Aaron Also

Meh I dont even bother with KJR just use the default autostrut system. Works very well for me, even on large 600+T satelites. KJR is depricated as far as Im concerned.

Ok so all this has caused me to rethink my approach. Honestly, thats is what brings me the most reward from KSP; accomplishing engineering challenges. The space flight exploration, and all is great, but for me building the best craft for a specific mission is just as much fun. So, now Im leaning more toward power stations on Kerbin that broadcast in microwave. Relay and power stations at 2500Km, all Ka Band. Large deployable phased array transmitters. Another layer of power stations at 7500Km, but with D band microwave and shielded transmitters. Now, my next layer would be at 22,500Km and Im thinking microwave might be getting a bit weak for this distance. Im considering either near IR or perhaps green lasers to cover the rest of Kerbin's SOI. Ideally to finish the swarm properly the final layer out past Minmus, is really the most important. The goal would be to recieve all the laser and microwave power possible and retransmit that at the smallest wavelength possible. Then I will move onto the Sun! It might be this weekend before I get to make progress on orbit placing. I will take pics of my sat designs and orbital parameters to have posted by weeks end. I hope all this helps others that are new or mystified by beamed power. It is surely helping me.

This would explain why I'm only getting 4 megawatts of power from 180 megawatts worth of satellites in LKO; they are in ~7.5Mm orbits. Each has 2 large phased arrays, both transmitting. Will relays improve this? Or do I really need to update my transmitters for best results?

Well I have 12 sats with phased arrays and unneeded gyrotrons in orbit. Guess my next cluster wont need that part, after all. The second layer of my swarm will upgrade from phased arrays to I think the shielded transmitter, it seems more efficient which becomes more important the further out the swarm is.

The legacy microwave arrays no longer require the gravatron (whatever magnatron type thingy) to transmit, is that right? It seems like that was a good standard, why change it?

Sorry for the delayed response, life happens and I sometimes only get to play KSP 1 day a week, Sunday. Well I have started with a Matryoshka Swarm around Kerbin for now. I have 13 satellites in orbit around Kerbin, they are all pebble bed reactor based microwave transmitters, so low tech as things go. Keep in mind I'm using NFT; they produce about 30MW each and idle at 50% load. This is also only the first layer of the swarm. Well the fist powered orbital layer, there will be a layer of relays between this and the planet eventually. There was not reason to put up relays before the transmitters though. This is something I've always wanted to try in KSP, but didn't have the PC for it. Now that I know it is feasible in sandbox, and possible if not impractical in career/science; the goal will be to take it to an extreme. When I get a chance I will get pics together and post my exact plan, like the villain in a spy movie. So, others can follow along or offer tips. I'm still a bit unsure about the relay systems, like using link for relay seems to negate the activate relay button, nothing happens. But, forgoing the link relay and just activating relay seems to be giving me the desired result. Is the link relay used to mate a transmitter and receiver to form a relay? I might have to do some *.cfg manipulating for personal flavor. (I want the folding microwave receiver/solar panel to also be a microwave relay; not a problem though I can swing that much)

Dyson Swarm So, I have been messing around in my sandbox save with the new beamed power parts. While it can be a bit confusing I think I have the basics down. One of my experiments has involved using hyper edit to put a 2.5M solar collector in orbit around the sun at various altitudes. Even with the nerfs from NFT this thing produces nearly 500MW at 3500Mm from the sun, just Inside the orbit of Moho and outside it's SOI. Much closer than 3500Mm and the heat is very difficult to manage. Much further from the sun and you start to worry about Moho, and loose power drastically. My design seemed optimal at this specific altitude, but there is always room for improvement. I was able to have 5 transmitters on the vessel all working in the infrared spectrum. They would transmit a total 250MW giving me around a 50% utilization of the current power production. My power sats at Kerbin function the same at 50% utilization. How can I improve this? So I got to thinking how feasible it would be to build a Dyson Swarm, how much power could it produce and what could be done with that power. Even just a few of these satellites would easily make up for the deficiencies of using NFT with KSPIE. Although the logistics of getting them there in a career or science campaign without hyper edit would be extremely complex, though not impossible. Thoughts?

Im running NFE with the reactor de-buffs in KSPIE. I have had no troubles with my beamed power network thus far. Keep in mind I'm only using microwave band in Kerbin's SOI for now but evrything is working beautifully. It does become a challenge to reach that 2.5GW needed for the DT Vista, but not impossile.

This explains a few things that I have not been able to figure out. Also just ran into the RCS sound crashing bug the other day. Only to find out this was fixed in a recent patch. Why didn't AVC notify me of the update? Should I have checked it with CKAN?

Goslash27 is right you dont have a lift vector which is very odd indicating something is wrong. I would start by removing any mods that effect aerodynamics, like FAR, Procedural wings, realsim overhual, ect. If the problem persists, try backing up your game data folder and saves folder and reinstall KSP. Sorry that is the best I can come up with.

Why, I think your rockets are pointed the wrong way. I always bring an extra reaction wheel or two and leave them turned off until I have captured the rock. Then turn them on and orient for burn. KAS struts are very helpful in this situation to rigidly secure the vessel to the rock. Tweakscale is very helpful too. A 2.5m claw is much better than the stock 1.25m one.

