KSP Interstellar Extended Support Thread

[Eleusis La Arwall]

3 hours ago, raxo2222 said:

What is it LiterVolume resource? It appeared when I used shortest cargo tank.

https://imgur.com/a/2N6DE

LiterVolume is a temporary resource that should not be visible. LiterVolume on each tank gives its storage volume in Liter. A MM-patch converts it to the IFS fuel switches.

Think I found the problem, will be fixed

[FreeThinker]

2 hours ago, raxo2222 said:

QSR is bugged too - it ALWAYS runs at full power.

Lets say we have 1000 GW QSR. If its power limiter limiter is at 100%10% then it always produces 1000/100 GW of power, even if demand is much lower

2

Well partially this is by design as the black hole needs to be continuously fed, and increasing and decreasing power requires a lot of time.

[raxo2222]

48 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

Well partially this is by design as the black hole needs to be continuously fed, and increasing and decreasing power requires a lot of time.

So QSR reactor always is at 100% and unable to throttle down no matter what?

It should at least be able to go down to 10% of max power if manual power limiter is at maximum (power limiter can be 10% at minimum).

It used to be able to do this.

 

BTW Jupiter is best place to harvest antimatter - I was testing this new deployable antimatter collector

https://imgur.com/a/OVU2b

https://imgur.com/a/7p9n1

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by raxo2222

[danielboro]

i just started bulding my first beam power sat (i use KCT)
the first users will be my mun and minmus rovers.
thay dont have the power to do any thing doring the night exept running LS.
i want them to run the sciance lab, transmit scince and drive doring the night too.
i have 2 gigantorn on them.

i didnt build the rovers thinking of power transmition. is LONG IR the correct option for the sats?
are the gigantor a wide spectrom resivers how limited are ther option if i didnt do any configuration in the vab ?

Edited September 19, 2017 by danielboro

[FreeThinker]

2 hours ago, danielboro said:

i didnt build the rovers thinking of power transmition. is LONG IR the correct option for the sats?
are the gigantor a wide spectrom resivers how limited are ther option if i didnt do any configuration in the vab ?

10

Long infrared is popular because it has a reasonably good atmospheric performance and can be relayed by phased array. It high efficiency range is limited to Kerbin/Earth SIO and nearby operations

2 hours ago, danielboro said:

are the gigantor a wide spectrom resivers how limited are ther option if i didnt do any configuration in the vab ?

8

Yes they are visible in the spectrum of single layer solar sells, which  is most sensitive in short infrared. Do note they are not as good as the more advanced KSPI solar arrays which are more efficient, but they should still be good enough to signficantly produce more power than just from the power provided by the sun.

Edited September 19, 2017 by FreeThinker

[Maelstrom Vortex]

5 hours ago, danielboro said:

i just started bulding my first beam power sat (i use KCT)
the first users will be my mun and minmus rovers.
thay dont have the power to do any thing doring the night exept running LS.
i want them to run the sciance lab, transmit scince and drive doring the night too.
i have 2 gigantorn on them.

i didnt build the rovers thinking of power transmition. is LONG IR the correct option for the sats?
are the gigantor a wide spectrom resivers how limited are ther option if i didnt do any configuration in the vab ?

My suggestion, and a methodology for power distribution that has worked for me, is to use Long Infrared for your local grid, and use Hard X-ray for inter-planetary grid once you have access to it. This will require you to get a persistent rotation mod that can lock your beam cannon for the x-ray onto a target at a distance because X-ray requires specific aimed targeting at range.

Persistent rotation:

Verified by me to work in 1.3

Edited September 19, 2017 by Maelstrom Vortex

[raxo2222]

Since when thermal generator has 77% efficiency?

 

And another bug: Hot bath of 100 000K

Edited September 20, 2017 by raxo2222

[FreeThinker]

@raxo2222  77% can be valid if you got enough radiators

Core temperature is correct, hydrogen is converted directly into hot plasma, very usefull for propulsion or power production. What is bugged is this should porbably only work with hydrogen.

The engine is based on the Plasma Jet Magneto Inertial

 

Edited September 20, 2017 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

7 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

@raxo2222  77% can be valid if you got enough radiators

Core temperature is correct, hydrogen is converted directly into hot plasma, very usefull for propulsion or power production. What is bugged is this should porbably only work with hydrogen.

1. So thermal generators were buffed?

What is now maximum efficiency of thermal generators?

 

2. Its hot batch temperature of thermal generator being at 100 000 K.

So thermal generator can be so hot only if reactor is in pure H mode or what?

 

Thermal turbojet is very useful when flying in dense atmospheres. This space place probably could manage to safely reenter and leave deep atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune.

https://imgur.com/a/5lqat

[FreeThinker]

 

4 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

2. Its hot batch temperature of thermal generator being at 100 000 K.

So thermal generator can be so hot only if reactor is in pure H mode or what?

