Moon base lighting

[lantean24]

hello, im new to this simulation, and i build moon base i landed it on moon but i got a problem.... i extend eun pannels to charge my batteries for lightings but as soon as the sun goes away the battery goes empty even if i dont have lights open, when i try same thing on main planet its cool battery doesent decrease at night if lights are off, but when i turn lights on battery goes empty fast...

so my question is how can i make a base on moon that i can have lights turned on all night on moon without run of energy be4 day light?

i apologize for my bad english!

please help, and thanx for any kind of help!

[annallia]

What is your battery capacity?

Also make sure your SAS is off, that will drain power at an alarming rate.

When you tested it on kerbin did you do it on the launch pad with clamps? Those clamps transfer energy meaning it wouldn't go down on the launch pad. Maybe a picture of your ship (with resources tab open) would help?

[Skorpychan]

SAS and probe cores use power over time.

Otherwise, add an RTG into your designs in future; they're a little heavy and a bit awkward to fit, but they're basically a guarantee that you'll be able to activate an unkerbed craft because it won't run out of power.

[Scarecrow88]

Night on Kerbin only lasts 3 hours. Night on the Mun lasts a lot longer due to it being tidally locked to Kerbin. That could be part of your problem.

[Kimberly]

Yes, if you want to use parts with a lot of energy drain, you're going to need pretty big battery banks. Getting solar energy isn't the problem, keeping it through the night is. If you want to build a Mun base, by far the most sensible spot is at the north or south pole, because they are almost constantly illuminated.

[capi3101]

You basically have two options: 1) Solar panels and batteries, or 2) RTGs. Personally, I like RTGs because I like the notion of being able to use my craft when I damn well please thank you very much, but they do have a lousy mass to power production ratio. Still, I find they attach radially to the sides of a rocket well enough. And then there was the guy who built a "power core" with Rockomax Adapter 02s and RTGs...basically he just stuck the narrow ends of two Adapters together and set the RTGS upright so they looked nice and secure on the bottom one and touched the upper one. Added some struts and all was groovy. Structural panels might've worked better, but sometimes you just gotta go for cool...

The solar/battery option probably does give you more bank for your buck. It's a matter of adding enough battery packs. 4 Z-400 packs mounted radially weigh as much as a single RTG and coupled with a couple of decent size panels should give you more than enough juice to make it through the nighttime hours. You could also go with eight Z-100 packs; you won't have as much stored juice, but it should still be sufficient for a parked lander.

Well, I say that. How many lights are we talking about, anyway? And what kind of command module are we talking about here?

[Amoun]

I always turn off the torque and any SAS when landed, it's not needed. If lights arent on that simply means you have a system that drains your batteries. I am not sure if you downloaded any mods, but the only things I can think of from the top of my head is the SAS and torque. Make sure you dont have the torque enabled ( "T" on your keyboard ) because that will use the system and hence the power without anything visible going on.

You also would want to place the generators on your craft to generate power when sun isn't hitting the solar panels or add more batteries....maybe many more. but then you would have to see if the weight of the added batteries doesn't become inefficient VS just adding generators.

Definitely post a few pics, we can better see what parts you have and etc.

P.S. Definitely always test your stuff before you launch. Get your moon base module, without the clamps and without the launch vehicle and see how it works (I guess both, day and night).

I learned that the hard way.....built a Mun module with a total of 8 legs, 4 of them on the outside were higher just by a tiny little fraction than the middle and when I landed it on the Mun, low gravity made the thing unstable and it ended up wobbling and (literally) walking on the surface......

[Aqua667]

SAS will kill your battery, because running a motor spinning a set of huge two meter wide wheels isn't exactly energy efficient. If your battery is going down at a rate of more than 5 per second, you either have a ion running or your warping with SAS. You can hide your RTGs by rotating them inside if the craft. Don't worry, they don't produce radiation...... yet

@Kimberly I don't think a polar mun base would work out very well. I'm pretty sure as of .21 the poles are really messed up, with giant spiky mountains all over the place.

[Skorpychan]

You basically have two options: 1) Solar panels and batteries, or 2) RTGs. Personally, I like RTGs because I like the notion of being able to use my craft when I damn well please thank you very much, but they do have a lousy mass to power production ratio. Still, I find they attach radially to the sides of a rocket well enough. And then there was the guy who built a "power core" with Rockomax Adapter 02s and RTGs...basically he just stuck the narrow ends of two Adapters together and set the RTGS upright so they looked nice and secure on the bottom one and touched the upper one. Added some struts and all was groovy. Structural panels might've worked better, but sometimes you just gotta go for cool...

The solar/battery option probably does give you more bank for your buck. It's a matter of adding enough battery packs. 4 Z-400 packs mounted radially weigh as much as a single RTG and coupled with a couple of decent size panels should give you more than enough juice to make it through the nighttime hours. You could also go with eight Z-100 packs; you won't have as much stored juice, but it should still be sufficient for a parked lander.

