[0.20] RemoteTech: Relay Network – V 0.5.0.1

[Kimberly]

Which antenna only has a 250km range?

The very smallest one.

[somnambulist]

JDP -

I finally got around to playing with the rover autopilot today. Is there any reason why it removes direct, manual control of the rover? I can manually turn the wheels left/right but have no forward or reverse control. It seems like a departure from the space probe mode.

Edit: Bonus question -- what's the altitude of the transmitter at mission control? My rover is down in a valley west of KSC with no line-of-sight to any of the buildings at KSC but still has a connection.

[xZise]

Why does “MechJeb Control†make every action instant? I have a craft 0.25 Ls away and when I deactivate MechJeb Control there is a visible delay, but as soon as I activate (pressed down) MechJeb Control the lag is gone

Fabian

[onlinegamesz]

I made a unmanned vessel (probe), and I didn't do any antenna and signal processor on it, and I can still control it?

Is this a bug?

[Cilph]

Just a heads up. With 0.21 confirmed to break saves, RemoteTech 2 will not feature a compatibility patch for older versions.

Oh, and I've heard the AIES dishes will be included in stock RT .

[EasyAce]

The compatibility pack suddenly stoped working!

Anyone knows how to fix it?

I've downloaded and installed it two times more just to be sure. My GameData Folder has both "RemoteTech" and "RemoteTech_MM_ProbeCompatibility" just as instructed.

Any clues guys?

[JDP]

I finally got around to playing with the rover autopilot today. Is there any reason why it removes direct, manual control of the rover?

The rover computer automatically enables the brakes when not actively driving the rover. This is done to stop the rover rolling all over the place when the computer is not driving. You can disable the brakes in the usual manner; pressing the brake key. Then you can manually drive the rover even with the rover computer open.

what's the altitude of the transmitter at mission control? My rover is down in a valley west of KSC with no line-of-sight to any of the buildings at KSC but still has a connection.

The position of mission control match the position of the tracking station exactly. The line-of-sight checking mission treats all celestial bodies as perfect spheres, with radii slightly below that of the original body. This is done because actual physics raycasting is too taxing, buggy, and doesn't work over long distances.

Why does “MechJeb Control†make every action instant?

in order for Mechjeb to function it needs to be able to control the vessel without delay. Since I can't filter out only MechJeb controls, and add signal delay to mechjeb's own mode activation buttons, I had to do it this way.

I made a unmanned vessel (probe), and I didn't do any antenna and signal processor on it, and I can still control it?

Is this a bug?

Nope, it's a feature. If you don't put any antennae or signal processors on a vessel, no RemoteTech code will run. I did this so people could still launch stock missions while having RemoteTech installed. This will most likely be changed in the next version, where all stock probe bodies are RemoteTech by default.

Just a heads up. With 0.21 confirmed to break saves, RemoteTech 2 will not feature a compatibility patch for older versions.

Oh, and I've heard the AIES dishes will be included in stock RT .

carmics has made some amazing antennae for AIES. Some of them fill much needed voids in the antenna complement of RemoteTech. Most notably is the ESC-EXP omi antenna, which will finally add an antenna expertly suited for SSTO ships.

Seeing as 0.21 will break backwards compatibility anyway, I'll take this as a chance to do a major rebalancing of RT parts. Most of the old parts from RemoteTech 1 will likely be removed altogether.

I'm also working on a class system of antennae and a whole new way of calculating the effective range of antenna pairings.

I think it's safe to say RemoteTech 2 will be a whole new gameplay experience in awesomeness

Oh, and here's a small dev video showcasing how the new GUI ties into stock. Note that this is still very much in development, and could change quite a lot before release:

Edited July 5, 2013 by JDP

[Castun]

congratulations! you missed my point entirely!

Sorry, was that meant as sarcasm then?

[Hremsfeld]

Sorry, was that meant as sarcasm then?

No. He means that you outright shouldn't use the Communitron antenna on a probe-only launch; If you extend it so that you can actually get into orbit, it will fall off. If you don't extend it, you'll go out of range 2km up. If you stick another antenna on there to get you up, what's the point of having the Communitron?

[somnambulist]

No. He means that you outright shouldn't use the Communitron antenna on a probe-only launch; If you extend it so that you can actually get into orbit, it will fall off. If you don't extend it, you'll go out of range 2km up. If you stick another antenna on there to get you up, what's the point of having the Communitron?

Communitron has a longer range than the dipole. Not a huge difference in stock RemoteTech but it's there.

In my game, I modded the dipole down to a 1000km range and gave the communitron a 200km undepolyed range while doubling its power consumption. The changes give each antenna it's own niche -- dipole for low power local communication, communitron for higher power, longer distance communication. The 200km undepolyed range gives you enough time to deploy once you're out of the atmosphere. (I also increase the power consumption of the sat dishes so the communitron doesn't make them redundant.)

