schlosrat

Thanks, I've tried again - this time with the 1564 build. Same results, and I've modified the design so there is only one thermal generator and only one charged particle generator. As before, there's a 5M dusty plasma, two 5m super capacitors, and a bit more than 160 GW of radiators. This time I've got one of the radiators selected so you can see what's going on with that part too. Basically, I'm getting the same thing. It charges up (now to 90.6 GW), I get the dreaded warning, and then it quickly fizzles. Here's the shot of that. http://imgur.com/oZp82KR I am getting errors in the log, but I don't know why, or if they're related. When I pull up the debug menu I see many repeated identical red lines that say "Exception: MissingFieldException: Field '.MapView.MapIsEnabled' not found." with an occasional white line of text that reads "DragCubeSystem: Rendering procedural drag for KspiQuantumSingularityReactor2" http://imgur.com/yoPbJb4 The mods I've got are KSPI, PreciseNode, KerbalEngineer, KerboKatz. Any thoughts?

Hey @FreeThinker Can you shed any light on what it takes to get a 5M QSR to work in the latest 1.10.3 build? I've got a 5M QSR stacked up with what I believe are correctly sized thermal and charged particle generators, plus a 5M dusty plasma and it's own charged particle generator, plus a couple of 5M super capacitors, and a veritable forest of thermal radiators that the tool in the VAB claims can dissipate over 200GW. All of this is in low Kerbin orbit. AFAIK, I'm more than satisfying all the requirements for lots of juice, zero G, and near a gravity well; but when I try to start it up, it charges, then promptly warns me with the dreaded "Warning: Fusion Reactor plasma heating cannot be guaranteed, reducing power requirements is recommended". then immediately fizzles it's charge without actually stating. Here's a screen shot of the whole apparatus, complete with reactor control windows for both the dusty plasma and the QSR. This was snapped shortly after the charge hit 42.7 GW and then promptly began fizzling. http://imgur.com/HWJMR21 BTW, what does that warning mean? It's not obvious (to me at least) what the problem is that it's indicating, and I'm not aware of anything online that defines what it's telling the player. It sure would be nice if that warning was revised with something useful like add more radiators, or whatever is needed. If it's more complicated than that, then can there be something prominently placed in the guide that would instruct folks what they should look at to fix their design so they don't get it? Honestly, I've tried googling that warning and not really found anything useful. Thanks!

Just wanted to update, the weird disappearing texture effect was apparently being caused by the PlanetShine mod, which was the only other one I had installed. Once that was removed the textures appear normal. The non-deployed appearance of a deployed part is still happening though.

I was playing around with 1.10.3 in the latest version of KSP 1.2 (1564). Love the new parts! Very cool animations! For some reason the textures keep disappearing on me and then later reappearing - not sure why. Also the new Circular Solar Photovoltaic Cells show up visually as not being deployed when you switch back to your craft, even though they are generating power and show as having direct sun, etc. So, basically, I deploy them. They work. I witch away to another craft or wherever, then later switch back and visually they are in the non-deployed state, however functionally they're generating power. When I right click on them the option is to retract them. If I do that, then they momentarily appeared deployed and immediately enter the retraction animation. I can subsequently select Deploy to re-deploy them which they will do; rinse and repeat. Just letting you know. Thanks! Awesome mod!

NF electric is know to break KSPI-E I believe

Thanks! Got it that time.

Thanks @stali79 I'll give space dock another shot

Wow, I've got CKAN on my Mac. Thanks! This is very cool and I'm very grateful for you setting me straight on that! Next problem... CKAN doesn't appear to know about OPT Space Plane Parts. As in it's not listed as an option to install, nor has it noticed that I've got it installed. Here's where I'm at: I can get CKAN to launch using "mono ckan.exe". I've configured the CKAN settings per the instructions on the page you linked. It seems to know about 24 of the 40 mods I've got (it shows an "AD" for installed on those), and of course it knows of many more mods out there. But I'll be damned if I can find anything that has OPT in the name except some completely unrelated CactEye Optics Communtiy thing. I've confirmed that I've pointed it at the right KSP install by using it to launch KSP, which worked fine and showed the loading of all 40 mods I'm using right now. So this is turing into a CKAN question, which probably doesn't belong here. Sorry about that, let me bring it back. Q: Is there anywhere I can directly download 1.8.5.1? Q: What would I get in that version anyway? Thanks

Hi, AVC is generating a warning that 1.8.5.1 is available, but I've got 1.8.5. When I follow the download link to SpaceDock all I get is another copy of 1.8.5. Is 1.8.5.1 posted somewhere else? CKAN isn't an option for me lat time I checked since it's windows based and I'm on a Mac. What's up?

