expert_vision

Yes, LAN in KER is pretty much useless. I just added to see if after I finish the contract the LAN is 28°, and indeed it was 30.5°. LAN would be useful in KER if I would have the celestial longitude of the vessel in orbit, instead I only have the planet longitude.

Oh, I see. I did complete the mission visually, I was just curious about this orbit mechanic and a bit intrigued as to why the longitudes don't match.

I have a contract that requires me to put a satellite in a certain orbit and I don't understand one of the given orbit parameter, specifically, longitude of ascending node. I understand what it is, but I don't know how to interpret the given value. LAN is measured in degrees, but in reference to what? Below is a screenshot of my satellite in a lower circular orbit positioned at (visually) the same longitude as the AN of the targeting orbit, where I am supposed to burn in normal direction to obtain the designated orbit inclination. But the LAN value given in the contract (28°) doesn't match my vessel longitude (73° W) shown in Engineer Redux mod. LAN is measured in degrees in reference to what?

What do these symbols represent? They appear when I click "Activate navigation" on a location on Kerbin. No mods are used.

I understand how the mod works, is just that I would like it even more, if it would reflect reality. In reality, the gain of an antenna is bidirectional, thus both the transmitted and the received signal get the same gain. So if I have two 15 dBi dipoles linked to each other, the total link gain would be 30 dBi. And if I replace one dipole with a 50 dBi dish antenna, the total link gain would be 50+15=65 dBi. The gain is additive. The only purpose for the antenna gain is to compensate for the signal attenuation during propagation through medium. So in other words, no matter which way you go, the signal gets buffed at the transmitting antenna and then it get's buffed again at the receiving antenna. The only way to get no gain with an antenna is if you use an isotropic antenna, which is a pure theoretical one.

How does this work out? As far as I know the gain of an antenna is bidirectional. So if I point a dish antenna with a distance of 50Mm to an isotropic antenna, the cover range would be 50Mm, but if I would point a 50Mm dish antenna to another 50Mm dish antenna, the cover range would be 100Mm. So where is that "X2" coming from for a link between a 5Mm dipole antenna and a 50Mm dish antenna? Shouldn't the range be 55Mm ?