be refueled and transferred without all these requirements but can't?

I'm having some success so far at docking rovers with the little docking port, It turns out docking in 2D is way easier then 3D, but the docking ports needs to be aligned very well or else the wheels might explode by violent torquing up/down when the ports connect. So I guess I'll have my minner rove up to a fuel trucking rocket and dump fuel that way, now if I can just get my converter to produce fuel.

Ok Let me walk you though this with some visual aides.

This is my Mining rig

Note the small converter on top isn't connected to a tank directly.

The fuel lines run from the converter to a Truss ..

Note the arrows, they indicate fuel flow into the converter, I don't know if this is a bug but it is the only way it works. The truss the line is connected to allows fuel crossflow. Which is where this next pic comes in.

The line running from the bottom of the truss into the fuel tank again is running in reverse indicating a flow out of the tank, but fuel is flowing into it from the converter when its running.

To get fuel to the rest of the ship you need additional lines running out of the tank.

Note these lines run properly out from the central tank into the radial tanks the engines are connected to. This ensures that with the Tac Fuel Balancer all the tanks fill evenly.

Monoprop for whatever reason doesn't need fuel lines. It seems to be able to flow through anything. My monoprop ball tanks are connected to the outside of the Kethane tank and they refill without need of fuel lines.

For transferring fuel out of my miner I use the Quantum Fuel Transfer mod and the Merlin's Resource Transfer mod

Quantum Transfer Mod Attached To Center Liquid Fuel Tank

Merlin Kethane Resource Transfer Module On Kethane Tank

You will need those parts on whatever ships you want to transfer from and too to establish a link. Always connected directly to a tank or they won't transfer anything at all.

Hope that better explains how this works.

[RuBisCO]

Well that was intensive... sadly I had already got a miner working before I saw all that. I just have a large fuel tank connected directly to a larger converter with a 2000 L Kethane tank above. I used the fuel balancer program to transfer to outer smaller tanks. I used a small docking port and simply drove up to a "fuel transfer shuttle" and docked on and transferred over via fuel balancer program. I noticed that even with 2 drills the converter outstrips the extraction by a wide margin.

[apoch1999]

Ok Let me walk you though this with some visual aides.

This is my Mining rig

Note the small converter on top isn't connected to a tank directly.

The fuel lines run from the converter to a Truss ..

Note the arrows, they indicate fuel flow into the converter, I don't know if this is a bug but it is the only way it works. The truss the line is connected to allows fuel crossflow. Which is where this next pic comes in.

The line running from the bottom of the truss into the fuel tank again is running in reverse indicating a flow out of the tank, but fuel is flowing into it from the converter when its running.

To get fuel to the rest of the ship you need additional lines running out of the tank.

Note these lines run properly out from the central tank into the radial tanks the engines are connected to. This ensures that with the Tac Fuel Balancer all the tanks fill evenly.

Monoprop for whatever reason doesn't need fuel lines. It seems to be able to flow through anything. My monoprop ball tanks are connected to the outside of the Kethane tank and they refill without need of fuel lines.

For transferring fuel out of my miner I use the Quantum Fuel Transfer mod and the Merlin's Resource Transfer mod

Quantum Transfer Mod Attached To Center Liquid Fuel Tank

Merlin Kethane Resource Transfer Module On Kethane Tank

You will need those parts on whatever ships you want to transfer from and too to establish a link. Always connected directly to a tank or they won't transfer anything at all.

Hope that better explains how this works.

i think the arrows on the ones that look like the wrong way, is a bug...if youll notice a fuel line looks different at each end. and those look like they were attached to the converter first then run to the truss...the correct way....the arrows are just backwards

[Payload]

Does that kethane transfer block allow you to transfer Kethane between vessels that are not docked? If so, seems cool for people who hate docking.

[COL.Neville]

yeah that's the quantum transfer node bad news you have to eva to get it to work. have ladders next to it. im an eva spaz so its even more frustrating than docking.

[Deadpangod3]

What buttons do you press to open the kethane debug?

[andysim212]

loving this mod! finaly we are given something to do other than sightseeing hehe.

[HGGundamReviews]

Does that kethane transfer block allow you to transfer Kethane between vessels that are not docked? If so, seems cool for people who hate docking.

yeah that's the quantum transfer node bad news you have to eva to get it to work. have ladders next to it. im an eva spaz so its even more frustrating than docking.

The Merlin's Resource Transfer mod allows you to transfer Kethane, Liquid Fuel, Oxidizer, Monoprop between ships without a EVA to start it. Just put the part on the appropriate tanks on both ships and have them within 50 meters, I recommend closer if you can. But it's a long process, it only transfers 3 units every second or two.

The Quantum Transfer mod transfers about the same amount of liquid fuel, I haven't tested to see if it works on monoprop, but it does work faster than the Merlin's mod, and with time warp you can transfer a Orange tank of fuel to another ship in about 3 minutes (landed with full time warp active).

Edited April 27, 2013 by HGGundamReviews

[RuBisCO]

I enjoy docking rovers and that wench/hoses mod. It just more hands on then fuel magically teleporting from one ship to another, also I get a kick out of docking rovers. I have a feeling they never planned for the docking modules to work like that, but it works really well and is way easier then docking float in space. Docking in space always leaves me sweating, so ever time a get a rover to dock I feel vindicated for all those times I failed to get ships to dock in orbit. Thank god for mechjeb now doing the latter for me or I would have thrown this game to the bin, oh by the way mechjeb can't handle rover docking but again no worries its so dam easy its a pleasure.

[mushroomman]

Is there some way to edit the location of Kethane deposits on Kerbin? It might be a little unfair, but I don't want to fly halfway across the planet to build a mine.

[HGGundamReviews]

Its much more efficient and in the end productive to mine Kethane from the lower gravity bodies. It cost less fuel to launch either the raw kethane or refined fuel into space. Many of us have built space stations designed to be nothing more than fuel dumps. Basically my current production chain is this. Orbiting Station around Mun, designed to refine kethane and store fuel. I have a Fuel Tanker that can carry 2 orange tanks worth of fuel at a time plus it's own burnable fuel to ferry between Mun and Kerbin stations. Orbiting Station around Kerbin capable of storing 4 orange tanks worth of liquid fuel and 3 large tanks of Monoprop. With this setup I can launch lighter ships, and if need be build larger ones in orbit via docking, and then refuel them from the station and launch them into deep space.

Though being this is just Kethane, it's in the end simpler than what I understand the Devs are planning for the game when they actually add resource gathering. But its a good tool to use to help you figure out how to build your resource gathering production chain later.

[White Owl]

How difficult would it be to convert kethane into spare parts for use with the orbital construction mod? I imagine the converter requiring obscene amounts of electricity, and also terribly mass-inefficient... something like 50tons kethane to 1 ton spare parts. But it would open up lots of possibilities!

[BeowolfSchaefer]

I installed this and have tanks, converter, scanner, etc but I don't see the drill anywhere in my parts list. Anyone have any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

[HGGundamReviews]

The drill should be listed in the Utility tab as such.

Hope that helps.

[BeowolfSchaefer]

Yeah I must have had something borked about my install. After a few retries in various orders it shows up. No idea what was goin on. Thanks the help anyway.

[Throggdor]

Does Kethane run out in certain spots? Or is there a bug where a Kethane tank cant be filled properly. I have a large kethane tank on the mun over what was/is a kethane deposit I use drills to try to extract the kethane but it wont fill up, the tank is half full but it wont go past 9000, the drills make contact because they start to drain my electrical charge. If this sounds familiar please help.