Clamp-o-tron ports won't clamp

[paulthebob]

Hi.

I spent about half an hour trying to dock 2 vessels using the Clamp-o-tron ports but despite them touching several times (and knocking eachother away from one another) they wouldn't connect at all. Is there something you need to do to the ports to have them docked? Is there a list anywhere of items that can dock together?

(I've docked twice before, successfully, using the 'covered' ports but never the c-o-t's)

Thanks.

[ThePsuedoMonkey]

Make sure you're not trying to connect the small one ("junior") to a large one, as the small ones only connect with other small ones.

[paulthebob]

They were both the large ports

[CalculusWarrior]

Do you have a picture of the docking? You may have one of the ports installed backwards.

[EndlessWaves]

Had the vessels 'launched' or were you docking two ground vehicles? I believe they don't activate until you stage something.

[tommygunyeah]

Are the ports both facing each other or is one upside down?

Both of the ports flanges need to be touching each other, also make sure to turn of SAS and RCS when you feel the magnetism.

[paulthebob]

I turned off SAS as I'd done with successful dockings in the past, I was in orbit around the earth and the next stage activation was to get rid of the transporting/control pod (the objective was to put a fuel tank on a space centre).

See this link for a pic -- not of the actual one, but has the same ports.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/22/ksp2013042118324890.jpg/

Edited April 21, 2013 by sal_vager

[sal_vager]

Which ports are you trying to dock to? The round white ones need to be opened first by right clicking them.

Also the port on the craft doing the docking must also be open / the right way round, the posts won't dock to the "skirt" end

[paulthebob]

Which ports are you trying to dock to? The round white ones need to be opened first by right clicking them.

Also the port on the craft doing the docking must also be open / the right way round, the posts won't dock to the "skirt" end

Apologies -- was trying to dock to the ones on the fuel tank using another fuel tank with identical ports, both that same way up.

[paulthebob]

Bump. Anyone any ideas??

[capi3101]

This may just be the way I'm looking at it, but those ports look upside down in your picture...

[Jason Patterson]

Nah, the ports on the fuel tank are fine. Is there a strut stuck to the face of the coupling? If not, I would guess that it's a matter of junk on the sides of the fuel tanks bumping together to keep the faces from connecting properly. You've got a lot of rcs blocks and lights and stuff in the area. You can try to put the docking port on a truss in order to have it project away from the side of the tank. If you do this, do not use a cubic octagonal or octagonal strut. They're non-physics parts and when they're connected to docking ports, they'll cause all sorts of mayhem at docking (like tearing-your-entire-station-apart level mayhem.)

Just to be sure, when the two faces are touching, they are doing so such that the faces are parallel to one another and their positions are lined up as well (in the same orientation that they will be when they finally do mate, that is)? When you're docking bulky items, that's far more important than when you dock something smaller.

It's possible, if unlikely, that you've found a bug. I don't think we've had anyone posting about docking problems specific to this part that didn't wind up being a size mismatch, an obstructed docking port, or a technique issue.

[paulthebob]

Nah, the ports on the fuel tank are fine. Is there a strut stuck to the face of the coupling? If not, I would guess that it's a matter of junk on the sides of the fuel tanks bumping together to keep the faces from connecting properly. You've got a lot of rcs blocks and lights and stuff in the area. You can try to put the docking port on a truss in order to have it project away from the side of the tank. If you do this, do not use a cubic octagonal or octagonal strut. They're non-physics parts and when they're connected to docking ports, they'll cause all sorts of mayhem at docking (like tearing-your-entire-station-apart level mayhem.)

Just to be sure, when the two faces are touching, they are doing so such that the faces are parallel to one another and their positions are lined up as well (in the same orientation that they will be when they finally do mate, that is)? When you're docking bulky items, that's far more important than when you dock something smaller.

It's possible, if unlikely, that you've found a bug. I don't think we've had anyone posting about docking problems specific to this part that didn't wind up being a size mismatch, an obstructed docking port, or a technique issue.

Thanks. Perhaps there is something blocking the way, struts etc. Sometimes I go a bit mad with them.

Thanks.

[PolecatEZ]

If two objects you are docking both have very high mass, you need to hit it at an exactly parallel angle or the masses involved will override the magnetism. To overcome this a bit, you can double or triple up on your clamps at the connection point. I use triple clamps on everything over 50 tons or so and I still get some wobble, but at least they clamp tight.

[GROOV3ST3R]

If two objects you are docking both have very high mass, you need to hit it at an exactly parallel angle or the masses involved will override the magnetism. To overcome this a bit, you can double or triple up on your clamps at the connection point. I use triple clamps on everything over 50 tons or so and I still get some wobble, but at least they clamp tight.

This also has an additional effect of stiffening up the joint between 2 craft, making docked vessels more rigid. Of course, with added mass, that might not amount to much but it should be noticeable.

[agentexeider]

Does it look like he's trying to dock THROUGH a seperator???

[Merinsan]

One thing I have noticed is if you time accelerate after they magnetize, it breaks. The magnetism turns off and the ports change to be considered docked, but they are not.

Also, if you have too much velocity when docking, the same thing can happen, where you bounce, then go out of range. The ports get locked into a docked state when you are not docked. Once you get into this state, the only way to fix it is editing the save.

[Behemot]

It seems that my Orbital 1 station has broken one port and thinks something is still attached so I cannot dock to either of it's two ports with the tanker. Here are images, both prots are facing same way, I can see black and yellow stripes on the wheel. Any way how to fix that?

[Vanamonde]

In your upper pic, I'm afraid both docking rings are facing the wrong way. Short of hacking your save files, there's no way to fix that except launch new ships with the parts turned around.

[kurja]

definitely what Vanamonde said.... your docking ports are bolted on the wrong way 'round

[Behemot]

Yeah I've tried modelating on new vehicle just for sure and noticed that…OK, I can probably send new tanker, but having only one dock at station will hurt future usability…

So maybe a small hack… There are those fancy orientation parameters in save file, I think it should help to switch one or two numbers, right?