Transmitting science

[Chris10516]

My lab is full of science due to a long mission and I run out of electric charge while transmitting.  Is there any way I can send partial science or get around this?  

[CalculusWarrior]

48 minutes ago, Chris10516 said:

My lab is full of science due to a long mission and I run out of electric charge while transmitting.  Is there any way I can send partial science or get around this?  

Antennae do contain an option to 'send partial data', which will send data in smaller packets which individually take less energy to transmit, but don't get as much science back home. I believe there is no loss in doing so (i.e. the data sum of these packets is the same as if you sent the original data in full), but don't quote me on that!

What's your power generation setup? If you're using solar panels, try to angle your spacecraft so that they point directly at the sun (you'll see that the 'sun angle' or whatever the thing is called displays a '1', or very close to it). This will bring in the maximum power to your vessel and potentially allow you to transmit the science home.

Finally, if you don't mind cheesing the game a little, begin transmitting the data in full, then start to time warp. While data transmission is not affected by timewarp, power generation is, and so you will bring in more power over time (check the resources panel to see this in detail) while the charge drawn by the antenna doesn't increase.

Also, welcome to the forums!

Edited December 16, 2015 by CalculusWarrior

[OhioBob]

If you can reach your lab with another ship and dock to it, then the power generation and battery capacity of the two vessels is combined.  I just recently had a similar problem in which I didn't have enough battery power to last the eclipse phase of my orbit while I was performing research.  I just made sure that when I ferried my next crew up to the lab I included a big battery bank.  Problem solved.  Or course that may not be feasible in your case.

[RocketBlam]

There's actually a trick to this. I'm not sure this works in 1.05, but it worked in 1.04.

If you don't have enough power to transmit the whole experiment, do this:

1. Begin transmitting. You must have solar panels receiving sunlight (thus recharging batteries) for this to work.

2. Go to a higher time compression (5x, 10x, 50x, whatever).

At some point, and I'm not sure why, you'll be transmitting at normal speed, but recharging at the compressed speed. At least I think that's what's happening. So the result is, the batteries are recharging faster than normal, and at some point, they're recharging faster than they can be depleted. So you won't run out of electricity while you're transmitting.

[Plusck]

I consider it an exploit but I do the warp trick often. In my defence, the labs I use it on were built before I had any idea of the power requirements to send 500 science points back, or that partial uploads were impossible...

[Chris10516]

Thanks guys. All of your suggestions worked great. I will be sure to include more batteries or panels next time I send a processing lab up.

[Snark]

2 hours ago, Plusck said:

I consider it an exploit but I do the warp trick often. In my defence, the labs I use it on were built before I had any idea of the power requirements to send 500 science points back, or that partial uploads were impossible...

I don't think it's an exploit at all.  It's transmitting slower (in game time) than without warp, basically you're just dumbing down your transmitter.  Anything that reduces your capability isn't an exploit, to me. 

IRL, probes with tiny electric power send massive data all the time.  They do it by transmitting the data really slowly.  That's why we had to wait many weeks past the New Horizons flyby before we got those gorgeous full-res shots of Pluto.

The fact that KSP forces you to use timewarp to accomplish the same thing is just a missing feature in the game, IMHO.

[haydent]

Hey guys, first post, love the game. Got my lab full science and didnt take enough battery to transmit it all. The warp tweak works, but i also tried allow partial to compare from same save position and it gave me the same science credits, so no loss

Also just in case you are close to having enough power anyway, dont forget to stop your researching if its still going so save power.

[Snark]

8 hours ago, haydent said:

Hey guys, first post, love the game. Got my lab full science and didnt take enough battery to transmit it all. The warp tweak works, but i also tried allow partial to compare from same save position and it gave me the same science credits, so no loss

Also just in case you are close to having enough power anyway, dont forget to stop your researching if its still going so save power.

Welcome to the forums! 

[HamishKL]

Hi there, I just want to say that I still have this problem with a stock installation of v1.1.0.1228. 

Scenario: I have an old research station on the Mun with nothing but a small bank of fixed solar panels generating power. All systems are off except for the antenna and I'm trying to transmit 288 precious sciences back home, but the transmission carks it at 51.31% due to loss of electrical power - even with allow partial activated on the antenna and in optimal sunlight.

Nothing I do seems to allow a partial transmission of data, including the tips above, and I have no feasible way to bring more generating capacity to the station due to lack of funds/tech, plus no docking port on the station.

What should I do? Try to build a little rover with a solar array and Klaw on it?  Help!

 

 

[Mahnarch]

On 12/15/2015 at 11:25 AM, Snark said:

They do it by transmitting the data really slowly....

So, you're saying that our high end satellites are equivalent to a high school fast food worker?

 

6 hours ago, HamishKL said:

What should I do? Try to build a little rover with a solar array and Klaw on it?  Help!

 

 

Yes. I had to do the same at Duna in 1.0.5.

My lab looked like it was being attacked by a techno worm.