 

 

Hotbat should indeed not exceed 3500 K, good catch the 100.000 K i only valid for MHD

Edited September 20, 2017 by FreeThinker

[FreeThinker]

23 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

1. So thermal generators were buffed?

What is now maximum efficiency of thermal generators?

 

 

90%, but you never going to achieve that, it you got a large overcapacity of radiators,  about 75%

Conceptualy it is based on the idea of thermal photovitalic conversion , in which thermal heat is converted into infrared which can be converted directly into electric power by specialized photovotalic cells. Of cource those photovotalic cells must be well cooled to achieve the theoretic 90% efficiency.

Edited September 20, 2017 by FreeThinker

[Sweetie bot]

I am doing localization tutorial  and for now it part for Beam power, I try to make a equations form on excel , Is this Equations I choose correct? 

RT = 0.61 * D * L / RL

where:

RT = beam radius at target (m)

D = distance from laser emitter to target (m)

L = wavelength of laser beam (m, see table below)

RL = radius of laser lens or reflector (m)

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php#id--Laser_Cannon--Equations

[raxo2222]

19 minutes ago, FreeThinker said:

90%, but you never going to achieve that, it you got a large overcapacity of radiators,  about 75%

Conceptualy it is based on the idea of thermal photovitalic conversion , in which thermal heat is converted into infrared which can be converted directly into electric power by specialized photovotalic cells. Of cource those photovotalic cells must be well cooled to achieve the theoretic 90% efficiency.

Cool

Okay so how many generationd of Thermal, MHD and Direct Conversion generators we have now?

[FreeThinker]

8 minutes ago, raxo2222 said:

Cool

Okay so how many generationd of Thermal, MHD and Direct Conversion generators we have now?

Thermal Generator has 5 generations:

    Mk1TechReq = largeElectrics
    Mk2TechReq = specializedElectrics
    Mk3TechReq = experimentalElectrics
    Mk4TechReq = advPVMaterials
    Mk5TechReq = microwavePowerTransmission

    efficiencyMk1 = 0.32
    efficiencyMk2 = 0.45
    efficiencyMk3 = 0.64
    efficiencyMk4 = 0.75
    efficiencyMk5 = 0.83

MHD has 4 generations:

    Mk1TechReq = highTechElectricalSystems
    Mk2TechReq = highPowerElectricalSystems
    Mk3TechReq = experimentalElectricalSystems
    Mk4TechReq = exoticElectricalSystems

    efficiencyMk1 = 0.65
    efficiencyMk2 = 0.70
    efficiencyMk3 = 0.75
    efficiencyMk4 = 0.80

Charged Particle Converter has 4

        Mk1TechReq = highTechElectricalSystems
        Mk2TechReq = highPowerElectricalSystems
        Mk3TechReq = experimentalElectricalSystems
        Mk4TechReq = exoticElectricalSystems

       efficiencyMk1 = 0.7
        efficiencyMk2 = 0.8
        efficiencyMk3 = 0.85
        efficiencyMk4 = 0.9

Edited September 20, 2017 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

Looks like power manager assumes MK1 thermal generator being used here.

That is max efficiency of 32%

[FreeThinker]

1 hour ago, Sweetie bot said:

I am doing localization tutorial  and for now it part for Beam power, I try to make a equations form on excel , Is this Equations I choose correct? 

RT = 0.61 * D * L / RL

where:

RT = beam radius at target (m)

D = distance from laser emitter to target (m)

L = wavelength of laser beam (m, see table below)

RL = radius of laser lens or reflector (m)

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php#id--Laser_Cannon--Equations

I'm using a bit less optimistic version

Spot size = distance-to-spot * wavelength / (aperture diameter)

I wonder where the 0.61 comes from

Perhaps a more accurate formula would be

1.22 * distance-to-spot * wavelength / (aperture diameter)

notice that the spot would only cover about 80% of all transmitted energy, the remaining energy would be in rings surrounding it.

But if you can manage to transmit  in a  TEM00 mode,  this can be significantly be improved

source :   http://panoptesv.com/SciFi/LaserDeathRay/Diffraction.html

Edit: I guess the 0.61 is based on the idea that only a small fraction of a laser beam   is effective in causing actual damage, that they use only used half the diameter if the full spot size

Edited September 20, 2017 by FreeThinker

[raxo2222]

It seems like partmodule info of ElectricalPowerGenerator for 3 generators is bit outdated

For some hot (>3500 K core temperature) reactors MHD isn't used to its full potential - that its bath temp is much lower temperature for following reactors:

Antimatter Initiated Reactor, Antimatter Reactor, MFC, and Stellator.

For following reactors hot bath of MHD is (almost) as hot as core of reactor:

Open Cycle Gas Core (reduced gravity for it to work on earth), Pebble Bed, Dusty Plasma and Plasma Jet Magnetic Inertial.

https://imgur.com/a/VxX5N

Edited September 20, 2017 by raxo2222

[Sweetie bot]

All right,so the

distance eff.＝Receive diameter / Spot size *100% ？

[raxo2222]

This nice craft can reach orbit using plasma engine on fusion reactor.

