Scansat stuck on 7% around Kerbin?

[Ferio]

Hi All,

Decided to give scansat a spin and  have a set of scanners in orbit around 75km.  Both Altimetry en Biome are stuck at 7% (already went a few times around Kerbin)

What's the reason that the numbers don't increase anymore? (power is at 100%)

[Cheesecake]

5 hours ago, Ferio said:

Hi All,

Decided to give scansat a spin and  have a set of scanners in orbit around 75km.  Both Altimetry en Biome are stuck at 7% (already went a few times around Kerbin)

What's the reason that the numbers don't increase anymore? (power is at 100%)

Which inklination? It can only scan what it flies over. On the night side, it must also be ensured that enough energy is available, solar cells alone are not enough, you also need quite a lot of battery capacity to bridge the gap.

[Ferio]

17 minutes ago, Cheesecake said:

Which inklination? It can only scan what it flies over. On the night side, it must also be ensured that enough energy is available, solar cells alone are not enough, you also need quite a lot of battery capacity to bridge the gap.

 just 90 degrees at 75km. Batteries I have enough. They don't run empty while going in the dark side.

Edited April 28, 2023 by Ferio

[Cheesecake]

1 minute ago, Ferio said:

0 inclinition, just 90 degrees at 75km. Batteries I have enough. They don't run empty while going in the dark side.

0 inclination means that it only flies over the equator. And in the lowest possible orbit. Of course, the scanning is then only done on the equator and in a narrow strip. So it is understandable that it does not go above 7%.
Scansat gives a minimum, a maximum and an ideal altitude for each instrument. In addition, the satellite must be launched in a high inclination so that it covers as much area as possible.

[Ferio]

1 minute ago, Cheesecake said:

0 inclination means that it only flies over the equator. And in the lowest possible orbit. Of course, the scanning is then only done on the equator and in a narrow strip. So it is understandable that it does not go above 7%.
Scansat gives a minimum, a maximum and an ideal altitude for each instrument. In addition, the satellite must be launched in a high inclination so that it covers as much area as possible.

Okidoki,

Ideal was 70 or 75km so I aimed for that, didn't knew it had to be in an inclination. Will try that! Thanks!

[Cheesecake]

Just now, Ferio said:

Okidoki,

Ideal was 70 or 75km so I aimed for that, didn't knew it had to be in an inclination. Will try that! Thanks!

If it was smaller than 75km then the scanner is for atmospheric flights. As soon as you get above 75km, it probably doesn't work any more. I am not quite sure because I have hardly used the atmospheric flights so far.

[Ferio]

2 minutes ago, Cheesecake said:

If it was smaller than 75km then the scanner is for atmospheric flights. As soon as you get above 75km, it probably doesn't work any more. I am not quite sure because I have hardly used the atmospheric flights so far.

Scansat altitude was set at Ideal, so I think that's right, will try the inclination part and see if they helps.

[DeadJohn]

14 hours ago, Ferio said:

Scansat altitude was set at Ideal, so I think that's right, will try the inclination part and see if they helps.

To clarify the inclination part: SCANsat only scans a narrow path directly beneath your vessel. If you orbit above the equator (0 inclination) you will keep rescanning the same piece of ground over and over again. You want to be in a polar orbit (near 90 degree inclination) so Kerbin's rotation keeps repositioning the planet beneath you, allowing you to get near 100% coverage over time.

 

[Ferio]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:23 AM, DeadJohn said:

To clarify the inclination part: SCANsat only scans a narrow path directly beneath your vessel. If you orbit above the equator (0 inclination) you will keep rescanning the same piece of ground over and over again. You want to be in a polar orbit (near 90 degree inclination) so Kerbin's rotation keeps repositioning the planet beneath you, allowing you to get near 100% coverage over time.

 

Thank you. I found out this was indeed the issue.

[Llamageddon]

Sounds like you've worked it out, but after looking into this myself recently, and in case anyone else reads this, I thought I'd add that while a circular orbit seems the most obvious choice, an eccentric orbit can vastly speed up completely mapping the surface. I imagine doing it wrong can also cause problems similar to a 0 inclination orbit, though.