Increase 200 Meters range/bubble at Rendezvous?

[Jansn67]

Hi Kerbonauts,

dont know where correctly drop my question, which is and dropped here:
Is there any way to increase the range of 200 meters that grip at rendezvouing in orbit?

Would like that large stations begin to spin to adjusted alignment much earlier. (Say 500 or 1.000 meters)
Now i have to move into the 200 meter bubble, wait minuted till station align and then start docking.
Docking at moving/spinning/rotating stations is a harrasment.

Persistent Rotation dont help cause it work only at vessels, their reaction wheels/rcs can handl their weight.
(And not at 800 or 1.500 tons stations...)

Thanks for hints, tips or declaring.

Alex.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Jansn67

[jimmymcgoochie]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here, but I think you're having some trouble docking with large space stations/ships because you're trying to make the entire station rotate to point the docking port at whatever you're trying to dock to it.

Space stations are big and heavy, they won't rotate easily and can be broken to pieces if you try to rotate them too fast. Unless you're docking something else big and heavy it's going to be easier to move that docking craft around the station to line it up with the docking port you want to dock to. The Docking Port Alignment Indicator (DPAI) mod is a great tool to help with docking, it shows you where you're pointing, where the target port is pointing and what direction you're going relative to that target port and makes docking a whole lot easier than doing it by eye. Another alternative is using MechJeb's docking autopilot which does all the hard work for you- using that with the DPAI turned on is a good way to learn how to dock manually.

If you're determined to rotate the entire station, you can still get them to line up at a range of over 2km by following these steps:

1) Once you get within 2200m or so, you're inside the game physics range. If you have a large station with a high part count, you'll probably notice the game pause for a little while (it can be almost unnoticeable or last for a few seconds) as it loads the station into the physics calculations. You can then switch between your craft and the station using the [ and ] keys.

2) Switch to the station, right click the port you want to dock to and select 'Control from here'. Assuming there's either a sufficiently skilled pilot or a drone core with level 3 SAS on it you can then double-click the ship you're trying to dock and then tell the SAS to point at the target. The station will (very slowly) rotate to point the docking port at the target.

3) Switch back to your ship, make sure your navball is displaying target velocity as opposed to surface or orbit. Point retrograde and fire engines or RCS thrusters to keep your approach speed at a safe level- you don't want to crash into the station!

4) When you've slowed down and are reasonably close (300m or closer should be fine and ~5m/s is slow enough) right-click the docking port you want to dock to the station with and click 'Control from here' Again, with a skilled pilot or level 3 SAS you should be able to point to target the station itself. Keep getting closer to the station.

5) When you're ~150m away from the station you should be able to right-click on the station's docking port and select 'Set as target'. Switch to the station, target the other docking port and TURN OFF target tracking- it can get a bit strange if you're controlling a station from a docking port at one end of a large ship or station which can cause a lot of unwanted rotation. Keep the SAS switched on to keep the station steady. Switch off your main engines, you don't want to accidentally accelerate and crash into the station!

6) Switch back to the ship, slow down gradually until you're about 20m away and going at 1m/s. Make sure your navball is still set to target mode and use the translation controls (HNIKJL) try to keep the prograde marker  right in the middle of the target marker  to stay on course. Once you're within 10m, turn off target tracking mode on the SAS and just leave it in the default stability mode, guide the ship in the rest of the way SLOWLY using the translation controls to adjust the position of the prograde marker and the rotation controls to adjust the position of the target marker- both should stay aligned with the little dot in the middle of the navball 'wings' until it's within about a metre or so of docking. When you're that close, switch off SAS entirely and let the magnetic pull of the two docking ports pull them together- they might not dock perfectly and end up at a slight angle but they should be able to resolve it without any input from SAS or RCS. If not, back up to about 5m and try again.

[Rhomphaia]

If you leave the docking ports of your station aligned along Normal/Antinormal, then they will stay aligned that way.  Then you don't need to spin your station or use any mods to align for docking, just point the active craft in the appropriate direction.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Rhomphaia