The new models sound interesting, but I'm a bit concerned when you say the molten salt will be a stand alone reactor again. I appears that it includes a built in power converter now. Is that feature going to be removed? If so won't that break things for anyone who's made use of that feature? Also I've got a question about the QSR. Is it really supposed to cost 90M? That seems like it's off by an order of magnitude. How could anyone ever afford one in a career game? It would be far more economical to just put up a bunch of MCF reactors. Thanks

Thanks for that breakdown @FreeThinker. So far the only microwave network I've built is with the current version in a sandbox save. I've been using that to try to get the hang of it and to develop some ships. I'm waiting for the next overhaul to refine my power sat designs then I'll pick one or two to implement in my career mode game. Will reactors be changing much in the coming overhaul? Or is it more about the transmitters and receivers and such? Also is there any merit in trying to develop solar power sats for low kerbol orbit with microwave beamed power? I've seen a few older posts on that topic but nothing recently and am wondering if that still works effectively in the game

Is there a guide that talks about which reactors are the best choices for various roles? I've been trying to figure this out for the primary purpose of building economical nuclear power stations for beamed power, but also for use as a small power source when exploring out past Duna, etc. it seems there are several kinds that are optimized or strongly biased for use as part of a propulsion system but that's not how I'm using them right now. One thing that also has me confused is the various mark numbers on the performance. I've got every node in the tech tree except the last one that gives you the quantum singularity reactor and most of my reactor options seem to be stuck at Mk 2 or 3 out of 5 or 6. What do I need to do to unlock the upgrades and get better performance?

So far so good. Was able to do an ascent, rendezvous, and docking without issue. I learned during that last manuever that my craft wasn't very stiff (which in hindsight was to be expected given the hasty way I slapped it together) and I was pleased to see how it, and later the docked conglomeration of it and something much larger behaved wrt rotations. I'll continue to play around with MJ attitude control modes, but so far everything seems to be fine. Thanks!

Thanks Markus! I look forward to testing this.

I do agree this is a realism upgrade, and can well imagine how useful it will be for things like microwave beamed power relay sats, and also long low thrust high impulse electric motors, etc. I'm going to continue to play around with it to see if I can get the hang of using it with MJ. I eagerly look forward to seeing it treat MJ's SmartASS as if it's SAS. Thanks!

I think that would help. I'd certainly like to give it a shot. I'm still confused about how to switch the mod off other than simply removing it. But perhaps if the MJ SmartASS worked like SAS I wouldn't need to. Thanks!

Hmmm... Deleted PR folder from GameData Copied in fresh copy of 1.7 Restarted game No change in effect, but I have found that if I wait longer (20 or 30 seconds) after having MJ point at the node the drift rate is considerably reduced. There is still oscillation at the end. I'm still confused about how it may be possible to have the mod installed and also switch it off entirely. I'm deeply concerned about how it will impact my career game for trickier things like landing, etc. There are times when you just don't have 10's of seconds to wait for stability to fall within some range that this mod will not make your ship go crazy. I may try a simple Mun landing in sandbox mode so that I don't make a mess of my career mode game, but all in all I'd really rather just have an Off button I could toggle before such a time sensitive maneuver. Also, I've been using MJ to watch the actual angular velocity of my craft and waiting until all three axes show 0.000. Then the drift rate is sometimes very good, and sometimes not so good, and there is still always a little oscillation at the end - but things are better.

Tried it again this time being careful to set Default Reference Body to None. Seems to work better, but still requires Create Node > Point at Node > Stop Rotation > Execute Next Node. I saw less oscillation this time, but definitely there as some oscillation going on right before executing the burn. For a burn with a fairly precise start time requirement that could inadvertently delay the start of the burn. All in all I'd love to have this on my microwave repeater stations, but I'd also love to be able to turn it completely off when it gets in the way of using MJ to program and execute a maneuver. Could there be an "Off" button? I did at one point have v 1.5 installed, but I thought I had removed the entire PR folder from Game Date before copying in v 1.7. I'll do that again and see if I get a better result. Thanks for the help.

