What do you place on a Satellite

[JLE]

On 9/5/2016 at 0:08 PM, suicidejunkie said:

My current career game is oppressing AI; (they aren't allowed to be left unattended with a propulsion system).

So my satellites consist of a probe core, AA batteries, solar panel, tiny antenna, and a science package.  Typically bolted together by Bob using KAS.  When I unlock the tech, that'll be switched to RTG power instead.

For long distance RT comms, I've got ground stations at the poles for constant sun and sightlines.

Ground Station??

What do you place on them??

Is it usefull?

[DarkHawkGames]

I can always tell I'm doing well when I can put a mapping satellite in polar orbit. I use SCANsat, and use the better of the first two probe cores with two small in-line batteries under it. On the sides I put two SCANsat modules, turned so that it doesn't cover my flat solar panels which I use 8x symmetry to cover the sides of the probe core. Sometimes I'll include either a magnetosphere scanner on the front or the telescope.

[suicidejunkie]

12 minutes ago, JLE said:

Ground Station??

What do you place on them??

Is it usefull?

I place them on mountain peaks to improve their range, and string them out around the planet.  The early game relays I deployed by hand from KIS inventory with a science plane, but future ones will be dropped on parachutes from a heavy bomber plane to save time.

Mun and Minmus relays are easier since everywhere is a 3km mountain and the radius is so small you only need a few to stretch a link from pole to pole.  If you feel like doing an Elcano challenge, you can carry a bucket full of parts to leave a trail as you go.

 

The actual nodes look like this, roughly.  Once I got the 1x6 solar panels I upgraded to that, and only a few relays have the long range whip instead of just the DP-10 because you don't need many for full coverage.  And only the polar relay is heavy duty with the DTS-M1 to reach Mun & Minmus.

As far as actual practicality goes, a couple satellites in medium orbits is far faster and cheaper.  I just like the absolute permanence of the ground station.

Edited May 10, 2016 by suicidejunkie

[JLE]

That's cool, but what I still don't get is: what are they for? I mean are they usefull for something special or just for the fun of it (cause it looks quite fun to that!)

[suicidejunkie]

2 minutes ago, JLE said:

That's cool, but what I still don't get is: what are they for? I mean are they usefull for something special or just for the fun of it (cause it looks quite fun to that!)

One advantage is if you place a relay at the north or south pole, it will always have sunlight, and always have line of sight to everywhere in the solar system (except down through the planet).

You can just have one site with the biggest dishes and not worry about it drifting or going behind the planet.

I have a second super relay at Mun's north pole to protect against eclipses as well.

[JoeNapalm]

 

Sriracha.

 

-Jn-

[waterlubber]

Everything I need, except one of the following:

-Solar Panels

-Probe Core

-Batteries

-Reaction Wheels

-Fuel of the right type

3 hours ago, suicidejunkie said:

One advantage is if you place a relay at the north or south pole, it will always have sunlight, and always have line of sight to everywhere in the solar system (except down through the planet).

You can just have one site with the biggest dishes and not worry about it drifting or going behind the planet.

I have a second super relay at Mun's north pole to protect against eclipses as well.

What about nearby horizons, such as craters in terrain? Does RT simulate that level of detail?

[suicidejunkie]

4 hours ago, waterlubber said:

What about nearby horizons, such as craters in terrain? Does RT simulate that level of detail?

There isn't any actual terrain at Kerbin's poles, and you can just place it at a peak for better angles on bodies where there is terrain.

RT treats planets as spheres, but that's plenty of accuracy for common situations.  It is best to put the relays at the top of hills for the altitude benefits, and that makes it look good as a side effect.

[moppaking]

I design my SATs to be stackable so I can handle multiple satelite contracts at once. Saves quite some launching costs. I put all the science instruments on them that I have unlocked - minus the material bay unless it is required.

[Dfthu]

Solar panels 

Lots of antennas

Ore scanner   ( even if it's not in a polar orbit, it still looks cool. )

Ion (sandbox) Spark engine for career.

Sas 

New big gold probe core.

Thats about it

[cantab]

Whatever I want on it. When I was filling out the tech tree it would be nearly all the science gear I'd unlocked. When I used to use Antenna Range I'd pack multiple different antennae. Now in my current save it'll probably be ScanSAT kit.

I've built little things, like this Duna orbiter and lander that fitted in the 1.25m cargo bay on one of my spaceplanes:

And great big ones, like this Kerbin observation satellite that's inspired by how real observation and communication satellites look:

 

Edited May 11, 2016 by cantab

[awfulhumanbeing]

A Stayputnik core, small xenon tank, Oscar-B fuel tank, Ant engine, Dawn electric propulsion system, Commutotron 88-88 and a barometer, gravioli detector and accelerometer.

[ag3nt108]

M700 scanner, antenna, thermometer, solar panels enough batteries to juice up the M700 even on the dark side and whatever probe core my engineers find lying around.  I don't launch sats until I'm looking for ore.  I play unmodded and sats seem to be some what useless in that respect. Thermometer goes on only to fulfil easy "gather scientific data from space around xx" contracts.