How to disable a specific RCS thruster

[linuxgurugamer]

I have a ship which had some heavy-duty RCS thrusters (4 Vernor Engines) at one end. These were needed for a specific job, and now the job is completed.

My problem is that without these thrusters, my RCS is balanced and it is fairly easy to maneuver to dock at a station. However, with these enabled, the ship is almost uncontrollable.

Is it possible to setup a hot-key which would disable specific thrusters (and obviously enable them when desired)? The only way that I can see to do this is to go edit the save file, and I'd rather NOT do that.

I know I can right-click and hit the "Disable RCS Port" button, but it's a real problem if I'm switching the RCS on and off, since that seems to reset the setting, at leat on the Vernor Engines

Could this be a (gasp) bug?

Thanks in advance

Edited February 19, 2015 by linuxgurugamer

[WhiteKnuckle]

You can key them to action groups when you're building the ship.

[Taki117]

You could always tie them to an action group, however this must be done prior to launch. Also, if your ship has reaction wheels (Which all manned ships do, and some unmanned ones should) then you don't need RCS on, unless you are docking, in which case you shouldn't be toggling it.

[basic.syntax]

No bug, just minor frustration. If you could take the ship back to Kerbin and launch another one - in the VAB, you can / could have assigned Vernor toggling, to an action group. The stock game doesn't permit setting action group hotkeys in space, once you leave the ship editor (VAB / SPH).

[Streetwind]

If there's a rightclick setting on the vernor thruster, there's a chance that you might be able to bind them to an action group.

That way, even if it resets everytime you enable RCS, you're at least only one keystroke away from restoring it.

EDIT: Wow, those ninjas!

[Sirrobert]

Remember that in career, you need to have a fully upgraded VAB before you can set specific action groups

[WhiteKnuckle]

That way, even if it resets everytime you enable RCS, you're at least only one keystroke away from restoring it.

The reason why it resets when you enable RCS is because any thrusters you place automatically get put in the RCS action group. You can remove the Vernors from this group if you want so that toggling RCS will not turn them on/off.

[linuxgurugamer]

The reason why it resets when you enable RCS is because any thrusters you place automatically get put in the RCS action group. You can remove the Vernors from this group if you want so that toggling RCS will not turn them on/off.

How can the Vernors be removed? Or is this something back in the VAB?

Interestingly enough, regular RCS thrusters do retain the enabled/disabled setting when I enable/disable RCS.

- - - Updated - - -

No bug, just minor frustration. If you could take the ship back to Kerbin and launch another one - in the VAB, you can / could have assigned Vernor toggling, to an action group. The stock game doesn't permit setting action group hotkeys in space, once you leave the ship editor (VAB / SPH).

Well, I can't take the ship back, this is in the middle of a mission.

- - - Updated - - -

You could always tie them to an action group, however this must be done prior to launch. Also, if your ship has reaction wheels (Which all manned ships do, and some unmanned ones should) then you don't need RCS on, unless you are docking, in which case you shouldn't be toggling it.

Well, I am docking.

I am also short on monopropollent, so I'm using the main engine for forward thrust (it's a 909, so low thrust is fine). I need to toggle between RCS and the engine repeatedly in order to do this.

[Sampa]

To disable a specific RCS block, just right-click on the block and click the button that says "Disable"

[linuxgurugamer]

So I ended up editing the save file to disable the Vernor thrusters. I don't consider this a cheat, since it is possible to disable them while in-game, it just doesn't stay disabled :-(

Once disabled, the docking went very smoothly, and I now have added a science lab to my orbiting base around Minmus. My ship was also able to refuel and will now be able to get home (I was low on fuel as well as being low on monopropollent due to a miscalculation).

This ship was fulfilling a contract to put a base on Minmus, but I didn't want to leave it there. So I designed the ship to have the science lab in front of the pod so I would be able to dock it to the orbiting base and then detach. So I landed, waited the 10 seconds to fulfill the contract, and then did all the science I could. Then I took off and rendezvoused with the base. Now that I've been able to refuel, I'll be able to get my Kerbals home (warm and fuzzy feelings inside)

[linuxgurugamer]

To disable a specific RCS block, just right-click on the block and click the button that says "Disable"

I know that :-)

The problem was that since I was turning the RCS on and off repeatedly, for the Vernor thrusters, that button/setting was being reset back to enabled.