How to renzdevous, I cannot get the m/s in 0

[CookiezFort]

Ok, i have twho parts of a space station one next to the otehr (about 10 meters) i have the first part in a way so it does not spin around, i am traveling at 1 m/s to the target and i press it for less that a a seccond to go backwards (using rcs) but i overshoot and almsot hit the panels, then i try to just keep it on 0 but it instantly goes away from the target or closer i cannot get it to 0 from 4 it just goes to 4 away from 4 away it goes to 4 towards, Do you know why? Should i give my save to anybody here so that they can do it for me it jsut not WORKING

[purpletarget]

Docking is both a matter of patience, as well as a contact sport.

Part of the issue will be that the two ships never actually sit still. They're orbiting around the planet. so as soon as you get 0m/s, the ships will move in their orbits, and the speed will change again. The only time you'll get 0m/s and have it stick, is when they are docked together.

As for the overshoots, keep a light touch on the stick. That is, make sure you're not just holding down the RCS until you see the difference. Lightly tap or pulse the RCS if you need to, watching the speed on the Navball. This may be still be problematic if you have loaded up too many RCS thrusters...in which case you can also try turning some of them off.

[KSK]

Hi,

Not sure what's happening here - RCS shouldn't be that twitchy. Could you post a screenshot so we can see what's going on? Just one of your two space station parts parked 10m away from each other will be fine.

[Trueborn]

Is caps lock on? That turns on fine controls, which should help keep you under control a bit better. Also, if you have tons of RCS ports, you could disable a few. Although fast for real life, 4 m/s might actually be survivable if you make a direct contact with only the docking ports. Still, slower is better, especially when there are solar panels around.

[CookiezFort]

i can retract the solar panels if i want to, the two parts are very very small (not big at all) in size. I have been trying for 2 hours, i have 8 rcs ports (4 on the bottom and 4 on the top of the second ship) the problem is that my docking port is actually blocked by one of the rcs tanks (i jettison it when close to the other docking port) so it may move the other ship, i also tried to have one ship between the retrograde and prograde (whatever the name is) markers so it does not 'spin' around making it harder but i someone touch it and destroy it. I used the fine controls but still no fix, i have it saved on a situation that the one ship has almost full rcs, The biggest problem is that the orbits are not exactly the same so sometimes one goes faaar away and i have to restart all over.

[sal_vager]

If caps lock is in you should not have too much trouble with RCS, you don't have to be at zero speed either, 0.1 or 0.2 is okay

[CookiezFort]

the problem is i cannot get 0.1 or 0.2 i cannot get less than 0.4, I cannot find a very good place to mount the buttons, also if i just want to move right or left (not spin just move) what button is it (i mean on translation or rotation?)

It really confuses me and the chase camera makes me dizzy sometimes

[sal_vager]

IJKLHN will translate instead of rotate, or you can enable docking mode in the lower left

[Ferigad]

It may be a stupid question, but what kind of RCS are you using and how they are excatly arranged? Could you upload a screen of the part you wanna try to dock? (i mean the ship/module you control with a good view on at least half of the mounted RCS on it.) Maybe it gives some insight. It could be a designflaw in the arrangement of the RCS Thrusters, as example. Hard to tell without to see the ship itself. But from the behaviour you describe, i would really need to see your ship with this RCS first. Then i, and the rest, can tell you if it´s a design error or a pilot error. Best piloting does nothing if the RCS are placed wrong and disables full XYZ control in docking mode.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Ferigad

[CookiezFort]

so translate means move and rotate mins to spin around like an idiot?

I guess that is my problem, i watched scott Manley's tutorial on how to rendezvous and he came sooo close and perfect, i mean his ships stop really close and he was able to put them facing oposite directions so he can dock them reaaally easy, I spend 2 hours and i managed ehhh nothing whenever i came close i overshoot!

Anyways i will keep trying

[sal_vager]

It could also be that your thrusters are badly placed, can you post your craft pics to imgur for us? Use F1 to take screenshots in KSP.

