Waiting for angles and transfers.

[Spyritdragon]

I had two short questions really:

1. How long do you usually have to timewarp to get the correct phase angles for the planets so you can make a nice transfer burn? From the orbits it seems to me you could be timewarping for years.

And 2. Do you just leave all your other Kerbals and ships floating silly thousands of circles in orbit?

[merlinux]

Hey there

1- It reallly depends where you are going to! Some planets line up more often. And you have no choice but to wait if you really want to go there unless you'd rather orbit the sun

2 - Sometimes when I have nothing to do, yes I put everything else in hold while I wrap. But sometimes I just keep doing other things in between. 'kerbal alarm clock' is what I use which let you know when a window has opened. It is very very useful when you want to do other things instead of warping silly amounts of time...

[wasmic]

Yes, I can warmly recommend using Kerbal Alarm Clock, it's just genius. I also allows you to set alarms when approaching maneuver nodes, so that you don't accidentally warp past them.

I generally don't warp too much to reach transfer windows, and I only launch my Kerbals when there's less than 10 days until the window. At one point I warped ~200 days.

Oh, and even though eeloo is in a very slow orbit, that actually means that you get transfer windows to it more often than for example duna, but that the transfer windows are shorter.

[running]

As I can't warp as fast as I like while in orbit, I often switch to a flag on Mun and look at that while warping.

Then switch back to my space vessel. (I use pen and paper to write down how many days and hours I need to warp, then look at the timer in the left upper conrer when switch to the flag and calculate to which numbers I need to warp.)

In low orbit without switching you might indeed have to wait for days and maximum warp.

[merlinux]

As I can't warp as fast as I like while in orbit, I often switch to a flag on Mun and look at that while warping.

Then switch back to my space vessel. (I use pen and paper to write down how many days and hours I need to warp, then look at the timer in the left upper conrer when switch to the flag and calculate to which numbers I need to warp.)

In low orbit without switching you might indeed have to wait for days and maximum warp.

You might also like kerbal alrm clock, you can bind an alarm to a ship and although you still have to switch to a flag or a ship on land while warping at full speed, you wont need a pen and paper and you will be switched back to the ship without going back to the tracking station

[Col_Jessep]

You should also check out the Launch Window Planner from alexmoon: http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

It gives you a really nice delta-V projection for the whole transfer period. Sometimes it will allow you to start a mission at an earlier, suboptimal launch window. You might spend a little bit more delta-V but it will get you to your target way earlier. I don't mind spending 100-200m/s extra if I can get to Jool 100 days earlier.

[Kialar]

I don't wait for windows and stuff. I add moar boostas!

[Umlüx]

+1 for kerbal alarm clock

why wait for one transfer window when you can launch several expeditions at the same time?

[Sirrobert]

There are a few mods that tell you when the next transfer window will come up. Very usefull. There are also a few sites that tell you what angles to look for, but that's awhole lot more work

[merlinux]

I don't wait for windows and stuff. I add moar boostas!

How is that relevant to the OP inquiry?

[Spyritdragon]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Ill be sure to try out Kerbal Alarm Clock :-). Can you set it to any phase angle though or just to 'tell me when my window opens'?

Also, on that topic, when does a transfer window officially 'open' or 'close'?

And, finally, is there any limit to the number of years i can have my save file running? If i just wait for a window for every mission, will i run into trouble?

You should also check out the Launch Window Planner from alexmoon: http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

It gives you a really nice delta-V projection for the whole transfer period. Sometimes it will allow you to start a mission at an earlier, suboptimal launch window. You might spend a little bit more delta-V but it will get you to your target way earlier. I don't mind spending 100-200m/s extra if I can get to Jool 100 days earlier.

Thanks. This will really help.

[Umlüx]

iirc you can only set fixed planetary alarms. but you can always calculate and set one per hand.

there is no official "open" or "close". its more like a smooth transition. you just need a little more dV if you burn early or late.

[Kialar]

How is that relevant to the OP inquiry?

You are right. It is totally irrelevant. I surrendered to a mood and spammed around. I apologize.

@Spyritdragon: I read something like 80 years are allowed in a game in another thread, but I can't find it. And so I am not sure about it.

[merlinux]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Ill be sure to try out Kerbal Alarm Clock :-). Can you set it to any phase angle though or just to 'tell me when my window opens'?

Also, on that topic, when does a transfer window officially 'open' or 'close'?

And, finally, is there any limit to the number of years i can have my save file running? If i just wait for a window for every mission, will i run into trouble?

Thanks. This will really help.

It doesn't tell you phase angles but it allows you to warp until the right phase angle. For planets on eccentric and inclined orbits I use both the alexmoon window planner and kerbal alarm clock (just to warp till a certain date) as it gives maximum efficiency.

And regarding when launch windows open or close, if you look at the alexmoon website (and the chart it computes when you enter data) once again you will realize you can always get somewhere by spending way too much delta v So I would say they open or close at the boundaries of the 'blue sectors' you get from the computed chart.

@ Kialar: I get in the mood often too when playing this game, especially when I have a few drinks

Edited November 4, 2013 by merlinux