For final push it needs hydrazine.

https://imgur.com/a/gKMVD

It appears like thermal ramjets are unneeded, only thermal turbojets for flying in denser parts of atmosphere.

This spacecraft is good enough to fly to the Moon.

I guess kerbstein and Wakefield engines would cover each others weakness.

Kerbstein is very energy efficient and uses dense fuel with ISP of 500 000.

Wakefield is much worse at ISP at around 30 000 or so, but it can be used for maneuvering at atmospheric bodies using compressed air and can be used nearby ships.

So basically: thermal turbojets for atmospheric flight, plasma nozzle for high altitude flight/ascent to orbit, wakefield for circularizing orbit and final maneuvering and kerbstein for high DV missions.

Edited September 20, 2017 by raxo2222

[Helmetman]

This is the first time I'm gonna try KSPIE.
I just installed it actually. And the first thing I wanna ask (after searching)

Is there a guy vlogger or preferably a woman with a pretty voice who has a good KSPIE tutorial and/or playthrough? 

No Scott manley please, he's funny and all but way to offtopic and talks to much about beer, offside stuff while he's at it.

Thanks...

Edited September 20, 2017 by Helmetman

[ss8913]

OK I'm still confused about how gravity drag works with the warp drives... I calculated my vector relative to Kerbol (the sun), tried approaching dres along that vector, and along the opposite vector, dV to circularize kept going up either way.  It seems there's a specific vector to approach at which will lower the dV, but it seems very hit or miss to find it, and I don't understand how to calculate what that vector should be, from the available information in the warp window... anyone able to explain this to me?

[garwel]

I have a balancing issue/suggestion. The DTMagnetometer part and its associated magnetosphericExperiment appear seriously overpowered. The part only weighs 0.005 t (similar to the stock Thermometer, Barometer, and Seismometer) and costs 200 (compared to 880-3000 for the parts), but it gives a base value of 25 science, which is 1.25-3 times higher than the similar stock experiments. As a result, using the magnetometer feels like cheating, getting lots of science for almost nothing.

You could balance it by significantly increasing the mass (a bad solution because existing vessels will suffer) or cost or decreasing science yield. Or perhaps combine the two latter things. Similar stock experiments cost about 75-300 funds per base science value. So you might want to make it something like 15 base science and 2500 funds per unit. It would still be one of the most advantageous science parts compared to stock, but at least somewhat balanced.

[raxo2222]

Is it intentional, that electric engine with lower propellant efficiency consumes less electricity?

Lets say we have propellant A with 90% of efficiency and propellant B with 40% efficiency.

Maximum consumption of power by engine is lets say 1000 MW. Assuming there is no waste heat, that is thermal efficiency of 100%

With propellant A it consumes 900 MW of power and propellant B - 400 MW.

With EM drive is it even more extreme - if it theoretically can use 100 GW of energy, then it will consume only 8.8 GW of electricity, as its efficiency is only 8.8%

This means you can use weaker power source with less efficient engine.

I did tests with no heat and infinite propellants tests, so waste heat won't mess around (100% thermal efficiency) and I can freely switch propellants.

Wakefield, Vasmir and Atilla sizes were adjusted so their maximum power draw was ~30 GW.

For EM drive I divided 30 GW by its efficiency and got well over 300 GW of theoretical power consumption, but still it used only 30 GW.

Its pretty funny for VASMIR, because it uses ~2x more electricity on 10% throttle than on 100%.

https://imgur.com/a/9PylE

Edited September 21, 2017 by raxo2222

[Loren Pechtel]

7 hours ago, garwel said:

I have a balancing issue/suggestion. The DTMagnetometer part and its associated magnetosphericExperiment appear seriously overpowered. The part only weighs 0.005 t (similar to the stock Thermometer, Barometer, and Seismometer) and costs 200 (compared to 880-3000 for the parts), but it gives a base value of 25 science, which is 1.25-3 times higher than the similar stock experiments. As a result, using the magnetometer feels like cheating, getting lots of science for almost nothing.

You could balance it by significantly increasing the mass (a bad solution because existing vessels will suffer) or cost or decreasing science yield. Or perhaps combine the two latter things. Similar stock experiments cost about 75-300 funds per base science value. So you might want to make it something like 15 base science and 2500 funds per unit. It would still be one of the most advantageous science parts compared to stock, but at least somewhat balanced.

It's a lot higher in the tree and it's not biome-specific.

[garwel]

1 hour ago, Loren Pechtel said:

It's a lot higher in the tree and it's not biome-specific.

True, but Seismometer, for instance, is also quite high in the tree, can only be used when landed, but it costs 15 times more and has a smaller base science value.