[CookiezFort]

There you go, Here is a pic

I had it uploaded earlier

[sal_vager]

They look okay to me.

maybe with that mass you are overcompensating? Or the ASAS is, try turning ASAS off.

Edited May 30, 2013 by sal_vager

[Ferigad]

Well from what i see that should work fine for docking. Technicly it´s like the rest say it. Just to be sure to get it again, first you get closer, that you are allready. Then you switch to dockmode with RCS (and deactivated SAS, otherwise your RCS could beginn to compensate when you try to manouver in docking mode) and then only slowly approach the dock-port.

(Hint: An easy way to get in a good line with your vehicle you want to dock is, you switch over to your target and rotate it in a perfect position to your other vehicle. Then you deactivate the RCS on it and lock it with SAS )

When you are in docking mode and you have the propper module selected to command from (As example the 1 man module you got there would be the right one to control from or the front-docking port) and "Set Target" on the other dockingport, you simply use W for Forward, S for Backward, A for Left, R for right, STRG/CTRL for down i think and SHIFT for Up. It could be the other way around with CTRL and SHIFT, not sure atm. But with this RCS configuration and only 10 meters away it should be quit easy to dock it. (Dont forget, WASD CTRL SHIFT only works when you are in Docking mode, when you use WASD in normal mode it will rotate your ship or let it spin)

Edited May 30, 2013 by Ferigad

[CookiezFort]

how to change to dockmode? I have ASAS turned off, I will change to default settings and i will retry soon thanks for all the tips, rendezvous is the easy part (i found it easy) docking is the hard part...

[Ferigad]

Lower left corner, there you got 3 buttons (Green Box around on pic). The First one looks like a rocket, thats the regular flymode you are in. The second one looks like a soccer ball, thats the docking mode, the third is the starmap.

Docking only needs some training, but in dockmode and a good RCS thruster arrangement you got complete XYZ control of your vessel, if you dont panic in that mode and only use short bursts it´s like parking a car in a nice big parking slot.

If you got this good position i would say go into docking mode and just train a bit with them, get use to the controls and the possibilitys. That helps.

Good luck! I am off to sleep now ^^ (GMT +1 here)

Edited May 30, 2013 by Ferigad

[Spica]

It took me about two weeks of practicing to successfully dock two vessels together. To learn the basics, I recommend your first attempt at docking to be between two small 1 man spacecraft. That way, you learn what to do with something simple, not a full module.

[Trueborn]

My next piece of advice would be to put that top RCS fuel tank and modules below the command pod, and just leave them there. Trying to control anything with just the set at the bottom after jettison will be next to impossible. Just use it as spare RCS fuel for ships that come up and dock with the station. Another option would be to use a small tug (you've probably seen an example if you've watched some of Scott Manley's Reusable Space Program). You'll still want an RCS quad up at the top, but you could leave off the fuel tank up there (RCS does not need to be directly connected to a fuel tank, FYI).

[Procyon]

they one the same plane? the speed discrepancy you state I have only seen when the inclination is off.

[Colonel_Panic]

There you go, Here is a pic

I had it uploaded earlier

hmmm... where are you trying to dock? are you basically trying to guide the side ports onto something? more info or a picture of it in orbit during the procedure might help too.

also, turn on center of mass indicator using the button in the lower left, and make sure it's directly between where you have your RCS mounted. If the craft rotates or pitches at all when you use translative thrusters, you're out of balance. and need to fix this

The 4-way RCS are overkill for this. Put linear ports there instead, and a single set of 4-way ports in 2 symmetry around the center, OR 2 more linear ports in 2 symmetry on the ends.

do not use RCS for rotation if you can avoid it. Every time you use them to turn, you will inadvertently cause your craft's velocity to change, too.

For more info see my tutorial here:

[Vanamonde]

Incidentally, can the guy get out of that capsule with the batteries over the door?