[betaking]

200km is a bit excessive, but like, 70-100 km is nice.. though it makes it more challenging unless you have ground tracking stations which can be tedious to set up.

the reason I was using the communitron was because I was using mission controller.

many of the stock missions require X number of communitrons to work.

oddly enough I was able to have the communitrons deployed on the way down, at least before I installed remote-tech.

I wouldn't mind them ripping off when deployed in an atmosphere (and exposed) so much if fairings could protect them.

I think that though is an issue of massQ...

Edited July 6, 2013 by betaking

[Mantis Toboggan]

Just got it, and to start up the network should i send up one of those micro sats that come with the mod, and will this act as one of the command ones? I still don't understand that concept.

[Krisism]

Ignore this Kimberly explains it below.

Looking forward to the next update so I can restart a bad ass network!

Edited July 7, 2013 by Krisism
Better explanation below - thank you for clarifying Kimberly.

[Kimberly]

No, you're misunderstanding it, Krisim.

Every craft with an antenna or a satellite dish can receive and relay signals. For unmanned crafts to be controllable via this signal, however, they need to have a RemoteControl module (with the compatibility patch, all stock probe parts act as RemoteControl modules). The Microsat part included with the mod acts as several parts in one; it acts as a RemoteControl module, antenna, has its own engine, etc. The Microsat doesn't do anything that you can't do with other parts, though.

The mod also features signal delay. If the signal has to travel far, then the craft will take longer to react to your commands. This is only a few miliseconds in orbit around Kerbin, but can be several seconds long (and therefore quite annoying) when further out in the solar system. To reduce signal delay, you can place a RemoteCommand module on a manned craft. It will act as a second mission control; signals can originate from there. If you have a space station with a RemoteCommand module in orbit around Duna, then probes orbiting Duna will have almost no signal delay, because the signal doesn't need to come all the way from Kerbin anymore.

If a craft can receive a signal both from Kerbal Space Center and a ship with a RemoteCommand module, it will make use of whichever signal has the least delay.

[xZise]

[…]The mod also features signal delay. If the signal has to travel far, then the craft will take longer to react to your commands. This is only a few miliseconds in orbit around Kerbin, but can be several seconds long (and therefore quite annoying) when further out in the solar system.[…]

To be specific: The signal travels with the speed of light which is exactly 300 000 000 m/s so to Minmus you get a 0.3 s delay, because RemoteTech uses the round trip time (signal from A to B and back = doubles the time). Outside the SoI of Kerbin you already get 0.48 s delay (at least).

Fabian

[CaptainArbitrary]

To be specific: The signal travels with the speed of light which is exactly 300 000 000 m/s…

Whereas in the real world it's exactly 299,792,456 meters per second by definition, AND THAT MATTERS OBVIOUSLY. ;-)

[Kimberly]

This is going to sound dumb, but...how do you correctly assemble the Aeroprobe? The landing gear and wings I've managed to do, and it flies that way, but where do I put the rudder and ailerons? I tried attaching them and the probe decided it wanted to do loops all the time.

[xZise]

Whereas in the real world it's exactly 299,792,456 meters per second by definition, AND THAT MATTERS OBVIOUSLY. ;-)

Actually you can edit the speed of light Of course only the KSP one.

Fabian

[betaking]

I realized the problem I was having with mission controller,

more importantly I realized how said problem could be solved.

it has everything to do with "max Q", or maximum dynamic pressure, or the pressure caused by aerodynamic forces as the rocket accellerated

I think said effects of dynamic pressure should be removed until such time as fairings in game are able to deflect said pressure away, but that's just my opinion.

[urablahblah]

The compatibility pack suddenly stoped working!

Anyone knows how to fix it?

I've downloaded and installed it two times more just to be sure. My GameData Folder has both "RemoteTech" and "RemoteTech_MM_ProbeCompatibility" just as instructed.

Any clues guys?

Mine too! I've never had a problem until it inexplicably stopped working. I have no clue what could have caused it.

[CaptainArbitrary]

I think said effects of dynamic pressure should be removed until such time as fairings in game are able to deflect said pressure away, but that's just my opinion.

Have you considered FAR? I won't play without it any more, for just that very reason.

[betaking]

I can't even seem to get rid of dynamic pressure with FAR on..

the fairings do nothing.

[unWinged]

I can't even seem to get rid of dynamic pressure with FAR on..

the fairings do nothing.

What fairings are you using? AFAIK fairing parts have to have "fairing" in title to be recognized by plugin.

[Kreuzung]

Or "shroud" I think. "Cargo bay" also works.

[betaking]

I'm using KW rocketry fairings, and fairings from "Fairing Factory"