Docking problems

[hhatch]

I took some time off and have returned to KSP.  I did a quick refresher of the things I had learned and things went ok except now I can't seem to dock anymore. I normally get close, target a docking port which is a north or south orientation, designate my port as control from here and then switch to RCS and slowly move in. I noticed that a cannot kill my speed when getting very close. l always seem to be moving. I can kill speed if I go at least 1/ms and  switch to prograde  but that is too fast when real close. I did discover that my thrusters were not located on the COM so I adjusted and that did not help. I did use the COM for the stage on which the thrusters are located, not the whole rocket.

 

At this point I can't figure out how or why I forgot how to dock.

[Reactordrone]

Assuming you have the navball in target mode, firing retrograde should let you cancel your velocity relative to the target. using the caps lock key to switch to fine control might help when you're close to zero velocity.

[devikwolf]

If you're open to using mods, consider checking out Docking Port Alignment Indicator. It GREATLY clarifies docking, gives you a lot of good details on your docking approach, and I've found it to be FAR more helpful than KSP's stock docking system without taking away any of the fun of docking.

When you're on approach, how fast are you moving? I personally recommend never exceeding 2 or 3m/s when you're within ~100 meters of your target, and never exceeding 1m/s when you're within 35 meters. The size of your target and the handling characteristics of your vehicle might suggest a different course though.

[hhatch]

4 hours ago, devikwolf said:

If you're open to using mods, consider checking out Docking Port Alignment Indicator. It GREATLY clarifies docking, gives you a lot of good details on your docking approach, and I've found it to be FAR more helpful than KSP's stock docking system without taking away any of the fun of docking.

When you're on approach, how fast are you moving? I personally recommend never exceeding 2 or 3m/s when you're within ~100 meters of your target, and never exceeding 1m/s when you're within 35 meters. The size of your target and the handling characteristics of your vehicle might suggest a different course though.

I downloaded Port Alignment Indicator and put it in the game data directory which is where I put Kerbal Engineering. However, the icon does not appear when I designate  a port as target. Did I miss something ? The screenshot below is typical of how things look just before a failed docking attempt. I know the alignment is not perfect and I've had other attempts with better alignment which also missed. I've seen videos of successful dockings with much worse alignments. How bleeping accurate do I have to be ?

[bewing]

That would probably be sufficient if you turned off SAS on both ships.

 

[hhatch]

I think I'm back in business. I knew I was having problems with port alignment and I came across a video by Scott Manley and picked up one small trick which made all the difference. I just did 6 dockings in  a row. Thanks for the responses.

 

[Zeiss Ikon]

1 hour ago, hhatch said:

I think I'm back in business. I knew I was having problems with port alignment and I came across a video by Scott Manley and picked up one small trick which made all the difference. I just did 6 dockings in  a row. Thanks for the responses.

 

For the benefit of others who might find this thread in a future search, would you mind saying what that small trick was?

[hhatch]

The "trick" appears at about 13:30 of this video. In order to get oriented in the right direction to the target port turn off RCS and use WASD keys to orient the rocket. Imagine a line traveling through the center of the target docking port. Use the WASD keys to visually match the direction and angle of the imaginary line. Then turn RCS back on and move the rocket up and down and L R as needed. I did this about 25 meters out. I then moved in and re checked and adjusted as needed. Go slow. I used chase view as suggested in the video. For now this seemed to work better for me using  East West oriented ports as I could get better camera angles for up down adjustments.

 

 

 

 

 

[StrandedonEarth]

I ignore the ship itself and just look at the navball. Note that the red circle from the "NavBall Docking Alignment Indicator" mod (one thing that I think really should be stock, since console users can't get mods) only appears when you rt-click the docking port on the target craft and select "Set as Target"

[devikwolf]

47 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I ignore the ship itself and just look at the navball. Note that the red circle from the "NavBall Docking Alignment Indicator" mod (one thing that I think really should be stock, since console users can't get mods) only appears when you rt-click the docking port on the target craft and select "Set as Target"

 

This looks like a fantastic mod. I love the feedback that DPAI gives, but it takes up a fair amount of screen real-estate. Does this mod also draw an alignment indicator on IVA navballs, too? DPAI's big draw for me is that I can use it in-IVA with RPM screens.

[StrandedonEarth]

6 minutes ago, devikwolf said:

This looks like a fantastic mod. I love the feedback that DPAI gives, but it takes up a fair amount of screen real-estate. Does this mod also draw an alignment indicator on IVA navballs, too? DPAI's big draw for me is that I can use it in-IVA with RPM screens.

I haven't actually checked, since I very rarely, like practically never, fly from IVA. But I suppose I could for docking; I just never have.

The only drawback compared to the NavyFish DPAI is that when your closing velocity (which I'll call the Z-axis) is zeroed, you can't see the prograde marker, so you can't tell which way you're moving along the X or Y axes. 

Edited March 10, 2018 by StrandedonEarth

[hhatch]

2 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

I ignore the ship itself and just look at the navball. Note that the red circle from the "NavBall Docking Alignment Indicator" mod (one thing that I think really should be stock, since console users can't get mods) only appears when you rt-click the docking port on the target craft and select "Set as Target"

I installed this and can't get it to run.No red marker after selecting target port .Will this run on the recent update ?

[StrandedonEarth]

That I don't know, I run it on 1.3.1. It is a .dll, so it probably needs a recompile. I know the mod maintainer @linuxgurugamer has 130+ mods to update along with his regular job, so it may be awhile, patience is recommended.

I'm holding off on 1.4.x until after MH drops and things settle down. Since everyone knows there will be a 1.4.1 on Tuesday when MH comes out, they (the modders) are probably waiting for that before updating their mods, since they will probably have to do it again anyways.