Docking/SAS Problems

[Dnarbnellih2]

Usually docking isn't very hard, especially when using locked view or Docking Port Alignment Indicator, but in most cases, when you dock, you have to be pointed at said docking port, but sometimes due to either the structure of my craft or the kraken itself, my sas will not point towards target, but off in some direction. It gets worse the closer you get, but it's not random or moving around, it has to do with how close you are. The target symbol on the nav-ball is in the right spot, but the sas actually pulls it away from target for some reason, any way to fix this or could a mod help.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Dnarbnellih2

[bewing]

It's a known bug for docking ports. If you "target" a docking port, it actually targets the CoM of the craft instead. So if the docking port is on the centerline of the stack, you have no problem. But if you stick the docking port way out on some radial arm, then SAS is going to point to the wrong place.

I don't know if there are any mods to fix that.

 

[Tyko]

I learned to use DPAI by getting my craft's Docking Port aligned with the target Docking Port - so, get the orange cross centered - early and then use rcs to maneuver until the green cross is also centered. I never use SAS "point to target". Doing it this way simplifies your maneuver because you craft isn't just "randomly" making heading or rotation changes as it tries to keep pointing at a moving target.

This works great for me and avoids any concerns about the bug @bewing mentioned

[Dnarbnellih2]

@Tyko, do you mean using the translation keys while docking rather then switching to docking mode and using WASD so that you can manually orient it while docking? Usually when I dock I go with docking mode so this is new to me.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Dnarbnellih2

[Tyko]

11 hours ago, Dnarbnellih2 said:

@Tyko, do you mean using the translation keys while docking rather then switching to docking mode and using WASD so that you can manually orient it while docking? Usually when I dock I go with docking mode so this is new to me.

I have an extended keyboard and have translation assigned to the arrow keys. I then use right-shift and right-control (next to the arrow keys) for RCS forward and backwards. Using this setup I can keep AWSD for rotation. Left hand is on rotation and right hand is on translation. No switching back and forth, no forgetting which mode I'm in - it's so much easier   

If you use Module Manager this great little config will disable roll / pitch / yaw for all your RCS. Saves you having to set them individually when you build your craft:

// Make all RCS thrusters have yaw / pitch / roll disabled by default.
// Author: Community

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleRCS]]
{
	@MODULE[ModuleRCS]
	{
		%enableYaw = false
		%enablePitch = false
		%enableRoll = false
	}
}

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleRCSFX]]
{
	@MODULE[ModuleRCSFX]
	{
		%enableYaw = false
		%enablePitch = false
		%enableRoll = false
	}
}

 

If you don't know about MM yet. Let me know. It's easy enough to explain and super simple to use

Edited December 8, 2018 by Tyko

[Dnarbnellih2]

I don't know about MM and I'm curious, but I thought for translation you used I-J-K-L like W-A-S-D and H-N like LeftShift and LeftControl.

[bewing]

2 hours ago, Dnarbnellih2 said:

I don't know about MM and I'm curious, but I thought for translation you used I-J-K-L like W-A-S-D and H-N like LeftShift and LeftControl.

Yeah, that works.

[FleshJeb]

Switch to your target, and control from the target docking port. Set the SAS to point that Normal  or Anti-Normal .

Swtich back to your original craft, control from the docking port, and set the SAS to the opposite.

It's pretty easy to eyeball your way in, since the two ports remain parallel.

I only use  and  near the end of a rendezvous, or when I'm matching velocity.

[eddiew]

On 12/6/2018 at 11:00 PM, bewing said:

It's a known bug for docking ports. If you "target" a docking port, it actually targets the CoM of the craft instead. So if the docking port is on the centerline of the stack, you have no problem. But if you stick the docking port way out on some radial arm, then SAS is going to point to the wrong place.

I don't know if there are any mods to fix that.

 

Really? Never encountered this... new bug since 1.4?

[OHara]

33 minutes ago, eddiew said:

new bug since 1.4?

No. The bug report (13832) was for version 1.3.1 so it hasn't changed since then, and I can't remember SAS hold-target ever working differently.

It is a hard-to-describe bug.  Here comes my failure to describe it: The navball is correct but for some reason SAS holds orientation not so that the docking port points to the target, as you would expect, but so that a line from the root part to the target is parallel to the docking-port axis.

[Superfluous J]

Wow I remember this bug from before 1.0 and thought it was fixed. I'll admit I got in the habit of putting my docking ports inline with COM and never broke it, but still.

[Dafni]

On 12/8/2018 at 8:03 PM, Tyko said:

If you don't know about MM yet. Let me know. It's easy enough to explain and super simple to use

I would like to learn how to incorporate a nice handy patch like that into my module manager indeed.

Do I just save this text file as a .cfg in a notepad and copy it into my game data??

Thanks in advance

 

Daf

8 hours ago, eddiew said:

Really? Never encountered this... new bug since 1.4?

I seem to remember this bug from 0.9, when I started playing. Could be wrong though, my mind has deceived me before.

[peteletroll]

7 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

Wow I remember this bug from before 1.0 and thought it was fixed.

I dock a lot, and this is a bug I never experienced. I'm using 1.5.1 now.

[Dafni]

31 minutes ago, peteletroll said:

I dock a lot, and this is a bug I never experienced. I'm using 1.5.1 now.

You'd only notice it if the docking port is not in line with the COM, or rather when it is pretty far from it, and when you use SAS hold to target when said port is targeted. In most cases it is so subtle you'd only notice it if you pay attention.

[eddiew]

9 hours ago, OHara said:

No. The bug report (13832) was for version 1.3.1 so it hasn't changed since then, and I can't remember SAS hold-target ever working differently.

It is a hard-to-describe bug.  Here comes my failure to describe it: The navball is correct but for some reason SAS holds orientation not so that the docking port points to the target, as you would expect, but so that a line from the root part to the target is parallel to the docking-port axis.

I think I understand... The active vessel in all my dockings has generally had a port on-axis with the CoM, which is probably why I've never seen the bug.