Fourjays

I almost have to use KW Rocketry... just adds a whole new level of challenge on the part of KSP I enjoy most (building rockets). It is far more interesting and challenging to build a probe/rover/satellite/whatever to fit within a fairing space of a pre-determined size (while still doing everything it needs to), than to come up with the probe/rover/satellite/whatever first and then just bolt enough rockets round it for it to reach orbit. I spent a whole weekend making a landing system for a rover that could land safely, drop the rover intact, allow the rover to drive off (without fire the lander's rockets and potentially damaging the rover) and still fit inside a 2.5m fairing (which was the hardest part). Was worth the effort (and all the testing on Kerbin) when it landed and released the rover successfully. Aside from that I've only got mods that add functionality and features. I generally try to keep them to a minimum.

MechJeb 2 is better than 1.9.8 for me in every way except the UI. It just doesn't fit with the rest of the game and looks sort of unfinished.

Thanks for the help everyone. That map in particular is going to be really useful.

Hi, I'm fairly new to KSP (been playing about a month now) and am still learning some things. One thing I am particularly struggling with is navigation... in practice at least. Having watched Scott Manley's video on navigating between planets I felt like I've got a good grasp on it. Using the online calculator and manoeuvre nodes I managed to get a distant encounter, but it took a lot of effort. So I started trying mods (Protractor, Kerbal Engineer Redux, MechJeb and Kerbal Alarm Clock) that will make it easier, but after many tests over the last few weeks, I've been left with more questions than answers... 1) The Protractor mod gives two angles that are "countdowns" and as in Scott's videos this makes sense. One is the angle of Kerbin relevant to the target planet, the other is the angle during my orbit that I need to begin the burn to escape and basically I ideally wait for them to both be 0'. I have used this in conjunction with the manoeuvre nodes and can get an encounter (albeit not a close one, but I could correct it during the journey). So today I gave Kerbal Engineer a go after noticing that it seems to show the same information, plus loads more. In Kerbal Engineer, I can see the "Intercept Angle" nearly matches up with the first value in Protractor (it is out by a degree). However, I can't see any angle that "matches" with the second angle in Protractor, including the one labelled "Ejection Angle". Why are these values different? What am I not understanding? And what are the other angles displayed in Kerbal Engineer used for? 2) Kerbal Alarm Clock has a feature for adding alarms for transfer windows, which I used in a game a week ago. When the alarm eventually went off, Protractor was showing that I was 2'+ past the point at which I should transfer (even with several hours advance warning set on the alarm). Why was there such a difference? And does it matter? 3) Is there a way to find out how much TWR or Delta-V I'll need at various stages of a mission other than trial and error? Or is that like asking how long a piece of string is? Loads of mods can tell me what those values currently are (and what they'd be on other planets), but nothing tells me what I need to get into orbit, or get from Kerbin to the Mun, or perform a transfer from Kerbin to Eve. Trial and error doesn't bother me so much with the short hops I've been doing so far, but I'd hate to do a mission to Jool, only to get swallowed up because I under-guesstimated the amount of fuel required to achieve orbit. 4) In MechJeb 2 is there a way to get it to display the angles needed for navigation in the same way that Protractor/Kerbal Engineer do (counting down)? Thanks

Feel so daft now. I went back to check as I was certain I had the two satellites targeting each other. They were. But I'd not activated the dish on the first satellite. Of course it works perfectly now. Thanks! Does anyone have any examples of their networks and how they use the various dishes/antenna for mission communications? I'm trying to understand how the various components work and can be utilised. Like for a Voyager style mission, would the big dish at Kerbin and an antenna on the probe work? Or would I need a big dish on both (which would be a bit disappointing)? Would a Duna rover need a dish of its own? Do rovers/non-relay satellites still need a RemoteControl module? Thanks.

Already had them both pointed at each other. :s Second one still got a signal from the KSC only. Because it says you can in the Wiki tutorial (unless this has changed with the new update). As these are tests though I'm not jettisoning them straight away as suggested. Both satellites have had the dipole antenna attached when I'm trying to get them connected up. I've only ditched the antenna stage when it actually seems to be connected (which worked fine with the first satellite). With (and without) the antenna, the second satellite is still only receiving a signal from KSC. If it goes 90' round from KSC, it loses contact (but given the first satellites position, it is still in sight of it). I have everything both the first post and the Wiki say I should have.

Wondering if you can help, because I've played with this mod several times now before giving up out of frustration. I'd really like to try and get it working, but whatever I do it always ends up with crafts "out of contact". I've launched an unmanned satellite setup to a geosynchronous orbit above the KSC. It has the RemoteControl Mk1, an Interplanetary class dish and 4x Probobydyne dishes (as well as solar panels and batteries). By attaching the dipole antenna to the first rocket stage, linking one of the dishes to Mission Control, and putting it on a "straight up" ascent path I managed to get it into orbit without losing contact, and it remains in contact (via the dishes as the antenna was ditched). I've also pointed one of the dishes at "Kerbin" (in addition to the one already pointed at Mission Control). With the same configuration, I aimed to put another on in orbit to one side. So this time I get it into a regular orbit at 200km (as I already have a dish up there), but it never gets a signal from the first satellite. As long as it is directly over the KSC all works fine, but as soon as it goes out of sight of the KSC it goes "out of contact". However, it still has a line of sight with the first satellite (it is only to one side of Kerbin, not behind it) I've tried targeting a dish on the second satellite at the first one. I've also tried targeting a dish on the first one at the second one. Still no contact except with KSC when it is directly over it (never KSC->Sat1->Sat2). This is the same problem I've had despite several attempts over the last few weeks (some on the 4.* version and this one on the 5.*). I can always get a signal from the KSC to the first satellite I put up, but never a signal from the KSC, to the first and then to another. Why isn't the first satellite relaying the signal from Mission Control to a second? An additional question, as I'm trying various mods before I start my game "proper". Will RemoteTech work for interplanetary travel? If I sent a Voyager style probe off into the abyss of space, what kind of satellite setup would I need?