Well, I say that. How many lights are we talking about, anyway? And what kind of command module are we talking about here?

There's a third option, as I use on my rovers. A single RTG, plus solar panels and batteries. You don't need to be festooned with panels, and can carry less batteries around. The RTG simply serves to charge batteries overnight, and provide some operation in the dark.

My little planetary rover slowly depletes the batteries as it drives, but can deploy panels to recharge. It can't drive well with them extended, and has a couple of tiny static panels and an RTG for charging.

[annallia]

You basically have two options: 1) Solar panels and batteries, or 2) RTGs. Personally, I like RTGs because I like the notion of being able to use my craft when I damn well please thank you very much, but they do have a lousy mass to power production ratio. Still, I find they attach radially to the sides of a rocket well enough. And then there was the guy who built a "power core" with Rockomax Adapter 02s and RTGs...basically he just stuck the narrow ends of two Adapters together and set the RTGS upright so they looked nice and secure on the bottom one and touched the upper one. Added some struts and all was groovy. Structural panels might've worked better, but sometimes you just gotta go for cool...

The solar/battery option probably does give you more bank for your buck. It's a matter of adding enough battery packs. 4 Z-400 packs mounted radially weigh as much as a single RTG and coupled with a couple of decent size panels should give you more than enough juice to make it through the nighttime hours. You could also go with eight Z-100 packs; you won't have as much stored juice, but it should still be sufficient for a parked lander.

Well, I say that. How many lights are we talking about, anyway? And what kind of command module are we talking about here?

You mean this little contraption of mine?

[Niccolo]

Y'know, I hadn't even considered the extra length of night on the Mun. It makes sense, though... What's the orbital period of the Mun?

You mean this little contraption of mine? (Image not shown for hugeness)

That's awesome. That's really, really awesome. How many RTGs are on there?

[MrPopcup]

Simply send something called " energy module" and dock with your base but instead of solar panels put RTG's, those recharge your batteries all the time, i usually put RTG's on long journeys or long-term bases/ Stations

[annallia]

Not entirely sure, that was the prototype. The mark IX which is currently standard issue for new stations has a total of 9 and glows! Though it uses modded RTG's so is the equiv of having closer to 30 (though I did add quite a bit of weight to make up for it). That one however more than likely just 7 or 9, maybe more but I doubt it.

That said, with what MrPopcup had mentioned. If you use KAS (since docking on the ground can be... iffy) you could send down a little lander with a contraption like my power core on it and quite literally plug your base into it.

[leax256]

Not entirely sure, that was the prototype. The mark IX which is currently standard issue for new stations has a total of 9 and glows! Though it uses modded RTG's so is the equiv of having closer to 30 (though I did add quite a bit of weight to make up for it). That one however more than likely just 7 or 9, maybe more but I doubt it.

That said, with what MrPopcup had mentioned. If you use KAS (since docking on the ground can be... iffy) you could send down a little lander with a contraption like my power core on it and quite literally plug your base into it.

yes, kas is awesome. is it updated for .21 yet?

[EvilotionCR2]

yes, kas is awesome. is it updated for .21 yet?

Works fine for me.

And also,try DSM nuclear reactor.

[lantean24]

Thanx to all for all info and help, solution was more batery capacity.. in earth or kerbal planet for lightings trough night it drain 16k of battery but on moon it drains around 60-70k so i made batery capacity 86k so now i dont have problems with lighting anymore !

but i never used that RTG's had no idea what it is but imma go check it now... again thanx to all!

[annallia]

yes, kas is awesome. is it updated for .21 yet?

It has been for some time.

[Skorpychan]

You mean this little contraption of mine?

What's in the middle, holding them together? Another RTG?

[Captain Sierra]

What's in the middle, holding them together? Another RTG?

RTGs have nodes on both ends. I would assume so.

[annallia]

Yes it is another RTG. As Sierra said they have a node on both ends. This is also why I say it has 7 or 9 despite multi placings going 6 and 8. One in the middle, then the ring.

Downside to this however is it adds to your part count big time. Something the size of a poodle engine (talking spatially not weight wise) and serves a single purpose yet takes 10 parts!

If I were a better modder I would just make a larger RTG that looks similar to this, but since I am horrible at it I settle for my version, which is copying the stock one (but making it take a new spot in the VAB rather than replacing the stock one).

[sojourner]

The large station parts pack has a nice big RTG.

[Rhyunix]

Massive batteries-

I faced this problem too... i can run my lights though - Just add a shedload of batteries and some solar panels; Its another reason why its best to make the base off the equator - the days are quicker closer to the poles

[capi3101]

You mean this little contraption of mine?

Yep. I described it backwards, didn't I? Also for some reason I thought it included struts...

Edited August 16, 2013 by capi3101