Rocket with two parts connected by docking ports?

[Adrigaar]

I am trying to get my first space station into LKO, i went with a modular approach and made my first module one full of batteries and solar panels. it had basically just a pod, RCS tank+thrusters, a load of batteries, lots of solar panels then a quad-coupler and 4 docking ports, connected immediately to 4 more docking ports another quadcoupler taking it back into my launching rocket. in my head this would work perfectly, get it into LKO, then undock and back my rocket away and fly it back off to crash into an ocean out of the way.

My problem is that i couldnt undock. When i right clicked the docking clamps i had "decouple node" and "control from here". So my question is what am i doing wrong? is there a different way to build the rocket so that i can deliver space station modules to LKO, even if the module has to have docking ports on both ends as it is going to connect two parts in a straight line?

[rryy]

Decouple node is basically the same as undock, but only applies to ports preattached in the VAB.

[Kimberly]

Rryy is right. When docking ports are attached in the VAB, they are treated like connected parts, as though they're decouplers (hence why you can attach them to anything, not just other ports). It's not until you decouple the connection that they act like docking ports.

Edited August 24, 2013 by Kimberly

[Adrigaar]

Ah thank you, i tried this before using the set of four clamp-o-tron's and always wound up having them disconnect from both parts and float out into space but when i tried it with the Clamp-o-tron Sr. it worked perfectly. I'm guessing after i decoupled one of the four previously it was twisting and shearing off the others.

[strongest_2hu]

Ah thank you, i tried this before using the set of four clamp-o-tron's and always wound up having them disconnect from both parts and float out into space

This is because you attached the docking ports to each other in the VAB, then attached the quadcoupler to the ports. This resulted in only one port being attached to both the quadcoupler and its opposing port while the rest were only connected to their opposing ports. If you want to use a tri- or quad-coupler setup (no reason for that now that we have big docking ports) you have to connect the docking ports to the quadcoupler first then attach the whole thing to the other set of docking ports.