The wings, filled with fuel, also have mass and as they move both the CoM and CoL move. Granted it is a bit odd to see the wings so high up on the vessel and the CoL so low, but not impossible. Can you replicate this issue on another vessel with different wings. Might be a bug with those wings, looks like Procedural Wings mod which I also use and have not noticed a bug of this sort. I might add that the Mk IV spaceplane mod has parts that are vastly superior to the Mk 3 stock parts. Might be worth taking a look. I dont even use the Mk 3 stuff in my game. Lastly, you might watch some of Scott Manly's "Beginner's guide to Aerodynamics" videos they were a huge help when I first started playing KSP.

Ok I gave LqdHydrogen a try with the ATILLA. Thrust is significantly reduced, but ISP is about 10x improved (~3500) still the tank of ~6000 units drains in just a few minutes (just over 5 according to KER) Im still not sure that is right, but it is more manageable. LqdNitrogen provides similar thrust to xenon and ISP close to hydrogen, but limits which tanks can be used. With some design changes I have managed to produce a small craft with enough dV to transport 3 kerbals almost anywhere in the solar system, and land on several moons, before returning.

Take a look at "To Boldly Go" it procedurally generates an entire galaxy. The mod is still in early development, but gets my vote for best new mod for sure.

Didnt try the pivot, didnt need it this time around.

No honestly I have not because Xenon should be considered the reference propellant because it is stock however your point does beg the question as to whether or not it's the fuel tank from another mod I am using. I will test with stock Xenon tanks and report back.

Dito, snatched me up a Class E astoriod that was 63days from impact with Kerbin, just yesterday. Ship was mostly KSPIE parts. Didnt give me any troubles the claw at least, that rock is freaking huge!

Anyone else noticing a problem with the electric engines and ISP? Ive tried the Plasma, Vasimir, and ATILLA. All seem to report excellent thrust and ISP, but then they burn through a tank of xenon filled with 1360units in 10secs or less. Even at low throttle the tank still drains much faster than a Poodle on an orange tank. It seems as if the flow rate/consumption stays the same regardless of what the ISP is supposed to be. The Vasimir engine is draining 8.8 xenon per sec. The feeling is as if there an order of magnitude mis-calculation happening and that should be draining 0.88 xenon per sec. Is that right?

Yes, the thermal mode is for passing heat energy to engines that require it, instead of a heavy reactor. In electric mode, the TEG is required.

@falcoon I've had my suspicions about the radial rectena myself, but never tested it. As for the thermal sphere it must be connected to a thermal electric converter to function. Essentially beamed power in KSPIE works by transferring heat energy over distance and them converting that heat to electricity. Many of the receivers now require TEGs to function is my understanding.

I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT! I have been trying to develop a reliable Mk IV SSTO that could deliver a 40T payload to Minus consistently for a long time. I know there are other designs and people have done it before but I wanted to build my own. Well with the help of KSPIE I have cracked the code. Pics soon to come... 2 Antimatter initiated fusion reactors, with thermal turbo jets and 2 turbo fans from this mod pack. A touch of clipping wizardry for aesthetics and weight distribution and viola! Works like a charm. Note: procedural wings were also used but probably not necessary. Harpy Mk IV Google Drive Sorry can't insert images from my google drive directly to the post. I have made the folder public though so anyone can view them. I saved quite a few of the vessel loaded and not, on the runway, on decent, and in orbit. Note: the KER display It takes off hard and fast launching off the end of the runway, but quickly climbs to a ~45 deg pitch and holds that to about 35-40kM before starting a slight and gentle gravity turn. In this example I made a 69,300kM x 102kM orbit without a maneuver node (no nodes to orbit, it's kinda my thing) without any heating or shock effects. This has taken some practice and I still have room to improve, but either of those conditions means you are wasting fuel fighting the atmosphere and gravity. I don't start the reversible turbo fans (forward mode) until about 5kM and don't got full throttle until 10kM. TWR drops to ~1.0 at 22kM where I shutdown the turbo fans, close intakes, and switch turbo jets over to liquid fuel; they run on atmosphere alone until this point. With the 41,305kg payload in this example, not to mention 13 Kerbals, the Turbo jets provide 1.95 TWR on liquid fuel even at 23kM. At orbit I still have 2,000dV to play with as you will note in the KER window, but the front take on the crew cabin still has 1200 LF, ~600dV more. This is done to keep the CoM in front of the CoL, and preserve emergency fuel for returning and landing. If you have further questions don't hesitate to ask, here or in PM I will respond. BTW, the reversible turbo fans are useful for landing and stopping without drag chutes.

Ok this is by far my new favorite mod. FINALLY, a galaxy! Star system mods where nice but Ive longed for an entire galaxy. Suddenly, KSPIE has real purpose. I might make a few suggestions based on observations of modern science. 1) Most stars probably have at least one planet, probably a gas giant, with or without moons. 2) Most star systems appear to be binary. 3) Galaxies have blackholes at their centers holding everything together and recycling matter throughout. These are commonly held beliefs in Astronomy today that you may consider working into your mod. I would especially like to see the blackhole. Last but not least, I need a paypal donate button if you would like to have some outside support to fuel your mad coding sessions.

Thank You for recreating this. Ive been scratching my head for a couple days trying to figure out where the support thread went.

That link isn't the correct one. You totally got my hopes up. I just came home from work on payday looking forward to sending you a weeks worth of Starbucks. Well, shucks! Let me know when you got this straightened out. I've been using versions of your mods for quite some time. My occupation has finally taken a turn for the better and I'm happy to offer my support in exchange for your continued production and maintenance of these works.

RD, I just have to ask why Patreon? I would love to support you directly through Paypal, but I cant be bothered to make a Patreon account and manage all the nonsense that comes with it just to send you some coffee funds. If you put up a paypal link on the USI catalog page, I will make a not insignificant donation, today!