Best way to achieve 95% coverage with RT2

[Sovek]

So I have two contracts for RT that involve getting 95% coverage with RT2, however I have no idea how to do so.

I'm thinking that 8 satellites, 4 in polar, 4 in equatorial orbit at about 1Mm altitude, each at a 90 degree phase angle should do the trick, but before I commit that much money, I want to make sure it would work.

Edited October 26, 2015 by Sovek

[legoclone09]

Well I would try it in Snadbox with hyper edit to get the best coverage, on the Mun you should have 3 sats with 120* phase angles above 200km, I think. Try that and if it works go for 250km, better safe then sorry.

[Stone Blue]

No more details on the contract?... 95% coverage of WHAT?... Pretty sure you can get close to, if not 100%, from all of Kerbin surface out to just past KEO-sync, from just 3 sats in an 800km equatorial orbit, with ONLY a single Comm32 on each...

This site is your new friend as far as RT2 goes:

https://ryohpops.github.io/kspRemoteTechPlanner/

[sebi.zzr]

If this applies to earth,i bet it will for Kerbin too.

But you can look here for 4-sat full-surface coverage.

[Sovek]

Around Mun/Minmus... So all I need is 3 at a high enough altitude?

Also note, this is KScale2

So each sat is equipped with 2 DTS-1s should be able to get enough of a coverage?

Edited October 25, 2015 by Sovek

[Stone Blue]

Yeah, I imagine that would work... Pretty sure with Kerbin, minimum orbit for a 3 sat network is just above 600km... So I think you need an orbit at least equal to the radius of the body being orbited?...So I'd guess at least 200km for Mun?...But go at least 300km or higher to allow for imperfect satellite spacing and eventual drift...

Looking at that link i posted, 3 sats with a single Comm16, at an orbit of 300km, will give 100% coverage out to 2.5Mm+, well outside the Mun SOI of 2.23Mm...

Edited October 25, 2015 by Stone Blue

[Alshain]

Around Mun/Minmus... So all I need is 3 at a high enough altitude?

Also note, this is KScale2

So each sat is equipped with 2 DTS-1s should be able to get enough of a coverage?

Yes, the further you can get from the planet, the more of the near-pole it can see. The DTS-1 however may not be necessary. I recommend using the Communotron 32 for the Mun and Minmus, as this will cover the entire SOI and then some without aiming and then have a DTS 1 to relay the signal back to Kerbin. If you really want to save cost, only two of the 3 satellites need a DTS-1. There is never point where 3 evenly spaced satellites will have 2 blocked at the same time.

EDIT: In fact a 1000km orbit with Communotron 16's might be sufficient enough to cover the poles of the Mun and still get the whole SOI and more.

This should help.

https://ryohpops.github.io/kspRemoteTechPlanner/

Edited October 25, 2015 by Alshain

[The_Rocketeer]

RT2 ignores any terrain above datum altitude (usually sea level), so actually you don't need more than 2 dedicated satellites for 95% surface coverage on small bodies bodies with elevated poles - as long as you have relay satellites to get the dark-side signal back to KSC.