Why Can't My Rover Use a Near By Platform as a First Hop Connection to Kerbin?

[A_Kerbonaught]

I landed a rover on Duna with a platform that has a Communotron 88-88 attached. This platform can reach Kerbin just fine, however the rover (which has two Communotron 16-S antenna) can't make contact to Kerbin through this platform after I decoupled it from the platform. Is this intended behavior, or do I have a more serious problem on my hands? Here's a screenshot to show the proximity. Any ideas or is my rover dead on arrival here?

[A_Kerbonaught]

Update on the situation, I think the problem is that I had no idea how these antenna were supposed to work. I think I need to set up an ACTUAL relay satellite now, because I've done it wrong.

[Superfluous J]

You don't need a satellite (though it's a good idea). You need a relay antenna.

Source: https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Antenna

Neither the 88-88 nor the 16-s is a relay antenna. The 16-s will happily talk to a relay and use that relay - if possible - to talk to Kerbin even from a ground base like you have. But it can't with the 88-88.

If you were able to teleport a second ground base with a RA-100 Relay Antenna on it (the equivalent of the 88-88 but also a relay) to your rover, then it'd work fine through that antenna. From Duna, you don't really need that big an antenna though. But that's a different discussion.

[A_Kerbonaught]

7 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

You don't need a satellite (though it's a good idea). You need a relay antenna.

Source: https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Antenna

Neither the 88-88 nor the 16-s is a relay antenna. The 16-s will happily talk to a relay and use that relay - if possible - to talk to Kerbin even from a ground base like you have. But it can't with the 88-88.

If you were able to teleport a second ground base with a RA-100 Relay Antenna on it (the equivalent of the 88-88 but also a relay) to your rover, then it'd work fine through that antenna. From Duna, you don't really need that big an antenna though. But that's a different discussion.

Yeah. Figured that out just now actually, I told a friend and that's pretty much a more detailed version of what he said. The rover however is currently without control, so my best plan would be a satellite that has an actual relay dish on it, heh. I'm going to develop a craft for that purpose right now.

[bewing]

One additional point is that the Communotron 16-S doesn't stack. So there is no point in having two of them.

Edited March 17, 2019 by bewing