CommNet is choosing a weak direct signal path instead of a much stronger relay

[DeadJohn]

When and how often does the game recalculate CommNet signal path? Is there any setting to change that?

It seems like my playthrough is favoring direct KSC connections even when stronger relays are available. I don't recall ever having this problem before. I don't think I'm using any new antenna mods. Planet pack is GPP 2.5x and that's new to me. Prior playthroughs were with JNSQ or KSRSS at similar 2.5-2.7 scales.

My only enabled ground station is KSC. I have some huge relays (JX2 mod) in orbit that are much stronger than the KSC DSN. Distant ships in lunar orbit are sometimes connecting directly to KSC with fairly weak signals, instead of bouncing through the JX2 relays where they'd get close to 100% signal strength. If I wait until KSC gets blocked by the home planet then I immediately get the stronger signals, so my JX2 relays had line of sight before and should have been used.

This hurts my science transmission returns if I transmit at the wrong time. My workaround was to boost the DSN multiplier but I'm curious what's going on.

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[jimmymcgoochie]

I think this is a stock feature, direct connections to the ground are preferred over relayed connections even if the relay gives a stronger signal. I could be completely wrong about that, but I believe I've seen others saying something similar before.

As for solving it- CommNet Constellations might be a good bet, it allows you to put different antennae on different frequencies so you could set all your long-range missions to use the same frequency as the big relays and use a different frequency to connect the relays to the ground station(s). I've used it to create planet-specific networks so that I only need a few powerful relays and everything else can use short-range communications systems to save weight, cost, power etc.

Edited September 27, 2022 by jimmymcgoochie