@MarkusA380 thanks for the quick reply. I don't think I understand what you mean when you say MechJeb is a probe core. Yes, it allows control of stability through it's SmartASS function, but No you can't bring up stock SAS (or if you can I certainly don't know how). So far the only way I've found of getting PR to play nice with MJ is to have stock SAS set to point at the maneuver vector. I must be missing something there. I normally have the MechJeb SmartASS window up when carrying out maneuvers with MJ, but of course it switches to one setting (Auto) during the actual maneuver while the MJ autopilot is in control. If I understand what you said about having almost no angular momentum prior to time warp, then it appears a more correct assessment might be that PR is incompatible with MJ's "Create and execute" button in the Maneuver Planner. I've tried a couple things to see if I could effect a reasonable outcome using MJ to perform a very simple maneuver to go from a circular 200km orbit around Kerbin to a coplanar 300km orbit using a craft with a high degree of control authority (very nimble in attitude, quickly getting to and holding any orientation). If I create the node, then use SmartASS to point to the Node, then wait for the craft to appear to be quite steadily pointed to the node, then execute the node, the result is my orientation diverges fairly quickly and soon enough MJ comes out of time warp and we begin to oscillate back and forth across the maneuver node vector. That didn't work so well, so I tried a variant: Create node, Point at node, Kill rotation, wait a bit to be sure, execute node. This resulted in a slower drift away from the maneuver node, but it did drift significantly nonetheless and the only solution to stop the endless oscillation when coming out of warp was to abort the node execution and repeat the process starting with point at the node, etc. Is that how it's supposed to work? If so, then I'd rate this mod as marginally compatible with MJ in that it doesn't flat out break the users ability to program and cary out maneuvers, it just interferes with it in an annoying and tedious way. Again I really hope I'm missing something basic here and have just not caught on to how I should be or could be using this mod. Speaking of such things: How does one open the PR Reference Selection Window? And on a related note is there any source for documentation on how to use PR? Maybe what I really need here is a basic how to that covers such things. If such a guide already exists then could there be a pointer to it prominently located in this forum? Here's what I see when I try to configure PR: When I go to a vessel in flight the PR window is up at the top of my screen with two buttons: a cogwheel that brings up a Configure window, and box that if clicked becomes a line and adds a "Rotation" and "Momentum" button, with "Rotation" in green and "Momentum" in red. Below that it says "Enable SAS to use this mode!". Of course I can't do that since clicking on SAS produces the onscreen KSP message that "<Vessel> has no operational SAS modules and no pilots aboard. Cannot engage SAS". In the Configure window I've got two possible things to control: "GUI Visibility Mode" (Always, Stock, and Blizzy's), and below that "Default Reference Body" with choices of None and Dynamic. I've tried both None and Dynamic with the same results. And I can click on the Rotation and Momentum buttons to my hearts content with no effect (meaning they don't change color or seem to do anything). If I've got a probe core or a pilot, of course I can switch on SAS and then the "Rotation" and "Momentum" buttons become functional. What am I missing?

First off I'd like to commend @MarkusA380 for a very interesting and potentially useful mod. Apparently there are already quite a few folks who consider this to be an indispensable mode. I am not yet one of those. As near as I can tell this mod is only compatible with MechJeb if there is either a pilot or a probe core capable of SAS onboard. I routinely build craft that are occasionally unmanned with just the MJ part attached. Also, I often don't include a pilot in the crew since I can do all the piloting I've ever really needed with just a MechJeb part. So far I've found that if I do have either a probe core or a pilot I can turn on SAS and set it to track the maneuver point. If I do this, then when I engage the MechJeb maneuver the craft will point at the maneuver vector and stay there as it should. So far that's the only way I've discovered of getting it to work. As I'm in the process of setting up a microwave network, I'd really like to get this mod to work for me. But as things stand I've yet to discover how to switch the damn thing off, and with it on it just makes a total mess out of almost every maneuver I try to execute with MechJeb. Sorry, I think my frustration is showing. I really do think this mod is a cool idea and I'd very much like to be able to use it. Maybe there's some simple way to switch it off when it get's int he way? It would be freaking awesome if it could just corporate with MechJeb rather than interfering with it. What am I missing? I've tried every setting I can find in the PR control panel (there aren't that many). I see where others are claiming it *is* compatible with MechJeb. I've tried it in a clean version of KSP 1.1.3 with only KSPI-E, MechJeb, and this mod installed. Can someone please tell me how to switch it off when it's in the way? Is there some super secret recipe of settings that can make it compatible with MechJeb? If so, I highly recommend publishing that as an edit the first post in this thread so that it can easily and quickly be found. Even better, can we make that the default behavior?

@FreeThinker I've been able to solve the problem I reported above with MechJeb by using a dev version that mod. @sarbian indicated that he thought this problem was originating with KSPI-E due to an incorrectly reported fuel flow issue. Apparently he was under the impression it had already been fixed at this end. Are you aware of this issue? Do you have plans to address it? It sounds to me that the MJ Dev build fix is more of a bandaid and not a proper fix and that something may be needed at this end. As things stand, KSPI-E electric engines appear to be compatible with MJ v 2.5.8.0-634 (and perhaps other Dev builds in that family), but there is an issue where MJ is reporting an overestimate of TWR and DV in the VAB and also in flight prior to the KSPI-E engine being used for the first time. I don't know if this is related, but it is certainly the case that I've seen even with no other mods present other than KSPI-E and MJ.

Is there a known issue with MechJeb and electric thrusters? I'm finding that MechJeb doesn't seem to understand what the thrust or isp is until I've used a given engine on that stage, and even then the darn thing forgets again any time I switch vessels. Often I have to perform a small manual burn at full thrust before engaging MJ to execute a maneuver and some times even if I do that it still won't work. One clue is that if I have the MJ delta V window open there won't be anything listed at all for any stage until I do a manual burn using the KSPI-E electric motor to burn. This is manifesting in both career mode and sandbox and affecting both ATTILA and Quantum Plasma thrusters. I've got GWs of power available both beamed and in many cases onboard via ractors and generators. FYI, I've posted a more detailed report in the MechJeb forum since I suspect the problem is there, but I wanted to know if anyone here knew of a reason this might be so. I've tested in a clean install of KSP 1.1.3 with only KSPI-E and MechJeb installed as mods.